Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav
(Many talented music personalities from regional films/languages enriched Hindi film music. Some achieved great name and fame in Hindi films, especially those from Bengal, such as SD Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chaudhary, or in the Vintage Era, RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick; or from Marathi, such as C Ramchandra or Vasant Desai, or in the Vintage Era, Keshavrao Bhole etc. Some others, especially from Gujarat, could not replicate their success they had in their native language. Avinash Vyas is one such case. Highly talented, and the Pole Star of Gujarati film music, commercial success eluded him in the fickle world of Hindi films. Our familiar expert, Ashokji, is paying a tribute to this genius on his death anniversary, August 20. – AK)
Avinash Vyas (21 July 1912 – 20 August 1984), true to his name, Avinash, has left indelible mark on the world of Gujarati sugam (light) music, through around 10000+ songs. He composed music for over 190 Gujarati films (around 1200 songs). His songs covered a very wide panorama of subjects and moods. He can be single-handedly considered to have pioneered roping in almost the entire front ranking playback singers from Hindi Film World for the Gujarati film and / or non-film songs.
Having had the base of training in music under the wings of Ustad Allaudin Khan Saheb, he rubbed shoulders with Ustad Alla Rakha (A R Qureshi) for Hindi Films in his initial days. Avinash Vyas’s maiden film was in Hindi – Mahasati Anasuya (1943), jointly with A R Quereshi. After the teething struggles, the first major commercial breakthrough came in 1948 with the film Gunsundari, done in Hindi and Gujarati.
On Avinash Vyas’s anniversary, 20th August, we take a look at his association with Hindi Hindi Film Songs by different playback singers.
Avinash Vyas is considered to be largely instrumental in Geeta Dutt singing more songs in Gujarati than her native Bengali language. Probably the great popularity of Geeta Dutt’s songs from Avinash Vyas’s mythological films, like Aaj nahin to kal from Nagmani (1957) brought more of that genre of Geeta Dutt songs in Avinash Vyas’s Hindi films during early 50s. But the commercial popularity in one direction did not deter him from using Geeta Dutt for diverse range of songs, such as this lullaby
So ja re mere laal by Geeta Dutt from Aadhi Roti (1957), lyrics Bharat Vyas
We have to look at quantitative work or the period of active career of other “known” music directors of the HFM – Khayyam (around 40 films), Roshan (around 57 films), Salil Chaudhary (around 70 films) – to truly appreciate Avinash Vyas’s contribution of around 62 films from 1943 till almost end (1984-85). But the ruthless Lady of Luck of HFM seemed to consign Avinash Vyas to the vicious circle of low-budget mythological films, with sprinkling of some social or historical films, more as an exception to support the rule.
However, these adversities could not restrain his creativity. Avinash Vyas continued to experiment with almost every major singer. Here is some of the wide range of songs with equally diverse range of female playback singers:
Ek dharti hai ek hai gagan by Meena Kapoor from Adhikar (1954), lyrics Neelkanth Tiwari
Koi dukhiyaari aayi tere dwar by Sudha Malhotra from Andheri Nagri Chaupat Raja (1955), lyrics Bharat Vyas
Tere bangle ki main maina, a mujra by Shamshad Begum from Bhakt Raj (1960), lyrics Bharat Vyas
Ritu anokhi pyar anokha by Zohra Ambalewali from Har Har Mahadev (1950)
Chamak rahe tare by Madhubala Jhaveri from Rajrani Damyanti (1952), lyrics Neelkanth Tiwari
Avinash Vyas, probably because of budgetary constraints, seems to have used mainstream playback singers rather sparingly. But wherever he did use them, his work stood out among the contemporary work of other composers.
