My ten favourite songs from Gulzar-Pancham collaboration
Though the pair R.D. Burman – Gulzar is very popular and famous. They might have done at the most a one and half dozen films together as composer-lyricist team. Nevertheless their partnership was very fruitful. Pancham admitted that working with Gulzar brought the best in him though at times the work together was very complicated.
Preparing this list was a pleasant though a very weary process for me. I have lost count how many times I included and rejected the songs. None of the songs here were in the original list except for dhanno ki aankhon me.
So to make matters at least a little bit easy for me, I set up the following rules:
1. The song must be from a film.
2. The film must have had a proper release in the cinema halls.
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Tags: Aandhi [1975], aap ki aankhon me kuch mahake hue se raaz hai, Anoop Ghosal, Anuradha Patel, Asha Bhosle, beeti na bitaayi rainaa, Bhupinder, dhanno ki aankhon me haan raat ka surma, din jaa rahe hain raaton ke saaye, Doosri Sita [1974], ek hi khwab kai baar dekha hai maine, Ghar [1978], Gulzar, Hema Malini, Ijaazat [1987], is mod se jaate hain, Jaya Bhaduri, Jeetendra, Jugal Hansraj, Khushboo [1975], Kinara [1977], Kishore Kumar, Kitaab [1977], Lalita Pawar, Lata Mangeshkar, Masoom [1983], Master Raju, mera kuch saaman tumhare paas padaa hai, Mithun Chakraborty, Nasseruddin Shah, o maajhi re apna kinara, Pancham, Parichay [1972], R. D. Burman, Raja Murad, Rekha, Sanjeev Kumar, Shaban Azmi, Sitara [1980], Suchitra Sen, tujhse naaraaz nahin zindagi, Vinod Mehra, ye saaye hain, Zarina Wahab
Arunji has been a loyal follower of this blog and has always been very much encouraging with his comments and suggestions. This is his second post here on this blog in the role of an author. It is an honour for me that he agreed to do this post. His personal reminiscences as usual makes this post more dear to me. Thank you Arunji!
Arunkumar Deshmukh’s ten favourite songs with “interesting” lyrics
Words like ‘Dumbak dumba’ or ‘chidi chapata ‘ or Ding dong etc always attracted me in Hindi songs. In the early 50s I was an avid listener of Radio Ceylon. They used to have a weekly programme of ‘ Anokhe Bol ‘ for 15 minutes. I waited thru the week for this programme. it was my favourite programme. Songs played in this programme had odd words in it and those songs haunted me for the entire week till the next programme, when next set of songs took over.
From my early childhood i was very fond of seeing films and enjoying its music. We were in Hyderabad State. This being a Muslim ruled state; there were many peculiar things in those days. For example, in most Theatres, there used to be a class called “ZANANA “(Ladies Only). This was like a balcony. It was meant for those Burkha-clad Muslim women who wanted to see the films, without being seen by the men folk. A huge cloth curtain was dividing the Zanana Class and the rest of the Theatre. A She-male or a He-female (I don’t know which! ) was appointed with the exclusive duty of removing the huge curtain once the film started and closing it before or as soon as the Interval or the end of the film, so that the women could see the film and still not get exposed to the prying eyes of the men folk in the theatre.
