A tribute to old Hindi film music. Songs of the 30s through the 60s.

Guest Authors

Ballads of Love: Agony

April 7, 2023

Guest article by DP Rangan (DP Rangan had written on the ecstasy side of love when the stars shine bright, sky is bluer than ever, flowers are in bloom, and the world smiles tenderly. But joy and sorrow are the two sides of the same coin – खुशी के साथ दुनिया में ह्ज़ारों ग़म भी […]

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Ballads of Love: Ecstasy

March 18, 2023

Guest article by DP Rangan (We celebrated Holi sometime back. This is the season of romance and love, when the flowers bloom, there is music in the stream of rivulets and rustling of leaves, and the hearts of even old people are aflutter with desire. There is a folk proverb to describe this: ‘फागुन में […]

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The Sculptors of Film Music (2): 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

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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Pyarelal Santoshi: Jack of All Trades?

January 12, 2023

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to the polymath PL Santoshi, the lyricist, dialogue & script writer, actor, singer, producer, director (Most of us with some familiarity about our vintage films know PL Santoshi as one of the prominent lyricists. His association with C Ramchandra in several blockbusters made his name quite well-known. […]

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Master Ghulam Haider: A Trailblazer

November 9, 2022

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Ghulam Haider on his 69th Remembrance Day (1908 – 9 November 1953) (DP Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer for SOY, but it is more than a year since he last wrote. Some health issues which required hospitalisation, and his computer suddenly conking off […]

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Rafi’s songs with some unrecognised composers

July 31, 2022

Guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai as a tribute to Rafi on his 42nd Remembrance Day (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) (Rafi was the most dominant male playback singer of the Golden Era of film music. Yet he remained an unassuming, simple-hearted person with malice to none. The stories of his kindness and support […]

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Duets (+) of 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

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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The Teary-eyed Songs

February 18, 2022

Guest article by Anita Rupavataram (Mukesh once famously sang, ‘Hazaaron tarah ke ye hote hain aansoo’ (song #5 in this post). There are literally thousands of types of tears. Of joy, of sorrow. Of victory, of defeat. Of success, of failure. Of love, of break-up. Of parting, of union. Involuntary tears caused by music, painting, […]

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