Guest Authors

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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‘Vandya Vande Mataram’: The story of a Song Perennial

Vande Mataram January 26, 2020

Guest article by N Venkataraman to celebrate 70th Anniversary of the Republic (During our days of innocence we learnt in the school that ‘Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He’ was our ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Vande Mataram’  was our ‘National Song’, both of  equal reverence, and we sung both with equal fervour on special occasions. When […]

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Sachin Karta’s Last Visit to Agartala

SD Burman October 31, 2019

A tribute to SD Burman on his 44th death anniversary with guest article by Moti Lalwani  (The month of October starts with SD Burman (b. 1 October 1906 – d. 31 October 1975) and ends with him. Around the time I was thinking of writing a review of HQ Chowdhury’s ‘Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman’, Moti […]

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SD Burman: Pioneer in Composing Tune First

SD Burman October 24, 2019

Guest article by Moti Lalwani (Which comes first – the lyrics or the music – has been a recurring debate in any discussion on film music. In the continuing series on celebrating October 2019 as the month of SD Burman, Moti Lalwani writes the third guest article after his last two articles showing how Burman […]

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SD Burman: ‘The Courage of His Convictions’ (Establishes Geeta Dutt As a Frontline Singer)

SD Burman and Geeta Dutt October 16, 2019

Gust article by Moti Lalwani (We are aware that SD Burman had an uncanny ear for selecting a singer for a particular song. In this he didn’t care for the reputation of a celebrity artist, director, producer, or singer. He was the Master of Music, and he made the final choice. That is why there […]

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SD Burman: ‘The Courage of His Convictions’ (Has his way on Hemant Kumar)

SD Burman and Hemant Kumar October 8, 2019

Guest article by Moti Lalwani as a tribute to SD Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) ‘Ye raat ye chandni phir kahaan’ by Hemant Kumar, lyricist Sahir Ludhiyanavi, composed by SD Burman (When I wrote a review of HQ Chowdhury’s book ‘Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman’ sometime back, I had mentioned that an acknowledged […]

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‘Would there ever be another Lata Mangeshkar?’

Lata Mangeshkar September 28, 2019

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very happy 90th birth anniversary (b. 28 September 1929) with a guest article by Shalan Lal (Lata Mangeshkar turns 90 today. This momentous occasion demanded something special befitting the milestone. However, in the year of the Ravi celebration on SoY, most readers almost took it for granted that today I would […]

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Shakeel Badayuni: Revitalising bond with Ravi

Ravi and Shakeel Badayuni September 18, 2019

Guest article by Hans Jakhar (This is the second guest article by Hans Jakhar on the trot after his debut with Asha Bhosle’s songs by Ravi. He had given enough indication that he would be writing on Shakeel Badayuni’s partnership with Ravi. Hans’s forte is mastery over data. And you see full evidence of this […]

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Ravi and Asha Bhosle: A class combination

Ravi and Asha Bhosle September 8, 2019

Wishing Asha Bhosle a very happy 86th birth anniversary (b. 8 September 1933) with a guest article by Hans Jakhar (Asha Bhosle, despite being the most recorded artiste by miles, remained the ‘other’ singer for most music directors of the Golden Era. All the accolades and the most melodious songs went to her elder sister […]

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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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