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
If you are a Dev Anand fan and love to see Black & White films, if you like Meena Kumari in a chirpy mood, this is one film you definitely must-see, She plays the role of Suraya's friend in this film. Suraiya in the main lead romancing with Dev Anand, who plays Yogen, an unemployed youth. who had to rob some money for his mother's treatment,
In real life, Dev Annand and Suraiya were in an affair for two years which was its peak during the shooting of Afsar but coming to an end during the shooting of this film. This remains their last movie together, after this, they never worked together.
Yogin (Dev Anand), comes across Sadhana (Suraiya) in a chance encounter in a book shop.Sadhana's father is the advocate in the case against Dev Anand. Dev Anand has jailed for this case after knowing the news of his mother was serious, he runs away from the jail. He rescues Suraiya from a fire on a stage where she was performing a dance. Suraiya brings him to her home She fell in love with him. Her father was against the relation of Sadhana with Jogin. The story takes many twists and turns with lots of songs and a dance number.
The movie was directed by Nandalal Jaswantal who also gave us the blockbusters like Nagin and Anarkali in 1953 and 1954. I grade this movie as a seven out of ten.
This iconic song from India's first Cinemascope film Kagaz Ke Phool is now 60 years old. This song was picturized on Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt. Geeta Dutt giving voice to Waheeda Rehman. We can feel The"Dard" (Pain) in the voice of Geeta Dutt. What a composition by great S D Burman and penned by another great Kaifi Azmi. Asong bringing forth the tragedy in romance, a song telling us about the inevitability of life in general!.The amazing camera frame by the legendry cinematographer V K Murthy, shadows and light are combined beautifully to create the situation and sad mood of the scene where Guru Dutt and Waheeda meet in an unexpected situation. The situation of this song was not there in the original script. There were 5 songs for the script, those were already composed and recorded by Burman Da and everybody was relaxed. Suddenly Burman Da started humming a new tune which was light and with a glimpse of sorrow. Guru Dutt, who was sitting next to Burman Da liked this new tune and was deeply touched by this tune, he suggested Burman Da that let's have a song with this tune. Kaifi Azmi, who was also sitting with them was asked to write for this tune. Kaifi Azmi who seldom write for the pre-composed tunes agreed. He immediately wrote the Mukhda of this song, initially, Guru Dutt was not happy with the Mukhda but Burman Da was very much impressed with the words, he insisted Gutu Dutt think once again, he felt that these lines were enough to bring tears in his eyes. In the meantime, Burman Da asked Kaifi Azmi to write the two antra of this song. He then beautifully tuned these antra, he thought immediately that Geeta Dutt would give full emotions to this song.
Burman Da called Geeta Dutt and asked her to sing this song in front of Guru Dutt. Guru Dutt liked the song and insisted on Burman Da to get it to record it for this film. The situation for this song was created and then picturized on Waheeda and himself. When this song was shot, the relation between Waheeda and Guru Dutt were a hot topic. Kaifi Azmi wrote the lyrics with this in mind which later denied that he ever kept in mind about their relationship. However, this song became the highlight of the film.
The booming bass guitar, the soft piano, the tinkling triangle, the flowing strings – the orchestration of that song was mesmerizing. On-screen, a stunningly beautiful Waheeda and a somber, graceful Guru Dutt appearing in an exquisite light and shadow play of haunting black and white images then completed that masterpiece.
In 2018, after 59 years, there is a reference to this song in '102 Not Out'. Amitabh Bachchan who plays a 102-year-old man in the film recorded the track in his characteristic deep and booming voice. The song was arranged by Rohan Utpat and Vinayak K Salvi.
