Songs of Yore completes eight years

7 June 2018

Songs of Yore eigth anniversaryOn the eighth anniversary of Songs of Yore, I am going to break an unwritten code I have tried to follow – keeping private and public apart. I have met SoY regulars in the NCR from time to time, and also those living in other places during my travels to the cities where I knew an active member lived, but I have never mentioned these meetings. However, this year the meetings have been very special, and KS Bhatia has alluded to the get-together last month in his comments. This makes me overcome my reserve.

A family wedding in Mumbai a few months ago gave me an opportunity to call on Arunkumar Deshmukh. In the five years since I last met him, Arunji has become younger and more full of life because he has written more, and gained and spread more knowledge. He very kindly presented me two books written by the well-known lover, writer  and collector of old film music, the US-based Surjit Singh: A biography of the vintage actress Indurani, and a mini-compilation of discussion on the music forum RMIM on their 25th anniversary. An added bonus was the presence of the octogenarian music lover and a regular at ASAD, Bharat Upadhyay. At this age Bharatji negotiates Mumbai’s public transport without any help and he dropped in when he knew that I was coming.

From Mumbai, instead of taking the lazy option of flying back, I chose to take Rajdhani Express and halt at Surat which held two attractions for me: a very old doctor friend who is now in the late 80s, and a keen SoY-er, Jignesh Kotadia. Jignesh and his lovely wife hosted a lavish Gujarati lunch for me and my wife. For a lover of old film music, Surat is associated with Harish Raghuvanshi, a well-known collector of books, pamphlets and other materials, and writer on old film music. With the advantage of Arunji’s introduction, Harishji received me and Jignesh with great courtesy. A few hours were not enough, one could spend several days with him. After meeting such persons who are an institution in themselves, one can’t but feel a pang of sadness as to what would happen to their life’s work without institutional support.

But the climax was US-based Mumbaikar’s visit to Delhi last month. She has made a mark for herself not only by her active participation, but also by her strident criticism of anything she disapproves of (read AK and his biased views 🙂 ). She is even more unsparing in her mails to me. But that didn’t keep her from informing me of her visit, which I made into SoY’s eighth anniversary celebration a month in advance. The galaxy of SoY-ers included DP Rangan, KS Bhatia and Arvinder Sharma. N Venkataraman especially came down from Kolkata for this get-together. There were some eminent guests too, who, though not active participants at SoY, are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about old film music: Sharad Dutt, who has written biographies of KL Saigal and Anil Biswas, and made over 40 short films on film music personalities (he has written a guest article on Anil Biswas for SoY); Sudhir Kapur, one of the main pillars of Atul Song A Day; Bakhshish Singh, a very senior expert on old film music; and Antara Nanda Mondal, a bright young lady, who, among her many hats, also edits and writes for Silhouette, an online magazine focussed on cinema and music. Some other familiar names located in the NCR could not make it due to other commitments. We missed them.

I thank all the above persons for those delightful meetings. I still refrain from posting any pictures so as not to give a Facebook/ WhatsApp feel.

Aside from the socials, Songs of Yore has carried on in the eighth year with a variety of posts at a steady interval of about 10/11 days. Subodh Agrawal diversified from his specialisation, classical music, and wrote on asymmetric duets. Ravindra Kelkar completed his mega series on OP Nayyar he had started a year earlier, with a number of articles covering his association with Geeta Dutt, his duets, his influence on other music directors, capping the series with his atypical songs. Cycle, Meena Kumari, Waterfalls, Nuptials, Tasveer, Talat Mahmood – DP Rangan’s range and enthusiasm to research and write is amazing. I thank all the guest authors. I have filled in with some usual and some unusual posts to keep the blog going. SoY must be doing something right, because, besides the regulars, I find new visitors discovering the blog with some excitement, some of whom become avid participants.

But above all, I would like to thank those who write to me and give their feedback frankly whether good or bad.

Let me mention some special songs I came across in the year.

1. Hari bin koi kaam na ayo by KL Saigal (NFS), lyrics Lal Das

Harishji shared with me this rare KL Saigal bhajan. He was under the impression that it was not available in public domain, and he remembered having got it from someone’s private collection. I was relieved of my dilemma how to share it on the SoY when I found that it was already on the YT. Besides, Sudhir Kapur has written a nice article on Atul Song A Day on this song long ago. He narrates an interesting story that while singing this bhajan, Saigal was so overwhelmed with emotion that he decided to dedicate it to his mother. This bhajan was too precious for him to be commercialised and he took away its master recording. Thus, though it was recorded for commercial production, it was never released, and got circulated through private sources.

2-3. Wo dekho udhar chaand nikala gagan se by Manna Dey and Geeta Dutt from Roop Kumari (1956), lyrics BD Mishra, music SN Tripathi

The inveterate fans of old film music would figure out what is special about this song. I have a huge respect for SN Tripathi for his sweet, melodious and classical-based compositions. However, one aspect about him presents a somewhat unflattering picture. Every music director tweaks his famous tunes to compose another song, but SN Tripathi is the laziest one who simply puts different words in the same tune. I have mentioned a number of his identical tunes in some of my earlier anniversary posts.

And here is its karaoke-copy five years later:

Nigaahon mein tum ho, khayalon mein tum ho by Lata Mangeshkar from Jadu Nagari (1961), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music SN Tripathi

4-6. Kaho ji, ji na lage bin tere by Ishwar Lal and Shamim from Fariyad (1942), lyrics DN Madhok, music Khemchand Prakash

I heard this song for the first time recently on Atul Song A Day, though it seems to be on the YouTube for the last six years. The song left me mesmerised, and a bit restless because it kept on spinning in my head that I have heard a song on an identical tune. Ishwar Lal and Shamim being in the cast of the film, the song must have been picturised on them. Ishwar Lal’s singing is ditto copy of KL Saigal. Canasya recently posted a song sung by Bulo C Rani in his comment on the post on him, in which he seems like a carbon-copy of Saigal. Thus, there were singers who were not only ‘inspired’ by Saigal – Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Rafi – or whose voice (CH Atma) resembled him, but who were (or made themselves) indistinguishable from Saigal. An interesting trivia is that Noorjehan is also mentioned in the cast. Since there is no song sung by her, we can presume she must be a different Noorjehan – we know from Arunji’s authority that there were more than one Noorjehan.

