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

Singers

Best of Mahendra Kapoor-OP Nayyar

January 9, 2011

Mahendra Kapoor was the favourite singer of BR Chopra Films, and Ravi was their favourite composer. BR Films-Ravi-Mahendra Kapoor combination gave a large number of well known songs. After Ravi, the only music director who used Mahendra Kapoor in a significant manner was OP Nayyar, apparently on rebound when he had some rift with Mohammad […]

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A Mahendra Kapur-Sahir Ludhiyanvi-Ravi classic

December 20, 2010

Chalo ek baar phir se ajanabi ban jayen hum dono If ever there was a song that could be described as the defining song of a singer, Mahendra Kapur’s Chalo ek baar phir se ajanabi ban jayen hum dono is one such song. Mahendra Kapur, who came to the film world through a singing talent […]

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Mohammad Rafi versus Kishore Kumar

November 14, 2010

An era changes with Aradhana (1969) When Aradhana unfolded in 1969 with the heroine sitting by the window of the hill train, tentatively browsing a book, and the hero being driven in a jonga by his friend on the hilly road alongside the toy train, with an innocent smile, a wink in his eyes and […]

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Hemant Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duets

October 21, 2010

The Ultimate in Melody Hemant Kumar in his voice brought the beauty of Bengal and melody of Rabindra Sangeet. When he joined with Lata Mangeshkar the effect was magical. Easily the best duets of Hindi films are of Hemant-Lata. One can also safely say no song of Hemant Kumar was pedestrian. With his deep resonant […]

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Suman Kalyanpur outshines Lata Mangeshkar

October 4, 2010

Haal-e-dil unko sunana tha sunaya na gaya Suman Kalyanur had to remain in the shadows of Lata Mangeshkar because of her uncanny similarity to Lata’s voice. Many of her songs are indistinguishable from Lata’s style, either because she was subconsciously imitating her style or the music directors were viewing her essentially as Lata’s replacement. Yet […]

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Lata Mangeshkar vs Noorjehan

September 14, 2010

Would Noorjehan have survived the 1949 Lata tornado? Noorjehan’s migration to Pakistan in 1947 left behind the enduring question – if she had stayed back in India, would Lata still have reached the commanding heights as she did in the following three decades? As Lata’s early songs had a distinct Noorjehan tinge, the suggestion is […]

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Remembering Mughal-e-Azam’s Music

August 22, 2010

Travesty of missing the Filmfare award This is the Golden Jubilee year of Mughal-e-Azam (1960), and the media, both print and electronic, is rightly full of the movie. Everything about the film was superlative – its lavish production, awesome battle scenes with thousands of camels, horses and soldiers (there were no computer generated imaging those […]

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Chitragupta – Magic Maker with Lata Mangeshkar

August 13, 2010

When I try to compile the most melodious, the most beautiful songs of Lata Mangeshkar, the following songs invariably come to my mind: Song Film Kare kare badra ja re ja re badra Bhabhi (1957) Na to dard gaya na dawa hi mili Kali Topi Lal Rumal (1960) Sajna sajna kahe bhul gaye re pukar […]

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Door Papiha Bola

June 18, 2010

Your relationship with songs that moved you, that brought tears to your eyes the first time you heard them and every time you hear them, is deeply personal. How can others relate to your experience? And no matter how well you write it would be less than what you felt. Nida Fazli famously said: Yun […]

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