Here is one example of his Lata Mangeshkar song
Ja re badal ja from Kailashpati (1962)
By 1953, within just a decade of his entry to the Hindi Film World, he already seemed to have created a name. He was entrusted with composing the Gujarati piece in the multilingual song of the film ‘Teen Batti Char Rasta’ @ 4.0, wherein he has used Asha Bhosle in such a delightful light mood. He has been able to present Asha Bhosle in the pensive mood also in the next song when he could get his chance to compose songs for social films, sometime by 1954. He certainly did not fail to show his mettle to handle very light social subjects through songs like
Sun bhi le Paravardigar dil ki itni si pukar from Malika-e-Aalam Noorjahan (1954), lyrics Keshav Trivedi
B.A., M. A., B. Ed. by Asha Bhosle and Chorus from Adhikaar (1954)
And through all typical Kishore Kumar mannerisms in
Tikadam baazi tikadam bazi.. miya razi bibi razi by Kishore Kumar from Adhikar (1954)
Avinash Vyas seemed to be equally comfortable in composing male songs, be it for mythological or social or historical situations –
Tere dwar khada Bhagwan by Pradeep from Waman Avtar (1955) lyrics Pradeep
Pollam poll by Mohammad Rafi from Laxmi (1957), lyrics Qamar Jalabadi
Jane di kismat ki naav by Manna Dey and chorus from Bhagyawan (1953), lyrics Ramesh Gupta
And his urge to experiment with different male playback singers too, within the constraints that surrounded his creativity, is clearly visible in these songs:
Bade bade dhoondhe pahaad by Hemant Kumar from Jagatguru Shankaracharya (1955), lyrics Bharat Vyas
Deep jal raha hai by Talat Mahmood from Andheri Nagri Chaupat Raja (1955), lyrics Bharat Vyas
He can be seen to have handled duets also very well:
Ek baar to mil lo gale by Talat Mahmood and Sudha Malhotra from Andheri Nagri Chaupat Raja (1955)
Tim tima tim taare by Mukesh and Sulochana Kadam from Har Har Mahadev (1950)
The period of 1951 to 1962 can be considered as the peak of Avinash Vyas’s tryst with Hindi Films – more than half of a total of 62 of his Hindi Films belong to this period. 1957 had 7 films under his baton, and 1954, 1955 and 1958 saw 5 each – almost a third of his total films during these 4 years. By that time he had a mega blockbuster Gujarati film – Mahendi Rang Lagyo (1960). That probably got his focus shifted to Gujarati Cinema. During the latter part of 60s through 70s, Gujarati Films saw (literally) a single-track era of folk subjects. Avinash Vyas, of course, was the cornerstone of these films. He leveraged his now undisputed popularity in bringing in the local folk singers to the film world, thereby granting them the recognition due to them.
Let us remember Avinash Vyas’s versatility, creativity and experimental streak across the span of his career, (also) through these Gujarati Songs – On Mumbai and Ahmedabad:
Ame Mumbai na rahevasi by Geeta Roy, Chunilal Pardesi and A R Ojha from Mangal Fera (1949)
Aa Mumbai chhe, jyan bhai karatan jaaji Bai Chhe (This is Mumbai, where there are more women than men) by Manna Dey from Mahendi Rang Lagyo (1960)
Hoon Amdavad no rikshawalo by Kishore Kumar from Maa Baap (1977)
Hoon Amdavad ni nari naveli from Kanku Ni Kimat (1983)
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
Ashokji…Jay Shri Krishn… Nice tribute to our musical god at appropriate time. Though A.Vyas failed in hindi belt, he lifted gujarati film music onto unbelievable height. Both Chitragupt and Avi vyas started with b or c grade mythological films but Chitragupt grew strongly in ‘bhabhi’ and got a way in hindi cinema but A.vyas cudnt. Amongst 62 hindi films only 1 song is popular that is ‘tere dwar khada bhagwan’ ! Tragedy for maestro.
And when we look at GUJARATI films he completely dominated the field. No rivalry no competition. Every song made by him is highly popular as well as classic…wow !!
Amongst your list of his hindi film songs i have heard just 2 songs of him.
1. Tere dwar khada…and
2. Ja re baadal ja…lata classic from kailashpati
Kailashpati has another good song of lataji..’mere kahan gaye kailaspati’
Thanx very much for recalling our musical icon.
here is a nice song of him with suman kalyanpur from the film ‘royal mail’ (1963)
‘zindagi denewale dil to mera leta ja’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpkvp_OkBLI
also i want to present my 2 very favorite söngs of him. These r iconic songs in gfm history.
(1)
”Pela pela jug ma rani
Tu hati popati ne
Ame re popat raja raam na” from ‘raja bharathari’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJTMDhtHJI
Dear Jigneshji,
Many thanks for Royal Mail song.
‘prabhu thai nathi re pujaavu, ghadvaiya have thakorji nathi thaavu’
(now i dont want to be worshipped anymore, i m just tired being ‘thakorji’ of people, i want to become a common man again, and want to go at Vrindavan again to see my cows and cowherd friends)
Bhakta gora kumbhar (1978) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MehjXGUshH4
Ashokji,
Thanks for introducing to Hindi music director Avinash Vyas for me he was the a Gujarati MD. In fact his Hindi work is better than most of his popular Gujarati songs.