My thoughts went to Milne ka din aa gaya by Saigal and Suraiya from Tadbeer, though I am not sure that this was the ‘identical’ song I was looking for.

Rani khol de apne dwar….Milne ka din aa gaya by KL Saigal and Suraiya from Tadbeer (1945), lyrics Swami Ramanand, music Lal Mohammad

Lal Mohammad gave music for only four Hindi films. There was another Saigal-Suraiya starrer, Omar Khayyam (1946), and two remaining films were Sohni Mahiwal (1946), and Mitti (1947) with Paigankar. The two Saigal-Suraiya films and their songs are well-known. My great favourite from this lot is Milne ka din aa gaya for its sweetness, and now this also connects me to Kaho ji, ji na lage bin tere, though there is no information that Lal Mohammad was connected to Khemchand Prakash – he was an assistant to Ghulam Haider.

My mind kept involuntarily flitting to similar songs, and I couldn’t resist listening to Jab nain se nain mile again and again. This is a repeat from the review of the songs of 1950.

Door desh ka raja ek din…Jab nain se nain mile umangein naach uthi man mein by Rafi, Geeta Dutt (Roy) and Amirbai Karnataki from Veer Babrhuvahan (1950), lyrics Anjum Jaipuri, music Chitragupta

This song sort of completes the circle that started with SN Tripathi, because Chitragupta was the inheritor of his musical style. I have mentioned Chitragupta in glowing terms several times. Now it seems his mentor SN Tripathi deserves more spotlight on SoY, despite several examples of his karaoke-style self-imitation. Incidentally, Rafi sounds very un-Rafi-like, and is there another male voice – Chitragupta or SN Tripathi? HFGK is silent on the singers.

7. Us man mein Bhagwan base jo peer parayi jaane re by Master Prakash from Mahatma (1953), lyrics Ehsan Rizvi music Vasant Pawar-Ram Wadhavkar

This rare song is courtesy Mumbaikar8. While sharing its mp3 with me, she observed that Master Prakash sounds uncannily similar to Lata Mangeshkar of the 1940s. The song is very sweet and worth listening again and again. Thank you M for this find. You have given us a task to find out who the singer Master Prakash and the music duo Pawar-Wadhvkar were. The final authority for all such questions is obviously Arunji.

While I could not find the video of this song on the YT, I did find a video of a link in which a destitute girl seems to be begging with recitation of similar sounding words. We can be sure the song must have been picturised on her.

(Recitation)

8. Aaj magan man mayur mora thirak thirak naache by Suman Kalyanpur from Krishnavatar (1964), lyrics Anjan, music Suresh Kumar

One of my earliest posts was a somewhat provocatively-titled Suman Kalyanpur outshines Lata Mangeshkar. I had expected to be blasted, but I was surprised to see an outpouring of affection and respect for her, and a very large number of her songs were posted in the comments. I had thought all her noteworthy songs have figured there. But I was surprised to hear this sweet song on the radio a few days back. It seems to have escaped all her fans like Arvinder Sharma, who posted a number of her other songs from the film Krishnavatar. With names of cast like Shyam (?), Lakshmi Chhaya, Sujata, Sadhna Khote, Prem Sagar, this is a perfect C-grade mythological film. The music director Suresh Kumar is an equally unknown commodity.

9. Jaat kahan ho akeli gori by Kesarbai Kerkar (Bhairavi): Golden Voyager Record

During the year, I got myself into the mailing list of Dubai-based one S Gopalakrishnan; he shares classical music pieces with interesting comments. If a Tarapada (Chakraborty) Jaijaiwanti reminds you of a lonely, graceful tiger peacefully in his domain, or a blue whale crossing a seamless and calm ocean, or a Buddha walking in search of his self thousands of kilometers in summers, or a Christ on cross; if Darbari by Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Fateh Ali Khan takes you on a white horse in a dream; if the smooth flowing Kapi by KV Narayan Swamy reminds you of the amazing Rodin flow in white marble (The Kiss, c. 1882), you need to be on his mailing list.

Here is an example of the connections Mr Gopalakrishan makes. I have not seen him yet thinking of mathematics when he thinks of music. Since this blog has a large share of persons from mathematic background, I am sure many would have read Douglas Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, in which he explores common themes between the lives and works of a mathematician, an artist and a musician.

Picasso and Amir Khan

I am not linking Ustad Amir Khan’s Shuddh Sarang as it would not fit here. But I do want to end with Kesarbai Kerkar’s Jaat kahan ho akeli gori Mr Gopalakrishan shared with me with this picture and some very interesting information.

Kesarbai Kerkar

Of all human efforts ever made to strike contact with extra-terrestrial life forms, the Golden Record is among the most special endeavours. It is this disc that may introduce other life beings to our civilisation, in the event of a grand cosmic accident on the edges of our solar system. 38 years of space travel and 12 billion celestial miles later, the haunting raga Bhairavi, Hindustani classical rendition ‘Jaat kahan ho’ has been immortalised alongside the greatness of Chuck Berry, Mozart and Bach on the fateful Golden record. It is the only song from India that made it on the record and is now wandering through unexplored terrains of outer space till perhaps, the end of time.” (sourced from http://www.untold.in/interstellar-raga-from-india/)

Before I part, I must mention that I was very keen to share with the readers another song I heard on the radio a few days back. This one was by Asha Bhsole and went …Lahraye re, Mori chunri hawa mein udi jaye re. Besides being a very melodious song, it would have redeemed me somewhat for my bias. This was from Pathan (1962), which had the beautiful Talat song Chaand mera baadalon mein kho gaya. But the most interesting trivia about the film is that it had nine music directors (must be the most for a film) for seven songs. My search on YT has been futile; thus, this also presents an interesting challenge for the legion of Asha Bhosle fans on the blog.

Disclaimer: The two pictures in the post are courtesy S Goapalakrishnan. The links of songs have been taken from the YouTube, only for the listening pleasure of the readers. The copyright over the songs lies with the respective owners.

