2015

Asha Bhosle with reluctant Naushad and C Ramchandra: Part 1 (solos)

Asha Bhosle with C Ramchandra and Naushad September 8, 2015

Greeting her happy birthday on her 82st birth anniversary (b. 8 September 1933) Asha Bhosle’s position in the early 1950s was very unenviable. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had debuted as a playback singer (Aap Ki Sewa Mein; 1947) only a year before her (Chunariya; 1948), but the former stormed the music scene in 1949 […]

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Best songs of 1950: Wrap Up 2

Suraiya, Rajkumari, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt August 29, 2015

And the award for the Best ‘Other’ Female Singer goes to? This year, too, I faced the familiar dilemma I faced last year while reviewing the best songs of 1951: whether to make a combined list of the best female solos or split it in two – Lata Mangeshkar and ‘Others’. Male solos which I […]

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Naushad’s Long-distance Duets of Separation

Naushad August 19, 2015

Hindi films have a very neat structure. They can be divided into three parts – romance, conflict and resolution. The lovers meet, or childhood friends grow up into lovers and dance around trees and sing romantic songs. Then the villain strikes, who lusts for the girl or her wealth, and kidnaps her; or the girl’s […]

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The Master of Masters Khemchand Prakash

Khemchand Prakash August 10, 2015

A tribute on his 65th death anniversary (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1950) In my cryptic history of Hindi film music, as I moved from RC Boral/Pankaj Mullick to Anil Biswas to Naushad, Richard mentioned the omission of Khemchand Prakash. He was so right. Even in the most facile history he has to be […]

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C Ramchandra-Naushad comparison and contrast with Rafi

Naushad, Rafi and C Ramchandra July 31, 2015

A tribute to Rafi on his 35th death anniversary It is certain that readers would have been expecting something on Rafi with Naushad today, but they would find the inclusion of C Ramchandra surprising and somewhat contrived. While Naushad is the most important composer to have laid the foundation of the Rafi legend, C Ramchandra […]

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Naushad’s exceptional Mukesh

Naushad and Mukesh July 22, 2015

A tribute on Mukesh’s 92nd birth anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) If someone had asked me a few years ago who the second most prolific male singer of Naushad was, I would have never guessed Mukesh. His songs number only 26 compared to 149 of Rafi. If you compare Mukesh songs by […]

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Best songs of 1950: Wrap Up 1

Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Rafi and Manna Dey July 12, 2015

Songs of Yore Award for the Best Male Playback Singer goes to? The year 1950 too shows, like 1951,  that male solos were far outnumbered by female solos (by about a factor of 4), both in the total songs and in my Select List which comprised about 15% of the total songs of the year. […]

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Multiple Versions Songs (23): A Male / Female solo / duet or a Chorus – More than two versions of a song

Multiple Version Songs July 3, 2015

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav (Ashokji is coming to the end of his current enquiry into the songs that have a specific type of multiple version songs.  He has covered songs that have a male solo and a duet or chorus in two parts – MVS (20) and MVS (21), and the ones having […]

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Multiple Versions Songs (22): Female Solo and A Duet or A Chorus

Multiple Verssion Songs June 24, 2015

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav (Ashokji has been currently exploring a specific type of multiple version songs that have a solo and a duet or chorus versions.  In his last two articles, Multiple Version Songs (20) and (21), he explored those songs that have a male solo and its duet/chorus versions.  He continues the […]

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Naushad’s “The Singing Girl Next Door”: Suraiya

Naushad and Suraiya June 15, 2015

A tribute on her 86th birth anniversary (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004) Our last singing star, Suraiya, attained incredible heights of popularity bordering on mass hysteria. She started her singing career, as a child artiste, with Naushad; subsequently, she sang playback for Mehtab in a few films; she graduated as an actor-singer and […]

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