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Tags: Aawaz, Ajit, Aka baaka chidi chadaka, Asha, Asha Bhosale, Ashok Kumar, Aye Ichak Beechak Churr, Aziz Kashmiri, Bawre Nain, Bhagwan Sinha, Bimal Roy, C Ramchandra, chhupa chhupi agad bagad, Cuckoo, Denewala Jab bhi deta, dev anand, Dhitang Dhitang bole, Dholak, Do Bigha Zameen, Eena Meena Dika, Ek Do Teen, Ek Thi Ladki, Funtoosh, geeta bali, Gupchup gupchup pyar Karen, Halla Gulla Layilla, Haryala sawan aaya, Hemant Kumar, Hyderabad State, k. n. singh, Kidar Sharma, Kishore Kumar, Lara Lappa, Lata, Majnu, Manna Dey, Meena Kumari, Meena Shorey, Mehmood, Nimmi, Prem Dhawan, Rafi, Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Krishna, Roshan, S. D. Burman, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Sailesh Mukherjee, Salil Chaudhary, Sandhya Mukherjee, Satish Batra, Savera, Sazaa, Shailendra, Shamshad Begum, Sheila Ramani, Shyamsunder, Vinod, Vyjayantimala, Zanana Class
My 10 favourite Madan Mohan-Asha Bhosle songs
When one thinks of Madan Mohan, one invariably thinks of Lata Mangeshkar. Their cooperation has brought out many a gem, but his partnership with the younger Mangeshkar sister still remains in the shadow of the bigger tree. Here I have listed some of my favourite songs resulting from this collaboration.
I have included only her solo numbers in this list. Enjoy!
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Tags: Aakhri Dao [1958], Akeli Mat Jaiyo [1963], Anita Guha, ashkon se tere hamne tasveer banayi hai, Bank Manager [1959], Chacha Chaudhary [1953], Dekh Kabira Roya [1957], hai unki woh nigaahen, ishq ek zeher sahi phir bhi, jaane kya haal ho, Jalal Malihabadi, Kaifi Azmi, koi shikwa bhi nahin koi shikayat bhi nahin, Maa Ka Aanchal [1970], Maharaja [1970], maine pee li mera dil kiya, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Meena Kumari, Mem Sahib [1956], Mere Piya Chhede Jiya, Mohan ki Asha, My 10 favourite Madan Mohan-Asha Bhosle songs, Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare [1966]Nanda, Nutan, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajendra Kishan, Rajendra Kumar, saba se yeh keh do, Shammi, Shashi Kapoor, Shashikala, Shekhar, shokh nazar ki bijliyan, thodi der ke liye mere ho jao, Woh Kaun Thi [1964]
Arunji has been a loyal follower of this blog and has always been very much encouraging. With this post he makes his debut here on this blog in the role of an author. It is an honour for me that he agreed to do this post. His personal reminiscences makes this post more dear to me. Now, without much ado I give the microphone to him.
It is said, that Indian Films represent the life in India. There is, however, a section of people who believe that the society emulates what is shown in films. So, what is the truth?
When the Talkie came to India and films were made, only one thought was there in the minds of the producers and that was to make films based on Mythological and Historical stories.
This went on for first 5-6 years, but then film makers realised that people will like their films if they could relate their lives with it. So, films based on stories with village background, the caste system, dowry, the moneylender and the farmers were made. These became popular. The urban and the city viewer who was educated were looking for something different. Thus, films were made on love stories set in cities and bigger towns.
Those days middle class was growing in India by leaps and bounds and these were the people, who could spend the money. Now these were the people the films were aimed at.
In the 40s and 50s, the most common transportation vehicle was CYCLE. Almost everybody knew how to ride a cycle. Few people had cars and motorcycles had not yet become popular. Scooters were yet unknown.
I remember, I got my first Cycle when I was in school. My school was 3-4 miles far and I used the cycle to go to school in the morning and to go to friends in the evening. There were many cycles on the road and there was a Traffic rule that every cycle must have a Lamp on the Cycle’s handle as a caution to other vehicles. These lamps were kerosene and Cotton-batti lamps in the night. Sometimes, the lamps got extinguished due to wind. Unaware of this, the police used to catch us. On hearing our plea about the lamp, wind etc, the police would touch the glass of the lamp. if it was still warm, we were let out with a warning only. This was the life in late 40s and early 50s, when I was in Hyderabad State.
It was natural that now cycles too should feature in films. Imaginative Directors used cycles for the heroes when they chased the heroines and for the heroines when they went on a picnic with sahelis. In many films, the village affluents would be shown as cycle owners and the city people using it for moving about.
