DP Rangan

Raja Mehdi Ali Khan: Lyricist Par Excellence

Raja Mehdi Ali Khan June 25, 2021

Guest article by D P Rangan as a tribute to Raja Mehdi Ali Khan on his 55th Remembrance Day (b. 1915/1928? – d. 29 July 1966) (There are at least two dozen lyricists who wrote more songs than Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. Yet every lover of old film songs has the highest regard for him, […]

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Mughals Engulf Bollywood

Bahadurshah Zafar November 7, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to the Last Mughal Emporer Bahadur Shah Zafar II on his 158th Remembrance Day (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) (Mughal period has fascinated our film makers from the very early days – not to make ‘historical’ films as we understand by the term, but to […]

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Madan Mohan: The Pied Piper of Bollywood in Different Moods

Madan Mohan July 14, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Madan Mohan on his 45th Remembrance Day (b. 25 June 1924 – d. 14 July 1975) (Two years ago to this day, DP Rangan wrote a tandem article on Roshan and Madan Mohan about their classical songs, with annotation by Subodh Agrawal, which set the stage […]

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NASEEM BANU: The Maiden Venus of Bollywood

Naseem Banu July 4, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Naseem Banu on her 104th birth anniversary (4 July 1916 – 18 June 2002) (Naseem Banu was arguably the most bewitching beauty of her time. When Saira Banu burst on the screen in the 1960s, she was immediately hailed as a Beauty Queen, and the media […]

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Twins Phenomena In Bollywood

Ram Aur Shyam May 29, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan (The prolific guest writer DP Rangan now writes on the twins in Hindi films, some generic tropes of these films, and gives a selection of songs from some twin films. The highlight of this post is some great songs of the vintage era. This post too has been with me […]

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Film Songs From Firmament

Atmospheric songs February 5, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan (DP Rangan is by far the most prolific guest writer on SoY, and among its most senior members. If he is appearing after a long gap, I am partly responsible for it as a couple of his articles have been in my folder for a while. I had already scheduled […]

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Bharat Vyas: Lyricist Extraordinaire in Hindi

Bharat Vyas July 4, 2019

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Bharat Vyas on his 37th death anniversary (18 December 1918 – 4 July 1982) (One oft-repeated complaint against Songs of Yore is that it does not give due importance to the lyricists. I have given my reasons from time to time, which may not be very […]

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MADHUBALA: The Bewitching Beauty of Bollywood

Madhubala February 14, 2019

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Madhubala on her 86th birth anniversary (14 February 1933- 23 February 1969) (The regular readers of Songs of Yore are aware of the tremendous enthusiasm of DP Rangan for writing on various themes and artistes associated with old film songs. After covering themes like Horses, Tonga, […]

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Sajjad Hussain, Bollywood’s Loss

Sajjad Hussain July 21, 2018

Guest article by DP Rangan to pay tribute to Sajjad Hussain on his 23rd death anniversary (15 June 1917 – 21 July 1995) (Sajjad Hussain has been acknowledged as an undisputed genius by all the stalwarts of film music. His name also became a byword for his short temper and his spats with his colleagues. […]

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Roshan & Madan Mohan: Twin Towers of Rhapsody

Roshan and Madan Mohan July 14, 2018

Guest article by DP Rangan, with annotation by Subodh Agrawal, as a joint tribute to Roshan on his 101st birth anniversary (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967) and to Madan Mohan on his 43rd death anniversary (25 June 1924 – 14 July 1975) (Subodh Agrawal once said that we often think of music directors […]

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