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

Songs on film stars

SAFARNAMA: In Pursuit of Two Iconic Lives

December 11, 2024

A Journey with Dilip Kumar (11th December 1922 – 7th July 2021) and Mohammed Rafi (24th December 1924 – 31st July 1980) Guest article by N Venkataraman in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Rafi with his songs for Dilip Kumar on his 102nd Birth Anniversary (Dilip Kumar is the undisputed thespian of acting. Rafi […]

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Mohammad Rafi & Johnny Walker in Symbiosis

July 31, 2024

Guest article by DP Rangan as a joint tribute to Rafi on his 44th Remembrance Day and Johnny Walker on his 21st Remembrance Day. (The title of this post says it all. When you think of Johnny Walker you think of Rafi. JW established a presence for himself and soon the producers and music directors […]

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Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’

February 18, 2023

A tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020) by guest writer DP Rangan (When you think of Nimmi, you think of a live-wire, innocent village belle; a mountain girl who pines for her city-slick lover; a courtesan loved by a nawab who cannot disclose his […]

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Kumkum: The Danseuse Butterfly of Bollywood

July 28, 2021

Guest article by DP Rangan to pay tribute to Kumkum (22 April 1934 – 28 July 2020) on her first death anniversary (The dancers had an important place in our films. They came in amazing varieties. There was a tradition of the top actresses themselves being professionally trained in classical or popular dance forms, such […]

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NASEEM BANU: The Maiden Venus of Bollywood

July 4, 2020

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Naseem Banu on her 104th birth anniversary (4 July 1916 – 18 June 2002) (Naseem Banu was arguably the most bewitching beauty of her time. When Saira Banu burst on the screen in the 1960s, she was immediately hailed as a Beauty Queen, and the media […]

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MADHUBALA: The Bewitching Beauty of Bollywood

February 14, 2019

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Madhubala on her 86th birth anniversary (14 February 1933- 23 February 1969) (The regular readers of Songs of Yore are aware of the tremendous enthusiasm of DP Rangan for writing on various themes and artistes associated with old film songs. After covering themes like Horses, Tonga, […]

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Suraiya: The Last Nightingale of Bollywood

June 15, 2018

Guest article by DP Rangan (Suraiya was literally as sweet as a nightingale. I have covered her in some detail. But with his amazing enthusiasm for research, DP Rangan was not deterred in finding enough interesting material and uncovered songs on her. I thank Mr Rangan for this nice article and join him in paying […]

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Songs of stars

April 28, 2018

For the SoY regulars, the title of this post may come as a surprise, because DP Rangan has already written an exhaustive post on songs on stars. That was about stars in the sky (i.e. तारे/सितारे). However, there are another kind of stars around whom the film world revolves. They have names like you and […]

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MEENA KUMARI: An enigma

August 1, 2017

A tribute to Meena Kumari on her 85th birth anniversary (1 August 1932 – 31 March 1972) by guest author DP Rangan (SoY readers are now familiar with DP Rangan’s prolific guest posts. So far, he has focused on themes. He now forays into film personalities. Several readers have suggested that I write on songs […]

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MS Subbulakshmi: A journey from Kunjamma to Meera

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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