He is also remembered as pioneer of Gujarati Sugam Sangeet
http://rishitjhaveri.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/gujarati-sugam-sangeet-1/
@mumbaikar8
Yes, by all stretch, Avinash Vyas was considered the Gujarati Music Director, even though his Geeta Dutt and some of Pradeep’s songs form mythological Hindi films had been quite famous right in late 40s/ early 50s.
However, when some one does around 10000 songs in one language, it is natural that he gets cast into the mould of his own success.
So even when his Hindi film songs were hitting popularity charts, his success at Gujarati end was becoming a roadblock to major commercial break through for Hindi Films. Add to that his confinement to low budget films from smaller banners.
To me most enjoyable part was to search and listen to his Hindi Film songs, mostly, first time for this article, in last six months.
Ashokji,
I came to know of Avinash Vyas when I first heard his popular song sung by Kavi Pradeep ‘Tere dwar khada bhagwan bhagat bhar de re jholi’. Later I came across a few more beautiful songs composed by him for Jagadguru Shankaracharya,
Om Namah Shivaya by Md. Rafi
Meri Gaagar mein Saagar roop ka by Geeta Dutt
Aaj Kaise yeh Suraj Chamka re by Asha Bhosle
He Natwar Nagar Muralidhar by Geeta Dutt & Pinaki Shah
I was impressed by his composition ‘Jhulo Jhulo re Jhulna Jhulau’ from Ekadashi sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Since then I have listened to and enjoyed some more compositions of Avinash Vyas both in Hindi as well as in Gujarati. Commercial success in Hindi films might have eluded him, but he was not an obscure composer.
Sometime in November last year I was expecting this article from you, when your overview on Multiple Version songs was posted. And at last a deserving tribute to a great composer on his 30th Prayan Divas. I enjoyed listening to the selection of songs covering almost his entire career from 1949 to 1983, and covering almost the entire gamut of male and female singers of his time. The choice of songs also represents his versatility. ‘Aaj nahin to kal’ by Geeta Dutt, ‘Ritu anokhi pyar anokha’ by Zohra Ambalewali and ‘Sun bhi le Paravardigar dil ki itni si pukar’ by Asha Bhosle were the songs I like the most from the 10 songs of female singers. The 6 songs of male singers also made good listening. The four Gujarati songs provided the icing over the cake.
Thanks for the well written article and songs.
I noticed that the lyrics on more than one occasion were by Bharat Vyas. Is he any way related to Avinash Vyas?
Let me share some more songs of Avinash Vyas:
‘Maati Kahe Kumbhar Se Tu Kya Raunde Mohe Ek Din Aisa Aayega’ by Shankar Dasgupta from Adhikaar (1971), lyrics Raja Mehdi Ali Khan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnKeSeyfsws
‘Jo ugta hai wo dhalta hai samay ka chatra chalta hai’ by Mukesh from Mata Mahakali (1968), lyrics Bharat Vyas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5nKV-2bXk8
‘Gun Gun Gunjan Karta Bhanwra’ by Geeta Dutt from Har Har Mahadev(1950), lyrics Ramesh Shastri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8skBMVjWSRA
‘Suniyo Kripa Nisar’ by Suman Kalyanpur from Daku aur Bhagwan (1975), lyrics Bharat Vyas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soAutgA-WQU&feature=player_embedded
Finally a song sung by Avinash Vyas. “Prabhu mare tu Rakhe”
http://www.dhingana.com/gujarati/a-musical-journey-avinash-vyas-songs-first-time-on-cd-songs-aruna-irani-amrit-patel-oldies-3756dd1
Avinashji I would say was stalwart of Guj. Music. He was a Bharat Ratna of Gujarat. He will remembered for ever by Music Lovers all over the world.
When I went through Ashokji’s list, I noticed that Pinjare ke panchhi re was missing. This along with Tere dwar khada Bhagwan were the songs by which I recognised Avinash Vyas. Nagmani also had a good song by Geeta Dut – Tune khoob racha Bhagwan. Somehow in my mind I thought this was also sung by Pradeep.
