Guest Authors

Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (12) – A morning with Asavari/Jaunpuri

Asavari Ragini May 27, 2017

Guest article by Subodh Agrawal (I had once hesitantly asked Subodh whether he would be writing on Asavari and Jaunpuri in his series on articles on film songs based on classical ragas. The reason for my hesitation was that these ragas might be too light for a connoisseur like him. Therefore, I was extremely happy […]

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Beena madhur madhur kacchu bol

BHanwra bada naadan May 6, 2017

Guest article by Ashwin Bhandarkar (If we broadly divide the SoY community into two categories – ‘music experts’ and ‘others’ – Ashwin Bhandarkar belongs to the first category. Therefore, it is not surprising that he is appearing as a guest author; the surprise is that it has taken him so long to do so. He […]

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Film songs in classical ragas (11) – The evocative duo: Mand and Shivranjani

Rajasthani flute player: Mand and Shivranjani February 28, 2017

Guest article by Subodh Agrawal (When Subodh came back after a long hiatus with his post on Bihag, he had promised us that he would now be more regular. He keeps his promise with another excellent piece on Mand and Shivranjani. ‘Kesariya balam’ has made everyone familiar with Mand. As for Shivranjani, the readers may […]

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Hundreds of shades of Pyaar

Pyar hua iqaraar hua February 14, 2017

Wishing the readers a very happy Valentine’s Day with guest article by Shalan Lal (Today on Valentine’s Day, love is in the air everywhere. Love of mushy messages; of roses and chocolates; of romance and togetherness. ‘Genre’-theorists hold that the concept of genre is not relevant for Indian films, as all our films are essentially […]

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Flowers bloom in Bollywood

Flowers February 5, 2017

Guest article by DP Rangan (Someone suggested a post on flower songs, Hans offered to compile a list of such songs, and our man of many flowers, the evergreen and eternal romantic, DP Rangan, offered to write a post. And here we are. Flowers are a common motif across cultures with a variety of associations – from […]

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The three distinct phases of OP Nayyar’s career

OP Nayyar January 28, 2017

A tribute to OP Nayyar on his 10th death anniversary (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007) by guest author Ravindra Kelkar (After I had written on OP Nayyar’s best songs for Mahendra Kapoor, Rafi, Shamshad Begum and Asha Bhosle, I had no intention of writing any more on him. But the readers’ clamour for ‘Ye […]

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Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (10) – Bihag and its family

Raga Bihag January 19, 2017

Guest article by Subodh Agrawal (Subodh makes an appearance as a guest author after about two years, of which I am responsible for a few months in scheduling his article. He makes up for it by presenting a selection of film songs and classical pieces which best represent Bihag and its variants.  As he explains, […]

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (11): Dilip Dholakia

Dilip Dholakia January 10, 2017

Dilip Dholakia? D. Dilip? Dilip Rai? – A Singer or A Music Director or A Music Arranger? A tribute to Dilip Dholakia on his 6th death anniversary (15 October 1921 – 2 January 2011) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav (Hindi film music attracted talents from different regional languages and musical traditions.  Some, especially from […]

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Steam behemoth rides in Bollywood

Fairy Queen_World's oldest steam engine still running January 1, 2017

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year with guest article by DP Rangan (Steam engines are everyone’s childhood romance.  The billowing smoke, the speck of light becoming bigger, the strange rhythmic sound of the wheels clanking with the rails, and a gentle tremor as the train chugged into the station, were a source of wonder […]

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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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