50 Years of Pakeezah

 

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

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 to 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.

This movie is one among the very few Indian movies, that would never fade away with the passage of time, nor would its spellbinding appeal ever diminish, even as the Indian cinema transforms into the abyss of artificially styled pop culture

The story is About Sahibjaan Who Was Brought Up By Brothel Madame Nawabjaan.... She Grows Up & Becomes Popular Dancer/Singer... Forest Ranger Salim is Enthralled By Her Beauty & Innocence, Convinces Her To Elope With Him But Trials And Tribulations Await As She is Recognized By Men Wherever She Goes With Salim... When He Renames Her Pakeezah (Pure) Takes Her To A Priest To Be Legally Married, She Refuses, Returns To The Brothel..The Story Moves Further...

 The music of the film was recorded by the end of 1959. It was composed by Gulam Muhammad. Kamal Amrohi wanted this film to be a musical so 15 songs were recorded earlier.The shooting of the film was halted in 1964 due to mutual differences between lead heroine Meena Kumari and her director-husband Amrohi. In 1968, the composer of the film passed away. So, when the film was revived in 1969, Naushad was roped in to complete the background music for the film. Many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi change the music according to the then-popular trend and style. To this Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still alive but now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing trend.

The music and dancing are of the highest possible quality. You may notice in the first dance scene the director has all sorts of things occurring in the background: another girl dancing, a drunk falling downstairs.

Songs of Pakeezah 1972

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50 Years of Amar Prem

 

There are a few Hindi films that touch one more than Amar Prem. The film has completed 50 years, released on 29th Jan 1972. The film belongs to Sharmila Tagore as far as performances go. She preserves fully the dignity of the character even as she skillfully walks the audience through all the traumatic moments of the character´s life

The film was directed by Shakti Samanta. It was a remake of the Bengali film Nishi Padma (1970), directed by Arabinda Mukherjee, who wrote the screenplay for both the films based on the Bengali short story Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The highlight of the film was its music, composed by R D Burman.

The movie is about a schoolboy, who is ill-treated by his stepmother, and becomes friends with a prostitute neighbor. The film stars Sharmila Tagore playing a prostitute with a heart of gold, with Rajesh Khanna in the role of a lonely businessman and Vinod Mehra as adult Nandu, the young child, who they both come to care for. The essence of the movie revolves around three characters –– Anand, Pushpa, and Nandu, a child who is tortured at home by a stepmother (Bindu). Nandu is showered with affection by Pushpa

The score and soundtrack for the film was composed by R.D.Burman, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was melody-based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye. How can we forget the immortal songs  like "Chingaari Koi Bhadke", "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge", "Yeh Kya Hua" sung by Kishore Kumar

Songs of Amar Prem 1972

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O P Nayyar- The heady cocktail of OP-Asha captured the imagination of music lovers

 

O P Nayyar and Asha Bhonsle gave us some of the most memorable songs of Hindi Cinema. Songs like ‘Jaayiye aap kahan’ (Mere Sanam), ‘Raaton ko chori chori’ (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi), ‘Zara haule haule’, ‘Meri jaan tumse sadke’ and ‘Aaj koi pyar se’ (all in Sawan Ki Ghata), ‘Aayiye Meherbaan’ (Howrah Bridge) and ‘Aankhon se jo utri hai dil mein’ (Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon) to sense the profound wavelength the two worked on. 

Born on 16th Jan 1926, he came to Bombay for giving music for films. initially, he was offered the background score for Kaneez (1949), and 1952's Aasmaan(produced by Dalsukh M. Pancholi), was his first film as music director. His real break came with Guru Dutt's Aar Paar in 1954. After that, he gave music for  Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955) and C.I.D. (1956). The songs of all these three films established him among the top composers of that time.

The two met in 1952 at the music recording of a song for the film titled 'Chham Chhama Chham'.  the first solo song of both was AA PARDESI BALMA MORE ANGINA

O P Nayyar is often credited with helping Asha Bhosle develop a distinct style, very different from that of her older sister Lata, who dominated the scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Though Asha sang her first solo song back in 1949, she had to wait till films like CID (1957) and Naya Daur (1957) came along, giving her a taste of success with a style of her own-fearless, breezy and sensuous.