A song I came to know in the internet era also deserves mention as one of the best compositions of Avinash Vyas:
Badal ki palki pe hoke sawar by Hemant Kumar and Asha Bhosle from Chakradhari (1954), lyrics Pradeep
Chakradhari also has a very good bhajan by Rafi:
I got interested in Gunasundari (1948) because of Amirbai Karnataki as one of the singers. For vintage value here is the song. It is not clear to me from the words or the YT link whether it is from Hindi or Gujarati version, though this song is listed in HFGK .
Until this article I was not aware that Avinash Vyas has such an exalted place in Gujarati music. It is befitting that it was written by a native of the place.
After the article was up, I noticed a detail which raised my doubts. I had a side discussion with Ashokji as to how authentic was the said figure of 10000+ songs by him. This is a humungous number and would need validation by experts.
I went though the songs added by Jignesh and Venkataramanji. Prabhu mare tu rakhe sung by Avinash Vyas himself is excellent.
#Venkatramanji
Thanks for adding to the gems of Avainash Vyas’s versatility.
I had attempted to choose the songs that were not so popular, but would certainly help in providing the spectrum of his work, particularly form social theme films. THis is why I had avoided presenting his hugely popular Pradeepji songs.
Bharat Vyas was no way related to Avinash Vyas. But he was known to use only hindi in his lyrics, hence probably was an obvious choice for mythological subjects.
Gun Gun Karat Bhanwara so melodiously succeeds in creating the humming tone of a bee’s flying wings, a tribute to not only his imagination but also to his skill in getting the effect translated during the final delivery.
I too share AKji’s concern for the claim that Avinash Vyas has composed more than 10,000 songs.
Several articles have used this figure.
I have not been able to lay hand on some highly authoritative work to validate this figure.
But, since the articles have been on the public domain for so long, had there been any gross error, it would been easy to fnd articles that would have disputed such claims.
It is also surprising that one can not find his so profuse work. May be good deal of the work may hve been done for AIR like institutions and now lies buried in their archives. We didi see many records of his non-film songs in 60s and 70s. But, at this stage, I do not have any recollection that quantitatively that reflected such huge numbers.
In fact, for this article, I had thought of doing away with the reference to such numbers, since irrespective of the numbers, his contribution remains as stellar as it deserves – Pole Star, as rightly summed up by AKji.
I have been quite busy these past few days, which is why I’ve taken some time to comment on this post – I’ve been listening, everyday, to only about 5-6 songs. All of them were new to me, and I loved them all. I find it interesting that someone who could be so very versatile as well as talented should be so little-known in Hindi film music.
Thank you so much, Ashokji. This was a wonderful eye-opener.
@ Pravin Vasani
In a way, that is the irony – his great strides in Gujarti Music seems to have underplayed his contribution in Hindi Film music – even when when we do not take popularity as the only measure.
@Madhulikaji(dustedoff)
Sparing time from your tight schedule for listening to the songs presented here in itself can be taken as a tribute to the versatile and innovative contributions of Avinash Vyas to HFM.
Interestingly, the songs, by other music directors, which drew inspiration from his (Gujarati song) tunes got far more space than his original scores.
AKji-
Gunsundari Song that you have Gujarati lyrics. Even Amirbai’s diction is typically Gujarti style .
It is likely that the song may have been used in both versions of the film, however that is again an unconfirmed surmise only.
Some of the songs sung by lataji and ashaji under the music direction of Avinash Vyasji , (which escaped your attention )can be listed under:
1 Bhini Bhini Raat Chali Sudarshan Chakra 1956 Asha
2.Hole Hole Chal Hawa Ekaadashi 1955 Lata
3.Ja ja re chanda Private Secretary 1953 lata
4.Jai Bharati Vande Vharati Jagadguru Shankaracharya1955 Lata
5.O Chandrama Tu Bada Kathor Hai Ram Laxman Yudh 1957 Lata
The song Jai Bharati Vande Bharati has superb lyrics and captivating melody and is treat to ears.
@ Vinay Kulkarni
Thanks a lot for enriching the collection by adding up songs of romantic mood from otherwise mythological subject-films (Dilip Dholakia is the music director for film Private Secretary.)
Here are YT links to some of these songs:
Bhini Bhini Raat Chali Sudarshan Chakra 1956 Asha –
http://youtu.be/484tijgfE30
I could not locate YT link to Hole Hole Chal Hawa Ekaadashi 1955 Lata, but Jhulo Jhulo re Jhulna Jhulau_Ekadashi_Lata – http://youtu.be/Dr6bVb90bao can certainly fill the gap.