{ 117 comments… read them below or add one }

1 N Venkataraman June 7, 2018 at 10:13 am

AKji,
Congratulations for a pioneering journey of Eight years of Songs of Yore. Every ten days, we eagerly look forward to the next unknown post, and we are never disappointed. We are treated to engrossing posts one after another. Thanks Akji for making SoY a regular affair of our life. It is a matter of pride for me to be an active participant of SoY.
Thanks to all the members of SoY for making this journey delightful.
I have just browsed through the write-up. Thanks for the innovative and inclusive posts. I think many of the songs too may be new.
Best wishes for many more years of fruitful association.

2 AK June 7, 2018 at 10:20 am

Venkataramanji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and kind words. It is the active participation from music lovers like you which spurs SoY to carry on with zeal.

3 Mehfil Mein Meri June 7, 2018 at 10:28 am

Firstly let me congratulate you for your journey of eight years.
It must have been a delightful journey for you. It’s not easy to publish so many innovative posts, one after the other, over the years.
This post is also an excellent post. Nearly all unheard songs. But of course worth listening and cherishing.
I share your opinion about chitragupt and Tripathi.
Tripathi could be the influencing factor for Chitragupt’s eternally sweet songs. I’ve mentioned something in my post on chitragupt last year.
I’ll listen to the songs and get back.
Thanks a lot for this post.
May SoY complete hundred years with thousands of posts on HFM.
All the best AKji.
You are one of the inspirational persons that made me start my own blog.
Thank you for that too.
You have always been kind, affectionate to me, in spite of me sending mails to you so often. Sorry for that. I’m such a small drop in this ocean of cinema blogs. But you never made it apparent.
Anup.

4 AK June 7, 2018 at 10:50 am

Anup,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. I have to say in all honesty that you do a more through research in your posts than I do. I also convey my best wishes for your blog.

5 Jawahar June 7, 2018 at 12:37 pm

Congratulations, AK ji! I am a late-comer to this site but I can imagine what a journey it must have been as I discover bit-by-bit. There’s so much to relish! I go through the old articles whenever I have the time. I cannot thank enough my stars when I accidentally came across SoY. The contributors are all to be thanked for enlightening readers like us. Would have liked to meet you in Surat. I too belong to Surat and am a doctor.
Looking forward to interesting posts…

6 AK June 7, 2018 at 12:52 pm

Jawaharji,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your generous words. I am happy that you are going through old posts. I would have loved to meet you, but then you were not there on SoY.

7 Ashok M Vaishnav June 7, 2018 at 1:31 pm

Heartiest congratulations of completing very fruitful 8 years.
Most of SoY regular readers eagerly look forward to a new post every 10 days, and they do not come disappointed.
Wishing a very long-eventful journey…..

8 Mehfil Mein Meri June 7, 2018 at 1:32 pm

Thanks for your prasing words AKji.
My blog will complete one year next month.
Your wishes in advance have encouraged me.

The songs from this post are all fabulous and melodious, the one by Sumanji was more likeable. There was a composer named ‘Suresh Talwar’
They are the same or not?
I don’t know. Let’s see what experts say.
🙂

9 AK June 7, 2018 at 2:47 pm

Ashokji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes.

10 Jignesh Kotadia June 7, 2018 at 2:49 pm

A Very Happy birthday to the most liked and admired musical site SongsOfYore.
Congratulations…Abhinandan to AKji for this ultrasuccessful journey of 8 years. Many thanks to all the post-makers for their innovative and painstaking efforts.

AKji,
It was a great pleasure to meet you in last winter. We all including my neighbours were very happy by hosting you. A memorable day with you. I invite you again in Navratri….and an open invitation to all the melodious members of SoY to visit Surat and have a stay at my home.

You introduced a wonderful song to me during this visit…today I am posting that beautiful song of Umadevi from Chandralekha.

Maayi ri main to madhuban men
Nirakh liyo nandlal
Parakh liyo nandlal
https://youtu.be/9X2xwoi70pw

11 Siddharth June 7, 2018 at 3:17 pm

AKji,
Congratulations on completing 8 years of outstanding work.
Congratulations to all the regular members/experts and guest authors for enriching our experience.
Here are few lines for you:

In a world away from the shore
to the ocean where melody galore
the endless journey we continue
following the captain we adore

eagerly wait for the next stop
to find out what’s there in store
such sweet are the surprises
we crave for more and more

to enrich the experience
experts come to the fore
their contribution is immense
which one cannot ignore

may the light shine brighter
till it becomes a folklore
the best place on the net
this is “Songs of Yore”

12 Dustedoff June 7, 2018 at 3:38 pm

Congratulations, AK! This was such a wonderful post, and such a good tribute to the very impressive eight years SoY has been in existence. I wish I could’ve met you in Delhi – but perhaps some other time. In the meantime, very best wishes, and here’s to many more years of great songs.

P.S. Thank you, also, for these songs. As you can imagine, not a single one there that I’d heard before. And each fabulous. I am listening to Jaat kahaan akeli gori even as I write this, and am marvelling over it. Lovely.

13 AK June 7, 2018 at 4:29 pm

Jignesh,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and your hospitality. I don’t have words to praise Mayi ri main to Madhuban mein. We knew Uma Devi by Afsana likh rahi hun. Discovery of songs like Mayi ri is a bonus of blogging.

14 AK June 7, 2018 at 4:31 pm

Siddharth,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. I knew you were fond of poetry, but didn’t know you were also a poet. Very nice, and thanks for that too.

15 AK June 7, 2018 at 4:34 pm

Madhu,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. We missed you. I am happy you liked the songs. Bhairavi is called a sada suhagan raga. And if it is Kesarbai Kerkar, it would be magical.

16 N Venkataraman June 7, 2018 at 4:47 pm

Akji,
I had written in my previous comment that many of the songs may be new to me. In fact all of them were new to me. Thanks for the wonderful gift, and especially for sharing the interesting information on S Gopalkrishnan’s blog, the voyager golden record anecdote and Kesarbai Kerkar’s Bhairavi.
BTW, How can get myself into S Gopalakrishnan’s mailing list?