Song of Kagaz Ke Phool 1959
Song of 102 Not Out 2018
Lata Mangeshkar's Tribute To Geeta Dutt by singing Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam
Talat Mahmood, the legendry singer of the Golden Era died on 8th May 1998 has given many Immortal songs to us.Although his peak barely spanned a decade, he has produced some of Bollywood's most treasured songs. This accomplishment has earned him a place in our hearts and souls for all time to come. Talat’s impeccable command over Urdu was the flavor of the films. Top music directors of that time were giving him songs. The first song he sang for Dilip Kumar was "Milte Hi Ankhe Dil Hua Deewana Kisi Ka" a duet from Babul 1950. He gave playback to all the big stars of that era such as Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, and Sunil Dutt His big break came with the song Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho composed by music director Anil Biswas for the soundtrack of the movie Arzoo. The song proved to be extremely popular. After Babul, he sang for Dilip Kumar in the 1951 film Tarana, the song "Seene Mei Sulagte Hai Arman" became super hit. The same year another song from Madhosh " Meri Yaad Mein Na Tum Aanso Bahana" also became hit.His voice was now being appreciated by all, most of the music directors were now giving him a chance. In 1952 he sang in 26 films, the songs of Daag and Anhonee became super hit. He sang for the first time for Raj Kapoor, this song" Mein Dil Hoon Ek Arman Bhara" is an immortal song. Though he sang for Dev Anand in 1951 film Nadaan,"Aa Teri Tasvir Bana Loon"but the 1953 song "Andhe Jahan Ke Hum Hain" became hit. The same year "Sham-E-Gham ki qassam" for Footpath and "Zindagi dene wale sun" for Dil E Nadaan were a massive hit. In 1954 he again sang for Dev Anand in Taxi Driver, the song "Jayen to jayen kahan" became immortal and one of his greatest hits. Talat sang approximately 800 songs spread over 4 decades spanning between the 40s and 80s Here I am posting a few of his immortal songs
The Buddha also is known as Siddhattha /Gotama was the founder of the world religion of Buddhism. A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Buddha, which means “Awakened One” or the "Enlightened One. The life of Budha has been a subject of ou filmmakers since the beginning of cinema. The first known film about the life of Buddha was Buddhadev was made by Dada Saheb Phalke in 1923. Two years later, another important Buddha film was released, The Light of Asia, Himanshu Rai played the role of Budha. The film was a greater success in Europe than in India.Both these two films were Silent Films. In 1957, Govt. of India released a documentary film on the life of Budha as part of the Buddha's 2500th birthday celebration. It was directed by Bimal Roy and the role of Budha played by Rajbans Khanna, who was the producer of the film also. The next filmAngulimal (1960) was not directly based on the life of Buddha, but on the life of a dacoit and killer who used to loot and kill innocent people and cut off their fingers and who made a garland of such fingers to wear around his neck, The film depicts an incident where the dreaded dacoit once met the Buddha when Buddha was passing by forest and goes ahead to kill him, but was corrected by the compassion of Buddha. The fifth film about Buddha was a Japanese one, Shaka, produced by Kenji Misumi in 1961. It was shown in the USA in 1963 under the title Buddha. On February 13, 1964, a Korean film about the life of the Buddha had its premiere, Seokgamoni, In 1997 the Indian producer G.A. Sheshagiri Rao made a Buddha film. This one is also the longest movie about Buddha, as it consists of five DVDs with approximately 180 minutes film each. In 2008 a film called Tathagat Buddha was released. Originally it was made in Telugu but later dubbed in Hindi and other languages. Tathagatha Buddha was a hit at Box Office. There is one song sung by Kumar Sanu. In 2013 the film "A Journey of Samyak Buddha" based on Babasaheb Ambedkar's book The Buddha and His Dhamma was released. The film was directed and produced by Pravin Damle.Abhishek Urade played the role of Buddha.
Bulo C Rani was a music director of high caliber as well as a singer in the 1940s. He worked as an assistant to Khemchand Prakash in films such as Tansen, Chandni, Dukh Sukh, Baadshah Babar. Khemchand Prakash also gave him an opportunity to explore his singing ability by making him sing ‘Ruth Na Pyar Mein’ for the film “Mehmaan” (1942). My generation remembers him with the song "Humen To Loot Liya Milke Husn Walo Ne" and " Ghoonghat Ke Pat Khol" from Jogan 1950. In the year 1943, Bulo. C. Rani worked as an assistant to Gyan Dutt in “Paighaam” and “Shankar Parvati”. He got the opportunity to sing for 6 films in the same year. In the film ‘Shankar Parvathi’ the song ‘O Jogan O Bairaagi’ had become popular among listeners. He was born in Hyderabad, Sindh province, British India (now in Pakistan) on 6 May 1920, there is a confusion about his date of birth, someone known to him has corrected it to 6th March. His father was also a music director, he too decided to join the same profession after graduating from college. He joined Ranjit Movietone in 1939 where he met some very big personalities who were very prominent names in music such as Ghulam Haider, D. N. Madhok, etc. In the early 1940s, Khemchand Prakash was a very big name in the music industry. He joined him as an assistant. He assisted Khemchand in movies like Tansen, Chandni, Sukh Dukh (1942), and Shahenshah Babar (1944). He sang his first playback song "Ruth Na Pyaar Mein" under Khemchand in the film Mehmaan (1942). In 1943, h In e worked as an assistant to Gyan Dutt in two films- Paigham and Shankar Parvati. In the film Shankar Parvati, the song "O Jogan O Bairaagi" became a hit. Despite him composing the song, it was credited as a Gyan Dutt composition. However, he managed to sing in six films that year. He got the first film as an independent composer in the 1944 film Caravan. It is said that the tunes in the Khursheed song ‘ Ho Dukhiya Jiyara’ for the 1943 film Tansen were