Ashok ji,
Thanks for writing about Avinash Vyas ji.
His full name was AVINASH ANANDRAI VYAS. His wife Sulochana Vyas was a singer and son Gaurang was/is a Music Director.
He was a multifaceted personality. he was a composer,lyricist,playback singer and writer too. In fact he has written 75 Dance Ballets,in few of which Asha Parekh has also danced. he published 6 books in Gujrati,the last being ” Vartul”-1983.
he gave music to 53 Hindi and 175 Gujrati films and 1 Rajasthani film. he got Gujrat Govt awards 10 times. The Sangeet Natak Academy of Gujrat gave him an award. He was given Padmashree in 1970. he made 8 Foreign stage shows. he had acted in a Gujrati film,” Gorakhdhanda”-1949.
His most famous film Har har Mahadev-1950 is also my favourite one.
Though neglected in Hindi,he was honoured suitably in Gujrat,in his life time.
-Thanks.
-AD
Additional information-
Avinash Vyas collaborated with great songwriters like Qamar Jalalabadi, Madan, Prem Dhawan, Pradeep Patel, Gopal Singh Nepali, Badrinath Vyas, Sadiq Lakhnavi, Devendra, Pt. Sagar, Indeevar, Nilkanth Tiwari, Sagar Husain, Qamar Jalalabadi, Kavi Pradeep, Saraswati Kumar Deepak, Bharat Vyas, B. P. Bhargav, Raja Nene, Ramesh Gupta, Shamim Jaipuri, Indra Chandra, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Pt. Mukhram Sharma, Pt. Madhur and Ramesh Shastri.
Avinash’s compostitions were sung by the melodious voices of great singers like Mohammed Rafi, Suman Hemadi Kalyanpur, Anand Kumar Chitragupta, Badrinath Vyas, Dilraj Kaur, Sulochana Kadam, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Geeta Dutt, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Meena Kapoor, Ameerbai Karnataki, Krishna Kalle, Mahendra Kapoor, Madhubala Zaveri, , Mohan Tara, Lata Mangeshkar, Sudha Malhotra, S. Balbir, , Husn Ara, Kavi Pradeep and Usha Mangeshkar.
-AD
Thanks Arunji, for most invaluable inputs to the multifaceted personality and contributions of Avinash Vyas.
Arunji,
Would you be able to comment on the number of songs composed by him? 230 films at the rate of 6-7 songs each account for 1500 songs, which means he should have composed another 9000 songs outside films. I am reminded of Lata Mangeshkar’s entry in Guinness Book of Records for having sung 25000 songs, which had to be later removed as, it turned out, the actual number was much less.
Ashokji,
One more Avinash Vyas bhajan by Rafi from Jagatguru Shankaracharya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUaHNvUgZNM
@mumbaikar8
Thanks for the input.
Mohammad Rafi has one more genre to his credit as a specialization – son being played in the background.
Most of the music directors have extensively used Mohammad Rafi for such situations, even when the film had some other male playback singer in the lead.
This song is a classic fit to this genre.
Thanks Ashokji for bringing up this subject as it has made us look afresh at the versatility of Avinash Vyas who apart from being a multifaceted personality in music was also great inspiration for the top singers and composers from Gujarat. One of them is Purushottam Upadhyay who unreservedly acknowledges his indebtedness to Avinash Vyas. Well-known Gujarati poet Suresh Dalal rightly named the title of his compilation of Avinash Vyas songs “Avinashi Amrut”. This post unravelled many lesser known details, which adds greatly to the value of the post. As you rightly mention, he has inspired more established music directors too. This post has spurred aficionado of film music to add value by their comments.
@ Naresh P. Mankad
Avinash Vyas was one of those film personality of the yore,who deserves far more extensive coverage on the internet space so as to make the multitude of his work available to the future generations.
Even as his work was quite extensively documented through the ‘plastic’ records by the then music companies, by the time magnetic cassettes and then age of digital music came in, much of his work is consigned to the archives of the old-technology media. Even then the great YT upoaders and bloggers have greatly contributed to to make available his work on internet.
But that is, proverbial, a few drops of rain that can not make the harvest!
25000 / 365 = 68.50
That means one requires 68.50 years to record such a huge amount of songs if He/she does record 1 SONG PER DAY WITHOUT ANY BREAK, without any health concerns, without any family concerns, without traffic concerns, without any natural calamities concerns.!.!.!.etc. ¿¿ Can it be possible ??