17 AK June 7, 2018 at 7:36 pm

Venkataramanji,
I am surprised because I thought song #2, 3 and 5 would be familiar to you, but I am also happy that I am able to present new songs to the connoisseurs.

18 Kalyan June 7, 2018 at 8:18 pm

Congrats on a great site and 8th year. There are many silent readers like me. BTW, the book by Pradhyapak Surjit Singh also has an article by me on meeting with Anil Biswas.

19 mumbaikar8 June 7, 2018 at 9:07 pm

AK,
Congratulations on the 8th anniversary.
Thanks for the beautiful birthday post.
Most of the songs are new to me.
Let me take the opportunity to thank you for organizing the memorable meet.
As I said earlier one of the main reason I made a halt at Delhi on my way to the North was to meet the SOY family and you in particular who despite of my strident criticism and unsparing mails considers me a dear friend 🙂

20 AK June 7, 2018 at 10:23 pm

Kalyan,
Welcome to SoY and thanks for your greetings. I wish ‘silent’ readers like you became vocal, you have so much to say. I went over your write-up on your meeting with Anil Biswas again.

Mumbaikar8,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. It was a pleasure to find that you didn’t have horns 🙂 . Thanks for giving us the opportunity to meet.

21 ksbhatia June 7, 2018 at 11:37 pm

AK ji;

I love music. I can neither play a note on a musical instrument nor hold one vocally ; but I feel lucky to have myself landed in a catchment area , proudly I call ……SONGS OF YORE .

Congratulations to you and all the worthy members and visitors of this blog on completing the 8 years of beautiful journey .

Thankfully each of us are different ; and that makes a banquet of comments and observation for all of us to crave for more on the platter. For the present post , I think I don’t have to look here and there but to keep my head straight and widen my ears for sterophonic listening pleasure of the unearthed songs. The post is wonderful and has all the ingredients of form, colour, shape and texture of music .

For S N Tripathy and Chitragupt……I think they moved in a circle , aiding and following each other ; but surely Chitragupt was different in the late 40s when giving music to some stunt movies of Wadia, basant and other studios.

It is a great feeling to have met some more persons of soy family in the last get together . 8 years and the post suffix goes to Ms. Mumbaikar 8 , who was the surprise guest !

22 Giri June 8, 2018 at 3:40 am

AK,
Congratulations to you and all the members of the SOY family on the completion of 8 years of musical journey.
I came to this blog only three years ago; but it has been a rich experience. SOY introduced me to some of the sweetest vintage songs. Subodh ji’s show casing Hindustani classicals, Rangan ji’s well researched postings, Bhatia ji’s shower of songs, Venkatraman ji’s unearthing rare gems and other readers’ knowledgeable comments have all made this a special blog.
Thank you all.

23 AK June 8, 2018 at 5:52 am

KS Bhatiaji,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. It has been a great journey because of ‘humsafars’ like you. Even when we were strangers before we met, we had shared experiences. What an observation about suffix ‘8’ meeting in the ‘8’th year.

Mr Giri,
Thanks a lot for your greetings.

24 Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty June 8, 2018 at 7:05 am

AK ji,
Congratulations on reaching an important milestone in the musical journey. Lovely songs, lovely people, bonhomie, unbiased opinions, the binding thread… music,and only music.
When you have a chance to cross The Vindhyas and come anywhere near the West coast, please give me the honour of meeting/ hosting you. I am eagerly waiting for N Venkatraman ji’s visit.
May the sureeli,raseeli,rangeeli journey go on and on and on…. Humko Safar se mutlab hai, Manzil se nahin!
Saath ajoobe is duniya mein,
Athanwi Songsofyore,
Khinchthi Sur ke deewanon ko apni oar!
Athwan saalgirah Mubarak hum sab ko.,
AK ji ke hi nahin ye pyaara hai sab ko!

25 AK June 8, 2018 at 8:18 am

Dr Shetty,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and your spontaneous outpourings of emtions and poetry. I look forward to any opportunity to meet SoY-ers. Your joining the carvan has enhanced the charm of the journey. Thanks a lot.

26 Arunkumar Deshmukh June 8, 2018 at 10:25 am

AK ji,

Heartiest congratulations to you and team members on the Blog’s Birthday.
Raf to song No.8 and comment No.8 from MMM…
Suresh Talwar was NOT one person. It was a team of Suresh kumar and Talwar as MD.
Suresh Kumar- a neme not many readers can recollect. readers from Gujarat,perhaps,may remember his name as Suresh kumar Shah had given music to some Gujarati films.

Sursh kumar Shah had a 4-fold career in films.

FIRST he started his Musical career with a Gujarati film-” Choodi Chandiyo”-1950 and continued to give music to 22 Gujarati films,the last being-Maaru Saasario sona ni khaan-1998.

SECOND ly, he paired with other Music Directors-with Shailesh Mukherjee in Suhag Sindoor,with Talwar and Shankar Dasgupta in ‘Hotel’-1956 and only with Talwar in another 11 films,the last film being-“Char Chakram’-1965.

THIRD ly, he gave music independently to 11 films,starting with-Jadui Angoothi-1964 and ending with- Waqt se Pehle-1985.

Thus he featured in 22 Gujarati films and 24 Hindi films as a Music Director.

FOURTH ly, he gave music to some Marathi films also,like Gharcha Bhedi,gadbad Ghotala and kuldeepak etc.

I have learnt that these days he lives in Parle,mumbai and is connected with Marathi dramas.
-AD

27 Arunkumar Deshmukh June 8, 2018 at 10:28 am

AK ji,

Song No 7.

Master Prakash was the 10 year son of Vasnt Pawar, one of the MDs of this film. Master Prakash sang in Marathi dramas also.

-AD

28 AK June 8, 2018 at 10:33 am

Arunji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and the information on Master Prakash and Suresh Kumar/Talwar.

29 Arunkumar Deshmukh June 8, 2018 at 10:34 am

AK ji,

Song No 7….The MDs….

