My ten favourite Meena Kumari songs
Meena Kumari, a face, which launched thousand tragic films. A thousand might be a bit of exaggeration, but she alone on her star-power helped tragic films to great success. In the 50s and even in the frolicking, colourful 60s, people would flock the cinema halls (to different degrees) to see her suffer. She was also an adept comedienne, in which she also excelled and was quite successful as seen in Magroor [1950], Miss Mary [1957], Azaad [1955] and Kohinoor [1960].
Meena Kumari at a certain time in my childhood played a big role in shaping the image of women in my psyche. Exposed to a slew of films, where she played a neglected wife, a suffering daughter-in-law, a sacrificing daughter, a caring sister-in-law, a protective sister or ‘simply’ a tormented woman between two men, she moulded an image of women being forever doomed to suffer at the hands of men in life. It is true that even other leading ladies like Mala Sinha (Anpadh) or Nutan (Khandan, Chhota Bhai) played such roles but it was as if they were impersonating Meena Kumari in these films. Meena Kumari remained always the original and the one to which others had to match to.
The presence of strong, independent and liberal women in my family and surroundings though would rectify the image in my mind; Meena Kumari would nevertheless always remain special.
On 31st March it was her 41st death anniversary. To commemorate it here are ten of my favourite songs filmed on her. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 31st March, 41st death anniversary, aaj ham apni duaon ka asar dekhenge, aaj to meri hansi, ajeeb dastan hai yeh, Akeli Mat Jaiyo [1963], Asha Bhosle, Ashok Kumar, Bahu Begum [1967, Baiju Bawra [1952], C Ramchandra, chalo dildaar chalo, chalte chalte, Chitralekha [1964], Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai [1960], Dil Ek Mandir [1963], duniya kare sawaal to ham kya jawab de, Durga Khote, Edwina Violette, Geeta Dutt, Ghulam Mohammad, Gomti Ke Kinare [1972], ham tere pyar me saara aalam, Hasrat Jaipuri, Hemant Kumar, inhi logon ne, Kaajal [1965], Kamal Amrohi, kitni jawan hai raa tkoi yaad aa gaya - Azaad [1955], Lata Mangeshkar, Madan Mohan, Majrooh Sultanpuri, mausam hai aashiqana, Meena Kumari, mohe bhool gaye sanwariya, My ten favourite Meena Kumari songs, Nadira, Naushad, Pakeezah [1972], piya aiso jiya me samay gayo re, Raaj Kumar, Rajendra Krishna, Rajendra Kumar, Ravi, Roshan, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam [1962], Sahir, Sahir Ludhianvi, sansar se bhaage phirte ho, Sawan Kumar Tak, Shailendra, Shakeel Badayuni, Shanker-Jaikishan, thade rahiyon, tora man darpan kehlaye, woh jo milte the kabhi
My ten favourite hindi film bhajans
Hindi film bhajans are not my cup of tea. They are mostly preachy and weepy, and in worst cases, also very demanding. God give me this and god give me that, as if God is a servant to be ordered around. 😉 That is why I thought this will be any easy list to make. In fact dustedoff and I spoke about it some 2-3 years back.
While collecting songs for this list I did find some soulful music going with some good bhajans with content.
So as to boil the list down to 10, I had to make some rules. Well, in fact only one rule that the songs/bhajans must be sung by person(s) sitting/standing in front of an idol of a god or goddess (or something equivalent). Songs of wandering monks, ascetics or mendicants will constitute a separate list.
So, here is my list of 10 favourite Hindi film bhajans
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: A R Rahman, Achala Sachdev, Anand Bakshi, Asha Bhosle, Baiju Bawra, Balraj Sahni, Baseraa, Bulo C. Rani, dev anand, Dilip Kumar, Durga Khote, Geeta Dutt, Ghunghat Ke Pat Khol Re, Guide, Gulzar, Hari Om…, Hey Ram Hamare Ramchandra, Jaidev, Javed Akthar, Jogan, Julie, Kaajal, Kala Bazaar, Lata Mangeshkar, Leela Chitnis, Madhushree, Man Tarasat, Manna Dey, Meena Kumari, Meerabai, Naa Me Dhan Chahu, Nanda, Nargis, Naushad, Pal pal hai bhari, Parinay, R. D. Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Ramanand Sharma, Ravi, Rita Bhaduri, S. D. Burman, Saancha naam tera, Saanware sunawo bansuri, Sahir, Seema, Shah Rukh Khan, Shailendra, Shailendra Sudha Malhotra, Shakeel. Mohammad. Rafi, Shanakar-Jaikishan, Sharma brothers, Sooraj ki garmi se jalte, Swades, Swami Haridas, Tora Mann Darpan Kehlaye, Tu Pyaar ka Saagar Hai, Usha Mangeshkar, Vijay Prakash