10000 / 10 = 1000
At least 1000 films needed to record above amount !! An MD has to compose and record 1 song per day for CONSECUTIVE 30 YEARS. can anyone get such long prime time ?? I had only one example who had 30 yrs long prime time : Laxmi-Pyare…and even they hadnt recorded such huge amount ! Both LP and Bappida (who have done highest numbers of films ) cudnt achieve this target..
All these r brainless speculations came out of an elated mind !
AK Ji,
With ref to your comment # 21 above…..
The figure of 10 or 12ooo does seem very high.
In this connection I have consulted Shri Harish Raghuvanshi ji, film Historian and writer of repute.
He too is of the same opinion.
What he says is,it is true that AV (Avinash Vyas) wrote Lyrics and composed songs in Gujrati for son Gaurang Vyas,for both film and non film songs,in a hugh quantity and he feels that it is not possible to cross check it.
However,as per him, 61 Hindi and 188 Gujrati films would yield about 2200 songs and all songs,filmi and non-filmi,together may not exceed7000 to 8000 songs,at the most.
So,by any calculation,10,12 or 16000 songs is simply out of question.
-AD
This is an overwhelming post. I have been listening to and reading about HFM for over half a century and yet, but for SoY (thanks to AKji and Ashok M Vaishnavji), I could never have imagined the enormity of Avinash Vyas’s contribution to Indian film music! Pankaj Rag also touts the number 12,000 in connection with Avinash Vyas. After the Lata controversy, however, everybody is rightly cautious about accepting such claims. But one should not dismiss it altogether on the ground of (in)feasibility. Among contemporary Indian artists, Asha has recorded more than 12,000 tracks. And that is nowhere near the number of tracks recorded by artists abroad. Sly and Robbie of Jamaica, for instance, have over 200,000 tracks to their name. Here are two relevant links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_and_Robbie http://www.praguepost.com/blogs/music/2011/08/02/sly-robbie-and-other-musical-record-setters/
The last link also attributes 30,000 compositions to Thyagaraja. I realize that Avinash Vyas was composing for movies, primarily in Gujrati and Hindi. But some of these movies, if they were in the nature of operas, could have many more songs than the customary 6-10. Inder Sabha (1931), for instance, holds the world record for the largest number of songs: it had 71 of them!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inder_Sabha
The film Indra sabha was in 1932.
@Canasya
It is very difficult to ascertain the numbers as far as Avinash Vyas is concerened, because he was very active on on-film songs front – at the level of records, songs on AIR by artists contracted by AIR, live shows as well as several of his private shows. not counting the songs that he would have written, but never systematically recorded.
In the ultimate analysis, what really matters is range and quality of his work and its impact at that time on the music scene.
Canasya,
Thanks for your compliments. Regarding the numbers, something is not right. Let us take Sly and Robbie – the Wikipedia link you have given says, “Sly and Robbie are estimated to have played on or produced 200,000 recordings, many of them on their own label”. Is it the same thing as our film song as we understand? We do not know. If we take a very generous number of 5 ‘played and produced’ recording every day, it would take them 40,000 days, i.e. 110 years of work everyday without a break. Since they joined mid-70s, it is not yet 40 years. Someone needs to ask Wiki or the artistes themselves what is the meaning of 200,000 songs.
Indrasabha case also throws up similar contradictions. If we take 3 minutes for a song, 71 songs would take, at the rate of 3 minutes each, three and a half hours. Since the entire movie itself is about three hours, how did they fit dialogues and story? There is no mention anywhere that the film also broke record for length; rather our earliest films were much shorter than the standard length of about 2 hours 45 minutes. Since neither the film nor the songs are available, we have to make some plausible assumptions. Parsi Theatre was a big influence in our early films. The dialogue would be often in a sing-song style where often the distinction between the dialogue and song would get blurred. The record of 71 must have been arrived at by counting many of the ‘songs’, which today would not merit description of a song.
Here is the link to Avinash Vyas’s ongs – http://www.lyricsbogie.com/composer/avinash-vyas
Visit to the site quite an enriching experience.
Ashok Vaishnav: Congratulations for a great post honoring Avinashji. I am proud to say that I had distinct honor of arranging Avinashji and Sulochanaben’s Program in Chicago back in 1976. That is the year when my son Abhishek was born and I have photograph of this great man with my son in his lap. I remember Ashit Desai also came with him (at that time he was not married to Hema – then). Some of his best songs are sung by Purushottam Upadhyay and Rasbihari Desai. Are you by chance related to Vibhaben Vaishnav (now Vibhaben desai) ? Regards.