VASANT- RAMCHANDRA – this pair was of VASANT PAWAR AND RAMCHANDRA WADHAVKAR, both composers from the Marathi film world. Together they gave music to 5 Hindi films. Individually, Vasant Pawar gave music to 50 Marathi films and 8 Hindi films. Ramchandra Wadhavkar gave music to 5 Marathi and 5 Hindi films.

Vasant Pawar ( 1927 to 6-8-1965) was from Kolhapur. He was professionally trained in Sitar. He was also proficient in playing Flute,Sarangiand harmonium etc. He was assistant to Khemchand Prakash in Ranjit. From 1946, he worked for Sudhir Phadke. He gave music ( under guidance of Sudhir Phadke) to film Jai Bhim-52, Earlier he had composed one song in film Do kaliyan-49,where his co-composer was P.Shankar. Finally, he composed music for Shivleela-52 (Bilingual in Hindi/Marathi). His music was extremely popular in Marathi films and also for NFS of Lata,Asha and many others. Due to alcoholism,he died in 1965 at the young age of just 38 years.

Ramchandra Wadhavkar ( 1919 to 2-12-1972) started with Prabhat films in 1935 as a Harmonium player. He also played Organ and Sitar. Along with V Shantaram,he too left Prabhat and joined Rajkamal. For few years he worked in a private company too and hence could not accept Shantaram’s offer for films twice. He joined Vasant Pawar in 1952 as a composer. He died in 1972.

Vasant Ramchandra gave music to 5 films.

1. Nanhe munne-52 ( Remake of Marathi film-Chimni Pakharen)

2.Mahatma-53 (Bilingual in Hindi and Marathi)

3.Suhagan-54 ( Remake of Marathi film Suwasini)

4. Kalakaar-54

5.Saavdhan-54

All the above films were produced by Datta (Dada) Dharmadhikari, under the banner of his “Aalhad Chitra-Poona”. He also directed 3 films. Only Kalakaar and Suhagan were directed by his protege Anant Maane.

30 AK June 8, 2018 at 11:11 am

Arunji,
This is fantastic information.

31 Jignesh Kotadia June 8, 2018 at 11:49 am

Arunji
great information about these forgotten composers !!! first time knew that Suresh and Talwar are two different persons !! Loads of thanks for these precise infos.

32 R Vasudevan June 8, 2018 at 12:49 pm

Hats off and congratulations to Mr AK for completion 8 years of SOY and taking it forward to complete more milestones.

I am not a stalwart like Bhatia ji or Venkatraman or DP Rangan and some more but I have fairly a good knowledge on old Hindi music and the music directors. In fact I am now preparing a quiz on Golden era
which I may submit shortly subject to approval.

I am settled at Chennai and if Mr AK happens to come to Chennai
for any purpose I will be too glad to meet him if he desires.

33 AK June 8, 2018 at 2:39 pm

Mr Vasudevan,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. I used to travel quite a lot in the country a few years ago on work. But I would love to meet you when such an opportunity presents itself.

34 N Venkataraman June 8, 2018 at 4:30 pm

Akji @ 17
Songs no. #5 (Saigal) was not new to me. I was unmindful. But I do not think I have heard the S N Tripathi’s self plagiarized song and the original (#2 &3).

Jignesh @10 & AKji,
Maayi ri main to madhuban men is a wonderful song. Thanks for posting it.

35 N Venkataraman June 8, 2018 at 4:33 pm

Arunji @ 26, 27 & 29
Thank for those loads of information. We are very fortunate to have you among us.
A few days back, I came across this name Vasant Ramachandra, while browsing through the songs of Talat Mahmood. The film was Suhaagan (1954). Another Ramchandra, I wondered and searched for some details about this MD. And in one of the sites it was mentioned that they were, Vasant Desai and C Ramachandra, a duo and not a single person. And I accepted it. It did not occur to me even when I saw the names posted by Akji against song no.7. Signs of slowing down of my mental faculties. Now I see the information was wrong. I should have crossed checked with you. Thanks once again Arunji.

AKji & Jignesh
I am posting the song here.
Ae Shaukh Tune Pyar Me Andha Bana Diya by Talat Mahmood, film Suhaagan (1954), lyrics Ehsan Rizvi, music Vasant- Ramchandra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDXXu7jPJfw

36 N Venkataraman June 8, 2018 at 4:35 pm

Dr.Pradeep Kr.Shettyji,
The tentative dates for my Mangaluru visit are 10th and (or) 11th of July. My mail Id is venkatssa18@gmail.com.

37 Anu Warrier June 8, 2018 at 6:38 pm

Happy anniversary to the blog, AK. Despite my often-stringent criticism (and you know what I’m talking about), I still take great pleasure in dipping into your posts. Wishing you many years of posting ahead.

Thanks a lot for a list of songs I’ve never heard before. Will go through them at leisure.

38 AK June 8, 2018 at 7:06 pm

Anu,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. You must have noted I have especially thanked those who write to me sharing their frank views.

39 Mehfil Mein Meri June 8, 2018 at 10:30 pm

Arunji,
Thank you for the information shared by you about suresh kumar and his associations. I was unaware of it.
Being a Marathi, I obviously know Vasant Pawar, but wadhawkar and master Prakash were unknown to me.
Thanks for highlighting their details.
Hats off…
Really you are a treasure of film information.
Thanks again for the details shared by you.
🙂

40 ksbhatia June 8, 2018 at 10:55 pm

Venkatraman ji @35;

The talat’s song from Suhaggan is unique indeed . The unheard composer[s] and Talat in fast mode matching tabla beats …..rarely heard. How this song came ahead of similar composition of OPN and SDB…in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and Pyassa is another surprise !

41 SSW June 8, 2018 at 11:23 pm

Congratulations on 8 years AK.
Mr.Bhatia @35 the Suhaggan song seems to be based on Raga Kedar and I have heard bandishes very similar to this sung in old natak company recordings. Doubtless all of these composers may have been inspired by such bandishes from our common wellspring.

42 ksbhatia June 8, 2018 at 11:29 pm

AK ji @ song no 9 ;

I feel my existence in space hearing this , out of the world , great classical piece of a soulful melody. ….and what a modulation ! Only great composers and singers are blessed to achieve such perfection . I feel totally at peace , floating along the musical notes that evokes infinite variety of images , thoughts and feelings . Truly the song had to be in a place……..Voyager Golden Record along with the greats of Mozart and Bach. ……A short hearing and celestial miles of space travel ………great going !.

