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

Songs on film stars

The Swar Kokila Kanan Devi

April 22, 2016

A tribute to Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 to 17 July 1992) on her birth centenary The most important female pillar of the New Theatres, an enormously popular actor-singer of Bengali and Hindi films at the dawn of the film industry, having received the best actress awards a number of times, Padmashree, Gold Disc from […]

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First male dancer of Hindi films: Mumtaz Ali

October 9, 2015

I came to Mumtaz Ali in a very roundabout way. Before the Internet era I was only aware of his name as the father of Mehmood and Minoo Mumtaz etc. Internet made me aware that he was also into films, with the Bombay Talkies. Then a rare chance occurrence gave me a day out with […]

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Naushad’s “The Singing Girl Next Door”: Suraiya

June 15, 2015

A tribute on her 86th birth anniversary (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004) Our last singing star, Suraiya, attained incredible heights of popularity bordering on mass hysteria. She started her singing career, as a child artiste, with Naushad; subsequently, she sang playback for Mehtab in a few films; she graduated as an actor-singer and […]

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Anil Biswas’s songs for Bombay Saigal: Surendra

November 11, 2014

A tribute to Surendra on his 104th birth anniversary as a part of Anil Biswas’s Centenary Year series I have mentioned a few times that because of contractual difficulties inherent in the Studio Era, Anil Biswas could not compose for KL Saigal, even though their careers overlapped for over a decade, half of which was […]

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The Doyenne of Vintage Era: Khursheed

November 1, 2014

A tribute in her Centenary year I realised somewhat late that Khursheed’s Birth Centenary (b. 14 April 1914, d. 18 April 2001) fell this year. But she is such a prominent singer of the Vintage Era that I had to pay my tribute with her selected songs. Vintage Era refers to not only a period […]

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In conversation with Minoo Mumtaz

April 26, 2013

Wishing her Happy 71st Birthday on April 26, 2013 I am not a journalist, nor am I in a line which should bring me anywhere near film people. Yet, here I was having a relaxed conversation with Minoo Mumtaz in her apartment in Pune, a few months back. Some stories are epic in scale. This […]

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Forgotten actor-singer of New Theatres: Asit Baran

November 27, 2012

I often wondered who filled in when New Theatres stalwarts led by KL Saigal headed for Bombay in the early 1940s? I got my answer while searching for songs from the New Theatres era, when an unknown voice held me spellbound for its incredible charm. Then some videos turned up on the YouTube. So here […]

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Suraiya: The Last Singing Star

January 31, 2012

A tribute on her death anniversary January 31 Aside from Lata Mangeshkar Suraiya is among my top favourite female singers. She debuted as a child artiste in 1942 (film Sharda). Within three years she rose to become one of the top singing stars acting opposite the greatest legend KL Saigal in 3 films. Within the […]

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Dilip Kumar’s many voices

December 12, 2011

My tribute on his birthday December 11 I had no plans of doing this post as it is not even a week since I did my last one. I need about two weeks to organise my thoughts and squeeze bits of time to write a piece. Secondly, my focus is on songs, their themes, singers […]

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