Up to the 70s, cycles were part of many films. Slowly, cycles were replaced by scooters, Mopeds and motor cycles in films and by 80s, it was only cars and fancy Mobikes for the heroes. Poor cycles were reduced to be shown, only used by the doodhwalla bhaiyyas (milk-men).
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Tags: Aas Ka Panchhi [1961], Agra Road [1957], akela hoon main, Ameeta, Arunkumar Deshmukh, Arunkumar Deshmukh’s 10 favourite cycle songs, Asha Bhsole, Baat Ek Raat Ki [1962], C Ramchandra, dev anand, dil mera ek aas ka panchhi, Ek Hi Raasta [1956], G. M. Durrani, Geeta Dutt, Ghulam Haider, Guest Post, Hasarat Jaipuri, Hemant Kumar, Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956), humko hansate dekh zamana jalata hai, I. S. Johar, inse rippy tippy ho gayi, Johnny Walker, Kalyanji-Anandji, Kavi Pradeep, Khan Mastana, Khazanchi [1941], Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, main chali main chali, Majnu, Majrooh Sultanpuri, manaa janaab ne pukara nahin, Meena Kumari, Mehmood, Mohd. Rafi, Mukesh, Nutan, O. P. Nayyar, Omprakash Bhandari, Padosan [1968], Paigham [1959], Paying Guest [1957], Prem Dhavan, pyaase panchhi neel gagan ke, Pyaase Panchhi [1961], Qamar Jalalabadi, R. D. Burman, Rajendra Krishna, Rajendra Kumar, Roshan, S. D. Burman, saanwale salone aaye din bahar ke, Saira Bano, sawan ke nazare hain, Shakila, Shamshad Begum, Shankar-Jaikishen, Subir Sen, Sunil Dutt, suno re bhaiyya hum layen hain, Vijay Anand, Wali Saheb
My ten favourite Sadhana songs
Today on your 71st birthday, wish you a happy birthday and many more to come, dear Sadhana! Thanks for the beautiful films and moments, which you have gifted us!
Sadhana, one of the Hindi screen’s beautiful leading ladies. She was a trend-setter in fashion, when nobody even knew this word. She was glamorous, beautiful and more importantly talented actress. Given the trend of the 60s, where the frothy musicals reigned supreme, she got ample scope to show her acting talents in variety of films. Bimal Roy, the ace-director cast her in Parakh (1960) and Prem Patra (1964). Raj Khosla made a trilogy of films with her in central roles Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967).
Her thyroid problem led to an eye ailment, which led to her going on a long treatment in the USA, due to which she was missed on many films. Her come-back films were Intequam (1969) and Ek Phool Do Mali (1969) were hits. The 70s even saw her don the cap of the director for Geeta Mera Naam (1974). The changing trends of the 70s saw her take retirement from the silver screen, though the 70s saw the release of delayed films like Amanat (1975), Vandana (1975) and Mehfil (1981). Her last film Ulfat ki Nayi Manzilein, whose music was released in 1968, got released in 1994. In the song here, we see how the film must have been completed with doubles, in the song, baharon se kahenge nazaroon se kahenge, we see only the back of the character played by her.
I have chosen only solo songs from her films and I have restricted myself to one song pro film.
Enjoy!