43 Jignesh Kotadia June 9, 2018 at 12:23 am

Venkataramanji
Suhaagan song is a gem.. and Bhatiaji is right..it reminds the song Humko tumhare pyar ne kya kya bana diya !!
Inspiration this time for OPN.

44 Jignesh Kotadia June 9, 2018 at 1:05 am

AKji
heard all songs from your list today. only 3 songs are previously heard by me. 1. Lata’s Nigaahon men tum ho 2. Saigal’s Milne ka din aa gaya (both in bhule bisre) 3. Jab nain se nain mile (thru YT in our discussions of 1950 songs here).
2nd song of SNT is a shocker !!! Jaadunagari song(though more famous) is complete copy of it !!! perhaps SNT believed in “आलस्य वीरस्य भूषणम्”.
the last one is out of this world singing as Bhatiaji said…wonderful indian music !!!!!!!

45 AK June 9, 2018 at 5:55 am

SSW,
Thanks a lot for your greetings.

KS Bhatiaji,
I am happy I thought of sharing this from numerous pieces Mr Gopalakrishan has sent me. Kesarbai Kerkar has been one of our rare legends, she has been rightly immortalised in Golden Voyager Records.

Jignesh,
SN Tripathi is unique in this regard. He has several such twins, some of which I have shared in my earlier anniversary posts. I don’t remember any other MD composing such karaoke copies. I am happy you enjoyed the songs, and #9 equally floored you.

46 N Venkataraman June 9, 2018 at 11:17 am

Bhatiaji @ 40, SSW @41, Jignesh @ 43,
Ae Shaukh Tune Pyar Me Andha Bana Diya is no doubt a lovely song. The explanation by SSW seems logical.
Here is another song which also based on Kedar. It seems this beautiful duet was excluded from the film.
Itane Qarib Aa Ke Bhi Kya Jaane Kis Liye by Talat Mahmood & Mubarak Begum, film Shagoon (1964), music Shaqeel Badayuni, music Khayyam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHQC1hAuVjc

47 Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty June 9, 2018 at 11:59 am

To add anything to such a well researched and well written piece would be like holding a candle to the Sun! Still, this one tune used several times by different composers has always fascinated me. I am not sure whether the same was discussed in the blog earlier. Still, with great courage I am taking the plunge!

Bengali movie SAMAR,1950.
Sachin Deb Burman adapts a folksong to create the joyful
Sundari Lo Sundari….. Kishore Kumar,Geeta Dutt,Arun Kumar; Mohini Chakraborty.
https://youtu.be/ TmrndV_vQV4

Hindi LAJAWAAB, same year, Prem Dhawan,Anil Biswas; Lata Mangeshkar,Anil Biswas,Binapani Mukherji…
I am floored by Anil Da’s singing.
https://youtu.be/llH7ZV_ScUc

Come 1955,Sachin Da recycles the tune for MUNIMJI.
De diya toh le le dil….
Yun nahin toh chupke se mil….
Anadi anadi anadi re…
Geeta Dutt,( I suspect the male voice belongs to Dada himself.. experts, please clarify); Shailendra.
https://youtu.be/ NNNgq_nS5EY
( Was this song used in the movie?)

Fast forward to 1981.
BARSAAT KI EK RAAT, Kishore Kumar ,Asha Bhonsle;Anand Bakshi ,
RDB.
Manchali O Manchali,
Kaun si hai woh gali?
https://youtu.be/vVAKAQIANVO

Even the beginning of Sundari aay aay Sundari (Anokhi Ada),to my ears, sounds similar!

48 Ashwin Bhandarkar June 9, 2018 at 12:31 pm

AK,

Hearty congratulations on the 8th anniversary of SoY! This blog is a perennial source of bounty … like the ‘akshayapaatra’ of Hindu mythology. May it continue to brim over forever and forever with interesting posts (and comments :)),featuring ‘karnaranjak’ and ‘manoranjak’ music from the ‘guzara hua zamaana’.

49 mumbaikar8 June 9, 2018 at 3:58 pm

Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty $47
Great find!
We have discussed adapted versions may times, I doubt this was mentioned by anyone.
AK had post a on SD Burman’s Bengali songs and their Hindi versions but this pair was not mentioned by him or in comments.
Thanks for posting it.
None of your links are opening.
Can you post them once again? If problematic, I can do it for you I have all of them open in my tabs

50 Dr Pradeep Kumar Shetty June 9, 2018 at 4:27 pm

mumbaikar8 ji,
Thank you for the appreciation.
As I had mentioned earlier,I do most of the typing on my cellphone and this is what the share option on YouTube leads to….all the cryptic looking numbers and letters ( I sometimes try to relate it to something lucid.. someone’s birthday,an important landmark year etc!). I checked just now. Every single link led me to the relavant song. I request you to please share the links and do educate me as to how to go about it. ( I had earlier posted the request! Because everyone else’s share has the’ watch?…..’ phrase except mine!)

51 mumbaikar8 June 9, 2018 at 4:42 pm

Dr. Shetty,
Usually I do not use Cell phone to post my songs, I use laptop. I don’t know if I can advice you on that all I can tell you is to try copy and paste instead of share option.
Here are your songs

Bengali movie SAMAR,1950.
Sachin Deb Burman adapts a folksong to create the joyful
Sundari Lo Sundari….. Kishore Kumar,Geeta Dutt,Arun Kumar; Mohini Chakraborty
https://youtu.be/TmrndV-vQV4

Hindi LAJAWAAB, same year, Prem Dhawan,Anil Biswas; Lata Mangeshkar,Anil Biswas,Binapani Mukherji…
I am floored by Anil Da’s singing.
https://youtu.be/IlH7ZV_ScUc

Come 1955,Sachin Da recycles the tune for MUNIMJI.
De diya toh le le dil….
Yun nahin toh chupke se mil….
Anadi anadi anadi re…
Geeta Dutt,( I suspect the male voice belongs to Dada himself.. experts, please clarify); Shailendra.
https://youtu.be/xx2ykI47HRY

Fast forward to 1981.
BARSAAT KI EK RAAT, Kishore Kumar ,Asha Bhonsle;Anand Bakshi ,
RDB.
Manchali O Manchali,
Kaun si hai woh gali?
https://youtu.be/vVAkAQ1ANV0

52 mumbaikar8 June 9, 2018 at 4:52 pm

Ksbhatiaji @ 21
Only you could come up with observation about suffix 8, it did not occur to me too .
It was indeed a great feeling to meet so many music lovers!
Thanks to AK.

