Ashok M Vaishnav

The Sculptors of Film Songs (4): Kishore Desai

Kishore Desai with his mandolin May 28, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (Our guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M Vaishnav have been writing an excellent series on the Arrangers and Musicians for the last few months in which they have already covered three of the most celebrated names: Sebastian D’Souza, Anthony Gonsalves […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (3): Enoch Daniels

Enoch Daniels April 16, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Enoch Daniels on his 90th birth anniversary (b. 16 April 1933) in the continuing series on Arrangers and Musicians (After their articles on Sebastian D’ Souza and Anthony Gonsalves, the guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M […]

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The Sculptors of Film Music (2): Anthony Gonsalves

Anthony Gonsalves February 27, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Anthony Gonsalves (12 June 1927 – 18 January 2012) (Greg Booth starts his celebrated book on the musicians and arrangers, “Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios”, with the introductory chapter titled, “Who Is […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (1): Sebastian D’Souza

Sebastian D'Souza January 29, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Sebastian D’Souza on his 117 birth anniversary (29 January 1906 – 9 March 1998) (If you remove the prelude, interlude and orchestral arrangements from ‘Aawara hun, ya gardish mein hun aasman ka tara hun’, or ‘Mera […]

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Duets (+) of Mukesh: With Male Singers

Mukesh with male singers July 22, 2022

Guest article by Ahok M Vaishnav as a tribute to Mukesh on his 99th Birth Anniversary (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976) (Once SOY-veteran N Venkataraman remarked that there has been a post on Mukesh every year. If it was there, I or a guest author must have had something new to […]

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Nathli se toota moti re: Manna Dey’s Non-film Hindi Gems

Manna Dey May 1, 2022

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav as a tribute t0 Manna Dey on his 103rd birth anniversary (1 May 1919 – 24 October 2013) (Manna Dey has been described by some as an enigma among singers. That was a reference to his apparent defensiveness about his place among the contemporary playback singers, despite having the […]

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Mohammad Rafi’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

Rafi December 24, 2021

A tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his 97th Birth Anniversary (b. December 24, 1924 – d. July 31, 1980) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav and wishing Merry Christmas to all (Ashok M Vaishnav is a solid Rafi fan, without wearing it as a medallion, and without picking up a sword to slay anyone at […]

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Mukesh’s Non-film Hindi Geets and Ghazals

Mukesh August 27, 2021

A tribute to Mukesh on his 45th Remembrance Day (b. July 22, 1923 – d. August 27, 1976) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav (Mukesh is among the mainstream playback singers who sang some truly outstanding non-film songs (NFS). Therefore, for any lover of Mukesh, a post on his famous geets and gazals would be […]

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Remembering Ninu Mazumdar – the composer and the singer

Ninu Mazumdar March 3, 2021

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to Ninu Mazumdar on his 21st death anniversary (9 September 1915 – 3 March 2000) (Ninu Mazumdar is a big name in Gujarati music. Hence we have Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to him with this guest article. He has brought us closer to other […]

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Hemant Kumar’s solo songs under ‘other’ batons

Hemant Kumar with Kishore Kumar November 25, 2020

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920-26 September 1989) (SOY has launched a befitting Centenary Celebration of the much loved music and film personality Hemant Kumar, starting with N Venkataraman’s foundational article Hemantayan Part 1 on his Birth Centenary, 16 June 2020, which covered […]

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