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Tags: aap ki inayaten aap ke karam, Ajay Sahni, Anand Bakshi, Anita [1967], Asad Bhopali, Asha Bhosle, Asli Naqli [1962], Bimal Roy, Biswajeet, dev anand, Dharmendra, Ek Phool Do Mali, Feroz Khan, Geeta Mera Naam [1974], guru dutt, hamne jin ke khwab sajaye, Happy Birthday Sadhana!, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, hum khoob jante hai, Ishq Par Zor Nahin [1970], kareeb aa yeh nazar phir mile, kaun aaya ki nigaahon me chamak jaag uthi, Kishore Kumar naina barse rimjhim rimjhim, kitna rangeen hai ye chaand sitaaron ka samaa, Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, main to tum sang nain milake haar gayi sajana, Manmauji [1962], Manoj Kumar, Mera Saaya [1966], My ten favourite Sadhana songs, Naaz, naino me badra chahe, o mere bairaagi bhanwara, o sajana barkha bahaar aayi, Parakh [1960], Parikshit Sahni, Picnic, Raaj Kumar, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajinder Krishan, Ravi, S. D. Burman, Saajan Ki Galiyan, Sahir, Salil Chowdhury, Shailendra, Shankar-Jaikishan, Sunil Dutt, suniye zara dekhiye na, tera mera pyar amar, Vandana [1975], Waqt [1965], Woh Kaun Thi [1964], Zaheeda
My ten favourite bangala (bungalow) songs
A dream of one’s own house/cottage in the suburbs has been and is the motor of many middle class households all over the world. Maybe it is the security it offers or the need for privacy, to have a garden and the cosy life which one associates with it and thus to achieve ultimate goal of every human being to be happy. If one really ‘achieves’ all these things with the acquisition of this cosy house is secondary. I think the dream in itself the best part of it.
Like many of the dreams and aspirations of the common man (whoever or whatever he/she is), even this aspect has not been neglected in the Hindi film songs. Here are my favourites!
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Tags: aag lage bangle me, aaiye aapko main apne bangle ki sair, Aap Ki Khatir [1977], Aji Bas Shukriya [1958], Anand Bakshi, Asha Bhosle, Asha Parekh, bangala, bangla, Bappi Lahiri, Basu Manohari, Bengal, dariya kinare ek bangalo, dev anand, DevAnand, European settlers, Farida Jalal, Farooq Qaiser, G. M. Durrani, ganga ki reti pe bangala chhawaai, geeta bali, Ghulam Mohammed, hai lagaa, House No. 44, hum to tere dil ke bangale me aanaa maangtaa, Iftekhar, ik bangala bane nyaara, Johnny Walker, Joroo Ka Ghulam, K. L. Saigal, Kaala Paani, Kalyanji-Anandji, kanta lagaa, Kidar Sharma, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Magroor [1950], Majrooh Sultanpuri, Meena Kumari, Mirza Ghalib [1954], Mohammed Rafi, My ten favourite bangala songs, My ten favourite bungalow songs, Nalini Jaywant, Nanda, nazar laage raajaa tore bangale par, o daata o daataa de hamko bhi ek pyaara bangala, Pankaj Mullick, President [1937], pyaara ek bangala ho, R. C. Boral, R. D. Burman, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Rehman, Rekha, Roshan, S. D. Burman, Sabse Bada Rupaiya [1976], Sahir, Samadhi 1972, Shaili Shailendra, Shakeel Budayuni, Shamshad Begum, Sudha Malhotra, Suraiya, Vinod Khanna, Vinod Mehra
My ten favourite Krishna songs
Today is Krishna Janmasthami, Krishna’s birthday. Krishna is the most favourite of all the Hindu deities in Hindi films and is sung about in many ways. Today while discussing with Madhu on Facebook, I started listing some Krishna songs, which came into mind and thus this list happened. It was made in a hurry, so pardon any mistakes made.
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Tags: A. K. Hangal, aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo, aan milo aan milo, ae sakhi radhike banwari ho gayi, Amar Prem [1972], Amol Palekar, Anand Bakshi, Apne Paraye [1980], Baby Naaz, Bappi Lahiri, Baseraa [1981], Biswajeet, Chitragupt, Devdas [1955], Dulari, Geeta Dutt & Manna Dey, Gulzar, guru dutt, Happy Janmasthami, Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Janmasthami, Jurmana [1979], kaanhaa bole naa, Kaise Kahoon [1964], Krishn, Krishna’s birthday, Lata Mangeshkar, maane naa maane naa manamohana, Madam XYZ [1959], Manmohan Krishna, manmohan man me, Mohammed Rafi, mohe panghat pe nandalal chhed gayo re, Mughal-E-Azam [1960], My ten favourite Krishna songs, Nana Palsikar, Nanda, Naushad, Poonam Dhillon, Prem Dhawan, Pyaasa [1957], R. D. Burman, raina biti jaye, Rajesh Khanna, Rakesh Pandey, Rakhee, Rekha, S. D. Burman, Saanware sunawo bansuri, Sahir, Salil Chowdhury, Sangat [1976], Shakeel Badayuni, Sharmila Tagore, shyam na aaye, shyam rang ranga re, Suman Kalyanpur, Waheeda Rehman, Yogesh Yesudas
Dear Pacifist has agreed once again to honour this blog with a post of hers. Thank you, Pacifist!