53 mumbaikar8 June 9, 2018 at 5:04 pm

Arunji,
Thanks for detailed information on unknown music directors.
One query, did the 10 year old master Pawrar pursue his singing career in Marathi movies?

54 Arunkumar Deshmukh June 9, 2018 at 5:11 pm

mumbaikar8,
#53

I have no information on this. sorry.

55 AK June 9, 2018 at 6:11 pm

Dr Shetty @47, 50,
None of your links worked. Mobile phone has limitations. On laptop, you can simply copy the URL link and paste it in the comment. But thanks to Mumbaikar @51, I heard all the songs. Great find. It was not discussed earlier.

Mumbaikar8 @51,
Thanks for giving the correct links.

@52, I thought you planned to meet in the 8th year. Thank God, your suffix was not 8000. 🙂

56 AK June 9, 2018 at 6:13 pm

Ashwin @48,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. May the ‘akshaypatra’ of music lovers does not deplete.

57 Jawahar June 9, 2018 at 7:12 pm

mumbaikar8 @51

Thanks a ton for posting the corrected links.

58 Dinesh K Jain June 10, 2018 at 10:41 am

Heartiest compliments, AK, on reaching yet another milestone. May many more follow, each taking the SoY to a new height.

Also thanks for yet another absorbing presentation, with many ‘new’ songs.

59 AK June 10, 2018 at 11:00 am

Dinesh,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes.

60 N Venkataraman June 10, 2018 at 11:06 am

Over the years SoY has grown from strength to strength and continues to grow. Not a mean achievement to sustain the interest of the participants for eight long years. A quick look at statistics of the last eight years will reveal some pleasing facts and figures. In the last eight years, 256 articles and more than 17500 comments were posted. Here is the year wise break up table.

Songs of Yore 2018 stats

Looking back, 2017-18 was another grand year, maintaining the impetus set in the previous years. Akji, along with our guest writers together has posted 34 articles this year (2017-18). Although it is two articles less compared to the previous four years, but the total number of comments for the year 2017-18 (2902) has exceeded that of 2016-17 (2862). Thus the average comment per article for 2017-18 (85) is highest ever since 2010-11, thus maintaining an average of 80 or 80+ for three consecutive years. An average between 50 and 60 reflects a healthy sign.

Like the previous year, more than one-third of the articles were set aside for guest writers, D P Ranganji and Ravindra Kelkarji were the main contributors with Subodh Agarwalji chipping in with an article, in all 12 guest posts. Ravindra Kelkarji presented us with 5 in-depth articles on the eminent music director, O P Nayyar. And our most enthusiastic member and prolific guest writer D P Ranganji offered us a variety of articles, six in all- “Cycle trails of Bollywood”, “Meena Kumari: An enigma”, “Waterfalls in Bollywood”, “Nuptials in Bollywood”, “Tasveer exhibits of Bollywood” & “Talat Mahmood: A Mesmeriser”. Subodh Agarwalji, chose to move away from his usual classical music genre, and created a new classic with his “Asymmetric Duets”. However, there were no new guest writers this year. Ranganji’s in all has contributed 14 articles in the last three years, thus moving to the second position. Akji has given a synopsis about the guest posts, hence there may some repetition.

Drawing an analogy to a limited over cricket match, I would divide the entire year into three phases, the opening overs, the middle overs and the slog overs.

With an average of 87 comments in the opening 12 posts, a superb launch was made. Leading from the front Akji had 3 century-posts- “One hundred years of Sarat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’” (136), “Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies: S Mohinder” (128) & “Lata Mangeshkar’s best songs by Hemant Kumar” (125), and Subodhji with his novel post “Assymetric Duets” (148) made a decisive contribution. Ranganji’s and Ravindra Kelkarji’s posts attracted substantial comments- “Meena Kumari: An enigma” (91) and ‘OP Nayyar’s influence on other Music Directors” (92).

But in the middle 10 posts, there was a substantial slump. The average for this phase dropped to 43 comments per posts, bringing down the overall average to 67. However, this was marginally higher than the average for the last 7 years taken together, but much less than the average for the previous two years (2015-16 & 2016-17).

The last 12 (slog) posts witnessed an astounding involvement never seen before. Akji deftly shuffled his resources, brought out some innovative posts (shots) to bring about a turn around, drawing many a seasoned commenters out of their slumber and even made one of our new members to make prolific contribution. To boost up the participants, Akji took us through Bharat Darshan tours followed by a tour around the world, then entertained us with a two part parody songs. Both the Bharat Darshan posts attracted more than 100 comments.

Having thus rejuvenated, he teamed up with our ever dependent, evergreen Ranganji to deliver the final onslaught. Akji came out with two more century-posts – “Songs that tell a story” (180), “Songs of (mortal) stars” (105) – and a double-century-post – “The path, the traveller, the journey and the destination” (241), thus breaking his own record for the third highest post in terms of number of comments. “Kuch to log Kahenge”, which attracted 227 comments, was at the third spot. Ranganji came out with one more century-post and a double century post – “Talat Mahmood, the mesmariser” (137) and “Tasveer exhibits of Bollywood” (200). The last 12 posts attracted almost 50% of the total comments for the year at an average of 119 comments per posts. Simply stunning. The post “It’s prose, It’s recitation, It’s a song” (85) too deserves a special mention. Worthy tributes were paid to Husnlal-Bharatram, Kishore Kumar and Bulo C Rani.