@ Bhasker Trpathi
Great to know that you have had this opportunity to work closely with some of the most distinguished performing artistes of Gujarati Sugam Sangeet .
In our college days (1965 to 1971) we also have had several opprtunity to attend the lieve shows staged by these artists.
That clearly demonstares the great postive effect AvinashVyas created on the Gujarati Sugam Snageet scene. The momentum lasted for several years in 80s as well and had spread widely. As a result, many other singers also got a broader platform.
BTW, I am no way realated to Vibhaben.
Ashokji I have been further enlightened about AVINASHJI reading your blog. Today in the year 2015 his presence is more poignantly felt. No Navratri event is complete without AVINASHJI’s compositions. He was composer, lyricist and philosopher rolled into one. It is he who have enriched Gujarat’s culture so significantly.
Dear Bharatbhai,
Indeed, Avinash Vyas’s contribution in taking the light Gujarati music to the masses remains unsurpassed. He has been given due credit in the Gujarati music circles., both during his time and thereafter.
Dear Sir
i want to know Birth place of Shree Avinash Vyas can you have a detail about this, i want to know because yesterday i got that he was from my town but no information about it. if you have then please send me
Avinash vyas is the great compser of Gujarati Bhajan and songs.nobody can do this work. in future also there is big question also.
Mahesh Modi,
Welcome to SoY.
#Mahesh Modi
There is certainly universal agreement about his contribution towards Gujarati Sugam Sangeet.
It is remarkable that he has also done so much work in Hindi films as well, but could not get the kind of fame and name that he did get in the Guajarti Sangeet.
Dear Expert,
Very happy to browse through this golden treasure of old unforgettable songs. My question, please recall a wonderful non-filmy song in Gujarati,
maazam raate nitarti nabhnii chandni, ange ang dharNi bhinjaay …
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
Who wrote this??? Who composed this???
Must be before 1960….?
………..Kamalnayan N. Joshipura……………Aanand, Gujarat
Pl reply for the above…..thanks…..
KN Joshipura,
Eelcome to SoY.
I am extremely impressed with your blog. It contains a wealth of information. I am an avid music fan especially music pertaining to GOLDEN PERIOD. The articles are well researched and well written, and a real pleasure to read. It will be an honour to be a member of this blog. Thanking you in anticipation
Ashok Hebbar,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your appreciation. You have become a member. For getting regular feeds in your mail you can register yourself at the link given on the blog.
Great piece of writing – thoroughly researched leaving no chance to dispute the authenticity of the contents!
The information it gives even to a connoisseur is just amazing – just makes me wonder at the enormous amount time one has spent in chronicling such an article. Hats off to all the contributors !!!!
Mr Gopalkrishna Kudwa,
Welcome to Songs of Yore. The author of this article Ashok M. Vaishnav would be very pleased to read your generous praise.
Sir,
This is a wonderful site I have ever seen before for Indian filmy music. I saw it accidentally only! Well, I wish there could be an option of search so that if anyone needs to about anyone can get it immediately by name or film name or any word. Thanks…
Manoj Shukla,
Welcome to SOY and thanks a lot for your appreciation. There is a broad search by Categories on the side roll. There is also a search link at the top right corner of the blog. But the best way to search is to click on ‘Index’ at the top. It shows you all the 330 posts on the blog. It may take you five minutes to browse through the link, but it is a sure way that you don’t miss anything.
It is surprising that his first wife Vasumatiben Vyas is nowhere in his biography here.
He came in light among wealthy Gujarati Community in Bombay because of song’MARI VENIMA CHAR CHAR FUL ‘sung by her in young india/hmv record under name of Jyotsna Mehta as in his Nagar community to sing for record was not appreciated.
Then his success journey started. Gaurang is son of Vasumatiben Vyas.
World is full of Hypocrisy.
Welcome to Songs of Yore.
Hemant Pandit #49
You are on the spot when you say that many a wives of ‘talented’ husbands get relegated to oblivion – for different reasons.
Thanks for providing this snippet of vital information about Vasumatiben Vyas.
One woders if that song is available on net?
Mr KN Joshipura,
Welcome to SOY. I hope the author would try to reply to your comment at @41.