Asha lived under the shadow of her older sister, whose rare finesse, softness, and subtlety of expression, ruled the roost then. She had to contend playing second fiddle for most parts. It is often said that it was OP Nayyar who convinced her that she was individualistic enough to strike out on her own. Under his guidance, Asha developed her carefree and fanciful style. She also mastered cabaret-style singing bringing sensuality into her music. Her duets with Mohammad Rafi, composed by Nayyar, were all chartbusters in their time. Songs from films like Kashmir Ki Kali and Tumsa Nahin Dekha remain immensely popular to this day.

After long years of a professional association, the two parted ways on a rather bitter note in 1972, never to work together again. The last song they created was the Filmfare Award-winning song  'Chein se humko kabhie'  in Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye (1974). 

Song of 'Chham Chhama Chham' 1952

Song from  Jaali Note 1960

Song from Phagun (1958)

Song of Howrah Bridge (1958)

Song from Kismat (1968)

Song from Kismat (1968)

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Neeraj- Karwan Guzar Gaya Ghubaar Dekhte Rahe.

 

Gopal Das Neeraj was a poet first then a lyricist. He started writing poetry and sharing stage, at times with stalwarts who were mesmerized with the poems of this young man. There are incidents where he used to write poems with another pseudonym, ‘Bhavuk Etahvi’. But once he reached the stage of Kavi Sammelan, there was no looking back for this greatest Hindi poet of all genres.

This Ghazal was aired. on the radio in 1955,  it was included in the film Nayi Umar ki Nayi Fasal in 1966 in fact this film was inspired by this Ghazal. He wrote a few songs for two films Cha Cha Cha and Chanda Aur Bijli before Dev Anand introduced him to S D Burman to write songs for his film Prem Pujari.

He was born in the village of Puravali, near Mahewa in Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, India on 4 January 1925. He wrote under the pen name "Neeraj"

When Neeraj entered the scene of poetry, Harivansh Rai Bachchan was already an established name on the stage. However, Neeraj carved his way and touched people’s hearts. “His poems gave new life to romanticism which was coupled with spiritualism.  He had an influence of Sri Aurbindo and it flows in his poetry. 

Besides writing, he earned his living teaching in a college and was a Professor of Hindi Literature in Dharma Samaj College, Aligarh. He knew Urdu well and cultivated his own style. He used words even from Sanskrit and touched the softness of the Hindi Khadi Boli. The poems were rendered with such eloquence that they were immediately on everyone’s lips. Neeraj’s simplicity was evident in his lifestyle. “He lived a simple life, he understood common people, their sufferings and he lived as if he was one of them, playing cards with them, smoking beedi and wearing simple clothes. Anybody was welcome in his home.

Despite the tremendous recognition he got from film songs, Neeraj considered himself unlucky. This was the reason why he stopped writing songs for films. He started writing only poems and literature. Disclosing this in an interview, he had said that two-three famous Bollywood musicians for whom he had written film songs had passed away. He had said that Jaikishan and SD Burman of the Shankar-Jaikishan duo should also die and he wrote very famous songs for both of them. 

Neeraj had penned several immortal songs for Bollywood movies. There were incidents where Neeraj himself recited his songs so that musicians may easily develop the tune. Just sample this — Phoolo ke rang se/dil ki qalam se/tujhko likh roz paati/kaise bataun/kis kis tarah se/pal pal mujhe tu satati — for the film Prem Pujari, anyone can easily identify and attribute it to Neeraj due to its rhythm class.

He mentioned the death of Jaikishan of the Music Duo Shankar-Jaikishan as well as of Sachin Dev Burman, for both of whom he had penned highly popular film songs. The deaths of these Music Directors when they, along with Gopaldas Neeraj were at the peak of their fame left him very dejected and he made a decision to quit the film industry.
His friendship with Dev Anand continued he wrote songs for the last film of Dev Anand "Charge sheet"

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2007. He died on July 19, 2018

Neeraj used to say" People talk of my five years in film industry. They tend to forget my 65 years of contribution to literature".