10 beautiful village songs
Poos ki sard raat thi…, chilchilati dhoop mein nange paon…, (it was a freezing winter night…, bare feet in the blistering heat…,) are phrases I associate Munshi Premchand with. Though we used the term chilchilati dhoop , poos ki raat was new. Village life in the north, as depicted in his novels, was very harsh as these two terms indicate. My interest in his novels branched into reading some of his short stories too, so when Harvey asked me to write a post I thought of Munshi Premchand and villages.
Now we all know that the village life as depicted in our films is nothing like the real thing, but some of the older films did manage to get some sort of realism, simplicity, though in some cases burdensome (Mother India). Whatever the case they always give me a feeling of being purified. Blame it on the pollution inducing contemporary films. Dilip Kumar, Balraj Sahni, even Raj Kumar made convincing villagers. The heroines all looked good enough. Not only that, but the folksy songs were great. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 10 beautiful village songs, A village mela (fair), Amitabh Bachchan, Anjaan, Asha Bhonsle, Balraj Sahni, Dharti kahe pukar ke, Dilip Kumar, Do Bailon Ki Katha, Do Beegha Zameen (1953), Do Boond Pani (1971), Godan (1963), Gunga Jamuna (1961), Har haseen cheez ka, Harvesting, Heera Moti (1959), Heeya jarat rahat din rain, Hemant Kumar, Jaane kahe jiya more dole, Jab se lagan lagayi re, Jaidev, Jawaharlal Nehru, Julmi sang aankh ladi, Kaifi Azmi, Kishore Kumar, Lali lali dolia mein lali, Lata Mangeshkar, Leisure time in the village, Madhumati (1958), Manna Dey, Minoo Purshottam, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Munshi Premchand, Naach re dharti ke pyare pyare, Nain lad jainhe, Naushad, Neeraj, Nirupa Roy, O bedardi aa mil jaldi, Parveen Sultana, Peetal ki meri gaagri, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Raj Kapoor, Rakhee, Ravindra Jain, Reshma aur Shera (1971), Roshan, Salil Choudhary, Saudagar (1971), Shailendra, Shakeel Badayuni, Shankar-Jaikishan, Shreyas Talpade, Shubha Khote, Simi Garewal, Teesri Kasam (1966), The village backbone: Rain, The village belle gori, The village rasiya (hero), the womenfolk, Village celebration – wedding, Village children, Village family, Vyjayanthimala, Waheeda Rehman, Welcome to Sajjanpur
My ten favourite songs on clouds and separation
Mid-June, the rains used to arrive in Bombay when I was a kid. The black clouds would hold the promise of change. This would mean relief from the heat and dust of the preceding summer months and a burst of new life. The dreary plain near our house would promise to turn into a pond with lots of small streams arising and emptying in it. These small streams would then become alive with small and big crabs and tadpoles! Coinciding with the arrival of the black clouds, the new school year would also arrive. This would mean new textbooks! The dark messenger would also bring the hope, that I would share the class room with my friends from last year, but at the same time also the anxiety if I would again have to spend this new school year with class bully.
