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!
Read the rest of this entry »
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
Hidden umbrella passions in ten Hindi film songs
Umbrellophily, a phenomenon not spoken sung about in the Hindi film industry. The author of these lines like many other fans of Hindi film songs was not aware of this shocking fact either. During his search for a list of his 10 favourite umbrella songs (since rain-song lists have been beaten to death), he stumbled over this taboo topic in the Hindi cinema. While he was searching, he could unearth only three songs, which mention an umbrella and two-thirds of them were not even melodious. Why this step-motherly treatment towards this ‘protector against rain’?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: aakhir tuut jaatha hai, Aap ke nazaron ne samjha, Aasha, Aayega, aayega aanewaalaa, Ab mera kaun sahara, Amitabh Bachchan, Anand Bakshi, Anpadh, Asha Bhosle, Asha Parekh, Ashok Kumar, bari, Barsaat, Bhichde sabhi bari, Dharmendra, Dhoop Chhaon, Do lafzon ki hai dil ki kahani, gondola, gondoliere, Gulzar, guru dutt, hai lagaa, Hasrat Jaipuri, Hema Malini, Hindi film songs, hum par jurm kare, Jaya Bhaduri, Joshila, K. C. Dey, K. L. Saigal, Kaagaz ke Phool, Kaantaa lagaa, Kaifi Azmi, Madhubala, Mahal, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Mala Sinha, My Sister. Do naina matware tihare, Nargis, Parichay, Pt. Sudarshan, pyaar ke kabil mujhe, Pyaasa, R. C. Boral, R. D. Burman, Rain songs, Raj Kapoor, Rameshwari, Reena Roy, Rehman, Samadhi, Shakti Samanta, Shankar-Jaikishan, Sheesha ho ya dil ho, Sonaa mile to log aaj kal dil ko kabhi na le, Teri ghathri me laaga chor musaafir jaag zara, The Great Gambler, umbrella, Umbrella passions, Umbrellophily, Vishal Bharadwaj, Zeenat Aman

Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam has so many facets to it. that one can hardly cover it up with one posting. Moreover, there are so many thoughts and ideas, which come into the mind while watching it, but I just couldn’t find words for it. I think one can surely write a doctoral thesis on it. I could leave mine and start with this one! 😉
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abrar Alvi, Brahmo Samaj, Dhumal, feminism, feudal system, guru dutt, Hemant Kumar, M. C. Escher, Meena Kumari, pillars, Rehman, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam film review, Waheeda Rehman, women

It is nearly three days since I saw Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam and I just don’t know how to start with the description. The story has so many layers, so many details. The whole picturisation is a revelation. In every angle there is something to be discovered. And I wanted and want to include everything, which is impossible. And of course I have to follow my day job as well. Thus, I’ve planned to go the Pyaasa way. I’ll post the synopsis and something about this and that. And then will arrive the Musings on… part. By the way a wonderful synopsis of the film has written by dear dustedoff, who is so much better with the language and has an art of expressing herself. She and this film are by the way also responsible for this blog. Richard has written in his expressive explosive manner on his reaction to the film. The Third Man at Upperstall gives many insights into the film and the big fan of Guru Dutt Philip Lutgendorf at his wonderful site has also written about this film.

Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Abrar Alvi, Asha Bhosle, Bimal Mitra, Brahmo Samaj, Dhumal, Geeta Dutt, guru dutt, Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Hemant Kumar, Kishan Dhawan, Meena Kumari, Minoo Mumtaz, Nasir Husein, Protima Devi, Ranjitkumari, Rehman, Saheb Bibi Golam, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam film review, Sapru, V. K. Murthy, Waheeda Rehman

This one was for me Guru Dutt’s less interesting films. In my teens I just couldn’t warm up to it as I had for Pyaasa, Kaagaz ke Phool or Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam or for that matter even Aar-Paar. Although nearly everybody loves the title song, even that didn’t much to me. All this changed completely when I read Cory Creekmur’s notes on the film on Philip Lutgendorf’s site. I cursed myself for being blind and re-watched it. One thing is to be said of it: this film created more waves of contradictions in my heart than any other film ever has.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chaudhvin ka Chand, Chaudhvin ka Chand film review, friendship, guru dutt, Johny Walker, Lucknow, Minoo Mumtaz, Mumtaz Begum, Purdah, Rehman, Waheeda Rehman

The Story
The plot of Pyaasa though unique, lends heavily from two sources. One which is quite evident is Saratchandra Chatterji’s Devdas and the other is the story of Jesus Christ. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Calcutta, Devdas, guru dutt, Jesus Christ, Johny Walker, Kumkum, Leela Mishra, Mala Sinha, maya, Mehmood, Pyaasa, Rehman, S. D. Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, spirituality, V. K. Murthy, Waheeda Rehman

When I first saw Pyaasa, I must have been eleven or twelve years old. Well, in fact, I didn’t get to watch it because 1. I had a exam the next day, 2. I had a splitting headache. The end result was I couldn’t watch the film, except for a few glimpses from behind the curtain, I didn’t learn, my headache didn’t get cured. Huge failure on all fronts! When I was 19 or so it was aired again on DD at midnight or something. This time I could watch it and I was floored! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Calcutta, guru dutt, Johnny Walker, Kumkum, Leela Mishra, Mala Sinha, poet, prostitution, Pyaasa, Pyaasa film review, Radheshyam, Rehman, Shyam, Tun tun, Waheeda Rehman