supposedly set by Bulo. C. Rani but the credit went to Khemchand Prakash. The film featuring K. L. Saigal and Khursheed Bano in the lead roles. His next film as an independent composer was Pagli Duniya(1944) but he got recognition with his next film Moorti 1945, all the songs were hit. Mukesh sang one of his first hit songs in the film, "Badariya Baras Gai Us Paar". He made his mark with tracks like 'Ja Parwane Ja Kahin Shama Jal Rahi Hai' from Rajputani 1(946), 'Kaise Bataoon Tum Se Is Dil Ko Pyar Kyun Hai' from Anjuman and the hugely popular track 'Armaan Bhara Dil Toot Gaya' from Wafa. His best work till date came in the early 1950s - Jogan (1950), Wafa (1951) and Bilwamangal (1954). Bilwamangal was one of his last soundtracks which contained classic songs of Suraiya and C. H. Atma. The songs of that film became popular with one number in particular, "Hum Ishq Ke Maron Ko", which was sung by Suraiya with lyrics by D. N. Madhok. With the emergence of S D Burman,C Ramchandra,Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad and O P Nayyar,his demand as a composer reduced.However, he continued to compose for films till the mid-sixties. Some of his songs in this period were hits such as "Humein Toh Loot Liya" (Al Hilaal, 1958), "Mangne Se Jo Maut Mil Jati" (Sunehre Qadam, 1966) He gave music in 71 films, the last released film was Bijli in 1972. As a singer, he sang in 19 films and composed 574 songs. He died on 23 May 1993 at the age of 73 years in Mumbai, Some of the Popular songs of Bulo C Rani The first song as a Singer
Naushad (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006 ) started as an independent music director from the 1940 film Prem Nagar. He made the Hindi songs popular by mixing UP and Bihar folk music with Indian classical music. It was in 1946 he got the superstar status with the two immortal songs from the film Anmol Ghadi. The simple melody in Raag Pahari in the voice of Noorjehan " Jawan Hai Mohabbat" and the duet of Noorjehan and Surendra"Awaz Do Kahan Ho" mesmerized the music lovers. In the same year, K L Saigal gave one of his immortal songs "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya" under his composition in Shahjehan (1946) in Raag Bhairavi.
His classical genius was the 1952 film Baiju Bawra in which he used the voices if the great Ustad Amir Khan and D V Palusjar. The climactic contest between Tansen and Baiju Bawra in the royal court of Mughal emperor Akbar demanded music of the highest finesse to exemplify the capabilities of these historical legends. Naushad introduced classical music with deft handling, making it melodious for mass appeal and yet retaining enough artistry as the situation demanded. There could not have been a better composer than Naushad Ali to make this film an unforgettable feature of Indian cinema. The music in “Baiju Bawra” is divine! It is, in fact, the soul of the film. There are many moments in “Baiju Bawra” when the contribution of Naushad emerges the strongest point of the movie. Mohammad Rafi, lyricist Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad leave you in a trance with the all-time great number “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj”. Rafi had reportedly confessed to this being one of the toughest songs of his career as a demanding Naushad sought perfection from the legendary singer.
Raag Pahari, Raag Darbari, Raag Yaman, and Bhairvi were few of his favorite ragas. Many immortal songs in this raga were composed by him. Right from composing Rimjhim barse badarwa in raga Pahadi in film Rattan effortlessly rendered by Zohrabai Amabalewali, Naushad emphasized the durable value of classical mores. His most durable composition Suhani raat dhal chuki was shaped in Pahadi and was from film Dulari made in 1949 that became legendary and is still considered an integral part of any singer’s repertoire in any musical gathering. His other popular number in Pahadi was Tod diya dil mera composed for film Andaz in 1949 and rendered by Lata Mangeshkar. Naushad also utilised Pahadi to create an amazingly profound tune Marna teri gali mein for film Shabab in 1954 sung by Lata Naushad was very mich fascinated with Bhairavi He tuned his very fine number Jab dil hee toot gaya in raga Bhairavi in a manner that this raga became his signature tune as Naushadian Bhairavi. The quality of Naushadian Bhairvi is that it is immediately recognizable. It is amply reflected in his beautiful compositions such as Tu Ganga ki mauj mein for film Baiju Bawrarendered by Rafi that became the standard-bearer for flowing rendition based on classical ragas. Another of his hit songs was Toote na dil toote na picturised on Dilip Kumar in Andaz in 1949 and sung by Mukesh, In Raag Yaman he composed Jaane wale se mulaqat na hone payee sung by Lata and composed for Mehboob Khan’s powerful drama Amar released in 1954 and later in Mughal-e-Azam, the song once again sung by Lata Mangeshkar "Humein kash tum se mohabbat na woti, "
A Great Trio. of Naushad, Rafi, and Shakeel Badayuni
Two immortal songs in Raag Darbari were created "Beech bhanwar mein aan phasaa hai dil ka safeena, Shah-e-Madina, for film Dard in 1947 for Surraya to render it and another by Mohammad Rafi "O dunya ke rakhwale" for 1952 film Baiju Bawra . Naushad composed two sequentially modulating numbers in rather unconventional raga Jaijaiwanti This song"Hum aaj kahin dil kho bethe poignantly sung by Mukesh for the 1949 film Andaz and the other great song Mohabbat ki rahon mein chalna sambhal ke composed in 1955 for film Uran Khatol a that was playfully performed by Rafi. One of the exceptionally brilliant compositions of Naushad, Madhuban mein radhika naache re, famous for an excellent Sitar sequence, for film Kohinoor in 1960 was laid out in raga Hameer, which is very rarely used for light music. These are a few Raag based songs that made Naushad the Classical Genius but in the end, I must mention the song that made Mohammad Rafi a great "Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj, a complicated semi-classical composition based on raga Malkauns for film Baiju Bawra released in 1952.