These dark water-bearers of sky, who brought so many emotions in my being were and are also the bearers of hope over the centuries in India for separated lovers. The earliest mention is found in Meghduta (the cloud messenger) by Kalidasa (most probably 4th century CE). It tells the story, how a yakṣha (a supernatural being), after being exiled, asks a passing cloud to take a message to his wife. In Hindi cinema though, we find mostly women singing to the clouds. They call upon them to be their messengers, to take a message to their far-off beloveds, asking them to return back.
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Tags: Ameeta, Anil Biswas, Asha Bhosle, Azaad [1955], Bahana [1960], Bharat Vyas, C Ramchandra, Chashm-e-Baddoor [1981], Chhote Nawab [1961], clouds, D. N. Madhok, Dar Laage Garaje Badariyaa, Deepti Naval, Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke [1969], Dilip Kumar, Gaban [1966], Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badaraa Sanvariyaa, Gulzar, Haimanti Shukla, Indu Jain, Ja Re Kare Badra, Jaa Re Badara Bairi Jaa Re, Jaa Ri Jaa Ri O Kaari Badariya, Jab Kaari Badariyaa Chhaayegi, Jeetendra, Kahan Se Aaye Badaraa, Kalidasa, Karan Deewan, Lajawab [1950], Lata Mangeshkar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Meena Kapoor, Meena Kumari, Meghduta, Mehmood, Mohammed Rafi, monsoon, My ten favourite songs on clouds and separation, Namkeen [1982], Nanda, Naushad, Of Clouds and Separation, Phir Se Aiyo Badaraa Bidesi, Prem Dhawan, R. D. Burman, rain, Rajinder Krishan, Rajkamal, Ram Rajya [1967], Rattan [1944], Sadhana, Sawan Ke Badalon Unse Yeh Jaa Kaho, Shabana Azmi, Shailendra, Shankar-Jaikishan, Sheila Vaz, Sunil Dutt, Swarnlata, the cloud messenger, Tum Bin Sajan Barase Nayan, Vasant Desai, yakṣha, Yesudas, Zohra Bai
My ten favourite Nutan romantic-duets
Comes 4th of June and it is Nutan’s birth anniversary again and also that of bollwood deewana and Richard’S sister. It is turning fast into a tradition to celebrate Nutan’s birthday on this blog. This is her third birthday here. Last year I listed my favourite solo songs of hers. This year it is the turn of duets.
As usual I have taken only one duet per film. What really surprised me was that in her three most famous films, Seema [1955], Sujata [1959] and Bandini [1963], she doesn’t have any duets with her love interest! They are also missing in her Nagina [1951] and Hum Log [1951].
Well, here are my favourite Nutan duets. Enjoy them!
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Tags: . Dekho Rootha Naa Karo, 4th of June, Aasmanwale Teri Duniya Se Jee, Ae Chaand Zaraa Chhup Jaa, Ae Kaash Chalte Milke, Anil Biswas, Asha Bhosle, Basant [1960], Bharat Bhushan, Chhod Do Aanchal, Chori Chori Ek Ishara, chupke se mile pyaase, dev anand, Dil Hi To Hai [1963], Dilli Ka Thug [1958], Geeta Dutt, Ghulam Mohammad, Hasrat Jaipuri, Heer [1956], Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Laatsaab (1967), Laila Majnu [1953], Lata Mangeshkar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Man Ki Been Matwari Baaje, Manna Dey, Manzil [1960], Mohd. Rafi, Mukesh, my ten favourite Nutan romantic-duets, Naushad, Nutan's birth anniversary, Nutan’s birthday, O Saajana Chhuta Hai Jo Daaman Tera, O. P. Nayyar, Paying Guest [1957], Pradeep Kumar, Qamar Jalalabadi, Raj Kapoor, Ravi, Roshan, S. D. Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Shabab [1954], Shailendra, Shakeel Badayuni, Shammi Kapoor, Shankar-Jaikishan, Talat Mehmood, Tere Ghar Ke Saamne [1963], Tumhari Mast Nazar Gar Idhar Nahin Hoti, Yeh Raatein Yeh Mausam