The first released song of Neeraj

      Song from Cha Cha Cha (1964)

Song from Nayi Umar Ki Nayi Fasal 1965

Song from Prem Pujari (1970)

Song from Pehchan (1970)

Song from Sharmilee (1971)

Song from Tere Mere Sapne (1971)

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Ghaalib's Representations on Screen

 

I think that there has been no great ghazal singer who hasn’t sung Ghalib’s work, be it, Mehdi Hasan or Jagjit Singh, most of them have sung his ghazals. He is said to have written his first poem at the age of 11, and by 19, was writing verses that became increasingly incomprehensible to even his contemporaries. 

Ghalib's life was the subject of hundreds of plays regularly performed in Northern India and Pakistan. These plays were based on his life and his personal and professional relationships starting from the Parsi Theatre and Hindustani Theatre days.  He remains the topmost poet whose poems are used as songs in Hindi films but he was not shown much on screen. The first time a full feature film was made in 1954 by V Shantaram named Mirza Ghalib (1954) in which Bharat Bhushan plays Ghalib and Suraiya plays his courtesan lover, Chaudvin. 

Gulzar produced a TV serial, Mirza Ghalib (1988), telecast on DD National that was immensely successful in India. Naseeruddin Shah played the role of Ghalib in the serial, and it featured ghazals sung and composed by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh

 Mirza Ghalib (1954) made by Sohrab Modi won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film and the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi in the 2nd National Film Awards for 1954. Suraiya's singing (of Mirza Ghalib's ghazals) and her acting was especially applauded by the Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who remarked to her " You have brought back Ghalib to life", in a special screening of the film in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Gulzar's Mirza Ghalib produced by Doordarshan TV was a masterpiece. Naseeruddin Shah, who played the role of the poet in the TV show Mirza Ghalib, considers it his finest performance at par with movies.

Gulzar, who almost seems to consider Ghalib his guru, often using his lines or concepts in his own work, penned a brilliant poem in his honour to begin the show — Ballimaran ke mohalle ki wo pecheeda daleelon ki si galiyaan.

The 2015 film Masaan contains various examples of poetry and Shayari by Ghalib,

Song of Mirza Ghalib(1954)

Song of Mirza Ghalib(1954)

Song of Mirza Ghalib T V Serial by Gulzar

Song of Mirza Ghalib T V Serial by Gulzar

A Scene from Mirza Ghalib 

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Mohammad Rafi was the Favorite Voice of Dharmendra

 

According to Dharmendra, it was Rafi Sahaab’s voice that gave a boost to his film career. Mohammad Rafi sang 104 songs for Dharmendra. The first song Rafi sang for Dharmendra was 'Jane Kya Dhoondti Rehti Hain Yeh Ankhen Mujhme' for the film 'Shola Aur Shabnam released in 1961. This was Dharmendra's second film. In his first film, no song was picturized on him.

There were 2 songs that were picturized on Dharmendra in Shola Aur Shabnam, this was a duet with Lata Mangeshkar'Jeet Hi Lenge Baazi'.   These songs are popular even today.   

Song of Shola Aur Shabnam 1961

Song of Shola Aur Shabnam 1961

The next song Rafi Saab sang for Dharmendra was a duet from the 1964 film 'Pooja Ke Phool', in the same year Rafi sang 4 songs for Dharmendra inAap Ki Parchaiyan, recall the song 'Main Nigahen Tere' 

Song of Aap Ki Parchaiyan 1964

 Rafi Sahaab did have a typical style while singing for Dharmendra too so that one always identified the performer and the singing voice as one. He always sang for him in a very soft voice

In an interview in the seventies when asked for his favorite song sang for Dharmendra, he mentioned 'Kahin se maut ko laao ke gham ki raat kate '(Film: Mera Qusoor Kya Hai, Lyrics: Rajendra Krishna, Music: Chitragupt Srivastav, 1964). He also mentioned that there were quite a few songs that were close to his heart like “Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha” (Akashdeep, 1965, Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri and music: Chitragupt), 

What a strange that Rafi Saab's last recorded song was for Dharmendra for the 1981 film 'Aas Paas'

Song of Akashdeep 1965

Song of Aas Paas 1981 Rafi's last recorded song

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I post here some of my fav songs of Rafi picturized on Dharmendra

Song of Aye Din Bahar Ke 1966

Song of Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966) .

Song of Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1967) 

Song of Izzat (1968) 

Song of Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968) 

Song of Ishq Par Zor Nahin (1970) 

Song of Pratiggya (1975) .