A rare film with a star cast Shammi Kapoor, Meena Kumari, Kishore Kumar, and Mehmood in one film is an attractive proposition to watch. At the time of its release, none of them was a big star. Shammi Kapoor's first hit film was Tumsa Nahin Dekha which was released one year later in 1957. What is more, he is not the hero, he does not get to walk away with the heroine, and he plays a negative character. Mehmood had a small and insignificant role. Kishore Kumar was also not a big name. Meena Kumari was the only one who was successful, not a Tragedy Queen at that time. Meena Kumari played the role of a modern girl in this film. An unlike Meena Kumari film with full of entertainment. This is also one of Meena Kumari’s non-tragedy roles.
This film is based on theusual clash between ‘traditional Indian’ and ‘modern/Western’ values. Kishore Kumar(Sunder) who playsthe naive young man, brought up in an ashram comes to town to marry which was fixed long ago by the heroine's rich father when both the boy and girl were a child. The girl who lived in a city with a modern lifestyle refuses to marry such a guy. She gives a matrimonial Ad. in a paper and takes interviews. Manohar (Shammi Kapoor) who plays a negative character in the film reads the Ad and decides to go for an interview. Manohar impresses Meena, both become friendly.Meena introduces Manohar to her uncle as her prospective groom,
Meena's aunt was against this marriage so she calls Sundar from Guru ji ashram to meet Meena, the girl to whom he is betrothed. Meena, on the other hand, wanted to marry Manohar. Sunder blames Manohar for ‘stealing’ his Meena away, The uncle advises Sunder to forget Meena. In the meantime, Manohar approaches Meena’s uncle for his blessings. Uncle tells Manohar that he has no problem as long as Meena wants to marry him but Meena’s father’s will states that if Meena marries anyone other than Sunder, the latter will be heir to all her wealth. Manohar who is after the wealth of Meena tells Meena about the will. Manohar, along with Meena, steals the will out of her uncle’s safe but their plans fail once again when they come to know that one more copy of this will is lying with Sunder's mother. Manohar plants the idea of Meena getting the will from Sunder by pretending to fall in love with him. Meena falls for the idea. Initially, she pretended to love Sunder but after a while, she realizes Manohar of wooing her for her money; if he truly loved her, he would take her as she is.
The film was produced and directed by R C Talwar, music was given by Madan Mohan. Music Director Madan Mohan was inspired by the 1934 song Isle of Capri for not one but two versions of the song Dil Dil Se Mila Kar Dekho,, sung by Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar respectively. Both the songs were picturized on Meena Kumari and Kishore Kumar. The first version (Asha Bhosle) in the film comes more than an hour into the film when Meena Kumari pretends to be interested in Kishore Kumar and who, outside the world of the ashram he has grown up in, is just getting introduced to the ways of the ‘sinful’ world. Meena Kumari is driving the car while Kishore Kumar sits on the front seat.
The second version (Kishore Kumar) comes about half an hour later once Kishore Kumar, now having fallen hook line and sinker for Meena Kumari, has succumbed to the lifestyle of the rich and wealthy. In this song, Kishore Kumar drives the car and Meena Kumari sits on the front seat. Another popular song "Hamari Gali Aana, Achha Ji" picturized on Meena Kumari and Shammi Kapoor, a sung by Asha Bhosle and Talat Mahmood was also very popular, This film is available on YouTube.
