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

Roshan

Roshan’s songs for ‘other’ singers

November 16, 2018

A tribute to Roshan on his 51st death anniversary (14 July 1917-16 November 1967) DP Rangan started a tandem series on Madan Mohan-Roshan on July 14 which, in a unique coincidence, happened to be the birth anniversary of one, and the death anniversary of the other. I have since written a number of posts on […]

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Rafi’s duets by Roshan

November 5, 2018

My post on Rafi’s solos by Roshan appeared more than six years ago, several years before I started the series on the stalwart music directors. And the reason was simple: Roshan ranked among the top in my reckoning for Rafi songs, along with Naushad, SD Burman and OP Nayyar. Duets have no less importance in […]

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King of Ghazal Talat Mahmood with Ghazal Maestros Madan Mohan and Roshan

September 18, 2018

DP Rangan set-off a tandem series on Roshan-Madan Mohan with their classical-based songs. I have since written on their songs for Rafi (Madan Mohan’s; Roshan-Rafi covered earlier); Qawwalis; Mukesh; and Asha Bhosle. Several readers requested that I write on their ghazals. Since I am covering them generally by singers, ghazal would have been an overlapping […]

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Roshan aur Madan Mohan ki Asha

September 8, 2018

Greeting Asha Bhosle on her 85th birthday (b. 8 September 1933) with her best songs by Roshan and Madan Mohan In Lata Mangeshkar era, music directors could be divided into two groups: Those who were like their wings chopped-off without her; and those who equally wanted her, but could survive even without her. (OP Nayyar […]

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Best of Mukesh by Roshan and Madan Mohan

August 27, 2018

A tribute to Mukesh on his 42nd death anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976) Roshan and Madan Mohan were in tandem in relation to Mukesh at least in one respect: Both used him very prominently in 1950 – Roshan in Bawre Nain, which was his second movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, […]

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The Master of Qawwali Roshan and some hidden qawwalis of Madan Mohan

August 9, 2018

While Roshan and Madan Mohan generally proceeded in tandem, one or the other created a special niche for himself in some genre. Roshan became known as the undisputed master of qawwalis, whereas Madan Mohan became a byword for ghazals. The essential difference in the two forms is not one of content, but of singing style. […]

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Roshan & Madan Mohan: Twin Towers of Rhapsody

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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Sudha Malhotra: The last of the niche singers of the Golden Era

November 30, 2013

Wishing her a very happy 77th birth anniversary A female playback singer in the 1950s and 60s, if she did not bear the name Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosle, was in a very unenviable position. She knew she had to remain consigned to the outer orbit. The world of male playback singers was a complete […]

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Mukesh and his romance with ‘Dil’

August 27, 2012

A tribute on his death anniversary August 27 Everyone is born with a heart, but that does not make everyone a romantic. There was something special about Mukesh and ‘dil’, not only his romantic heart but his romancing the heart. Mukesh started his journey with ‘dil’. As a young lad, while singing at his sister’s […]

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Best songs of Rafi by Roshan

July 31, 2012

Double tribute to two geniuses Who composed the best songs for Mohammad Rafi cannot be conclusively answered. But there is no doubt that Roshan would figure in the top four or five for this honour. That is significant considering that Roshan did not have the advantage of a big banner nor big stars like Dev […]

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