2016

Best songs of 1949: Final Wrap Up 5

December 24, 2016

The SoY Award for the Best Music Director goes to? For the final wrap up, I can do no better than quote Mahesh: “The year 1949 itself was the biggest winner of all.” That refers to the historical place of the year in the evolution of Hindi film songs which we have discussed in the […]

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MS Subbulakshmi: A journey from Kunjamma to Meera

MS Subbulakshmi December 11, 2016

A tribute on MS Subbulakshmi on her birth centenary (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) by guest author N Venkataraman (About three months ago, there was a burst of discussion on SoY on MS Subbulaxmi, initiated by a new member RSR (RS Ramaswamy) to which many others joined. Shalan Lal posed a question why […]

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Shankar-Jaikishan’s multi-faceted genius with ‘other’ singers

Shankar-Jaikishan December 1, 2016

In my series on Shankar-Jaikishan, I have covered so far their best songs for his leading singers, Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Rafi and Manna Dey. SJ would be easily reckoned among the top five music directors for these major singers. Besides, I have also presented his best dance songs for Lata Mangeshkar and female dance duets. […]

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Best songs of 1949: Wrap Up 4

Ae mohabbat unse milne ka bahana ban gaya November 20, 2016

And the SoY Award for the Best Duet goes to? It is always a pleasure to write the Wrap Up 4, which is for the best duets of the year. The best solos always generate some  controversy. In male solos this year, there was a close tie between Rafi and Mukesh. My conclusion that Mukesh […]

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Some great songs of Lata Mangeshkar by Shankar-Jaikishan

Shankar-Jaikishan with Lata Mangeshkar November 9, 2016

Lata Mangeshkar is a ubiquitous presence on SoY. Shankar-Jaikishan, being one of the most dominant and successful music directors, have also figured very prominently on this blog. Therefore, it is difficult to believe, but it is true, that I have not done a post on the best songs of this combination as I have done […]

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Bollywood celebrates Deepavali

Diwali October 30, 2016

Wishing Happy Diwali with guest article by DP Rangan (Readers are now used to seeing DP Rangan’s name as a guest author regularly.  He can write faster than I can schedule him on SoY. At any point of time I have a couple of his articles in my mail. I admire his amazing enthusiasm. I […]

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Songs of Angana

Aanagn mein Upanayan October 19, 2016

We have seen in the songs of atariya how its vantage location at the back of a house makes it an ideal secret meeting point for the lovers. Aangan or angana, i.e. courtyard, on the other hand, is a central feature of the house. Open to the sky, and surrounded on the four sides by […]

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Bacchus in Bollywood

Songs of drinking October 9, 2016

Guest article by DP Rangan (The intoxicating drink as elixir of life is a part of mythology in almost all cultures. Harivansh Rai ‘Bachchan’ said that while the world celebrates Holi and Diwali only once a year, दिन को होली रात दीवाली रोज़ मनाती मधुशाला. After galloping on the High Horse, riding the tonga, and […]

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Best songs of 1949: Wrap Up 3

Lata Mangeshkar September 28, 2016

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very Happy Birthday on her 87th birth anniversary (b. 28 September 1929) with her best songs of 1949 It is a no-brainer that Lata Mangeshkar was the best female playback singer of 1949. In later years, that would become routine – she defined the lead female voice. But in 1949, it […]

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Dekho Dosto Chhed Ka Maza!

Padosan September 18, 2016

Guest article by Shalan Lal [The title is adapted from Hasrat Jaipuri’s lyrics in the film ‘Shararat’ (1959)] (From Krishna teasing the gopis to Kishore Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and other heroes teasing heroines in the films, chhed chhad has been an integral part of our culture.  You would expect from the title that the post […]

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