Bhatiaji, one of our veterans and Dr. Pradip Kumar Shettyji, a new comer to the SoY fraternity this year, I suppose, were the most prolific contributors in the comments section. It is heartening to note that Jignesh made a come back with a bang in the last quarter, after a brief absence. More or less, most of SoY regulars participated in this year’s discussion. The only exception being Hansji, wish to see him back soon.

The “Open House” page, started on a suggestion from Hansji on 4th November 2014 has crossed 1000 comments in 2017-18. This year the page received more than 100 comments. The introductory page, “About” Songs of Yore, also started in November 2014, too has attracted 49 comments till date. SoY has been receiving 3000+ comments for three consecutive years. Thus more than 18600 comments have been posted in SoY in the last 8 years.

Last year I had posted a detail overview of SoY’s first 7 years. New members and other interested members can refer to my last year’s post Songs of Yore completes seven years (comments #42 &#49) for a synopsis of articles posted in the previous seven years and I am sure it will induce many to visit the previous year’s posts.

Glad to to be a part of this wonderful journey.
Thanks to one and all.

61 N Venkataraman June 10, 2018 at 3:47 pm

Dr.Pradip Kr.Shettyji,
@ 47
That was a great find.
Thanks to Mumbaikarji for the posting the links.
The male voice in the song De diya toh le le dil is that of S D Burman.

62 Shalan Lal June 10, 2018 at 6:19 pm

AKji

“Congratulations”
A song by
Cliff Richard
I use the beginning of the song of Cliff Richards who was born and grew up in “Luckhnow”, India, with some change to suit the present occasion

“Congratulations
And celebrations

When I tell everyone that you’re “Eight Years Old Now!”

Following is said about the “Cliff Song” by one of his fans.

“Cliff described the song as a bit like singing happy birthday, it is not one of cliff best songs but has to be the most sang apart from….well….happy birthday”

So it should fit for the “SoY” as well !.

I would like to testify and admire the comment made by “Anup” of Maifil Mein Meri” blog in the comment number three. The words and meanings are perfect !

Shalan Lal

63 AK June 10, 2018 at 8:19 pm

Shalan Lal,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes.

64 R Vasudevan June 11, 2018 at 10:16 am

Amazing statistics from Venkatraman avargal (avargal means ji in tamil)

No. of comments and percentage of comments are in ascending order and that shows the popularity of this wonderful blog on old Hindi songs rightly named songsof youre. I am glad I am associated with it.

Incidentally I came across this blog accidentally and not searched for any music blogs.

65 AK June 11, 2018 at 10:48 am

Venkataramanji @60,
I am amazed how you compile such statistics. I would find it difficult to do it myself. Number of comments is incidental, I do not do anything to boost SoY’s visibility. I am happy that we are together generating interesting material one can visit again and again. Thanks a lot again for your generous words.

66 mumbaikar8 June 11, 2018 at 2:01 pm

Venkataramanji @60,
I wonder how you do it.
Keep it up its very helpful.
Thanks

67 ksbhatia June 11, 2018 at 3:04 pm

Venkatraman ji @ 60;

You truly are one of the coolest guy of SoY family . A splendid job done , bringing out the statistics and synopsis of eight years of achievements together ! ….and of your own initiation !

AK ji ;

The synopsis speaks of your dedication which has always been in high spirits . I endorse Ms. Shalan Lal quote of Cliff Richard’s famous song…..congratulations and celebrations . And I will add the famous Army band walk from ….Bridge on the River Kwai…..He is a jolly good fellow [ He meaning You ] .

68 AK June 11, 2018 at 4:24 pm

KS Bhatiaji,
I am inspired by the high spirits of readers several years senior to me.

69 N Venkataraman June 11, 2018 at 9:08 pm

@64
MaaNbumigu Ra Vasudevan avargaLE vaNakkam. Thank you for your nice words.

AKji @65, Mumbaikarji @ 66 and Bhatiaji @ 67

Thank you for your appreciation. We know that you do not consciously do anything to boost the visibility of the blog. But it happens, no doubt with the active participation of our regular members and other enthusiastic readers. And the figures speak for themselves. Besides there are numerous silent visitors, some make occasional remarks and others remain unseen.

PS
1.Sorry for some glaring grammatical errors.
2.The total number of comments should be 17555 and not 17529 as mentioned.
3. @68 Spirits of all kinds are necessary to boost up one’s energy.

70 Giri June 12, 2018 at 12:47 am

Venkatraman ji,(@60)
Wow. I don’t know how you do it!
And you also keep unearthing rare gems.SOY is indeed lucky to have your contributions.
People like me are luckier because I contribute very little but derive
only enjoyment and enlightenment.
God bless you all!

71 Mahesh June 12, 2018 at 11:29 am

AK ji.

This blog has become a part of life for like-minded people.
The knowledge enrichment, information sharing, and interests of readers is commendable.
May the tribe increase.

Thanks.

72 AK June 12, 2018 at 1:20 pm

Mahesh,
Thanks a lot for your generous words.

73 N Venkataraman June 12, 2018 at 2:53 pm

Giriji,
Thanks for the nice words.
It is the collective participation of all the readers and Akji leading from the front, the reasons for S oY’s sustained popularity.

74 Shalan Lal June 12, 2018 at 3:50 pm

ksbahtia@67
Thanks for your appreciation of the Cliff R’ s appropriate song “Congratulations.”

Also the mention of “Colonel Bogey” the whistling march of the film “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” and the celebratory song “He’s the Jolly Good Fellow, so we all say”. Excellent mention at this time.

Isn’t the music great. There are number of English and American films that have great opening musical scores. I love them all.

In Indian films as well many Opening Scores are excellent.

Anyway this celebratory occasion and we all should enjoy because we see the films and songs and music with a different stroke than the scholars of the Indian Films.

Shalan Lal

75 ksbhatia June 13, 2018 at 12:35 am

Ms. Shalan Lal ;

Yes, some of the title and background music of indian films truly reflected the richness and power of expressions of the textured canvas of cinema ….. not only optical projection but musically radiance as well . All the powerful gadgets and hi fi speakers are useless and redundant unless fed with the beauty of sound ; yes to the beauty the canvas holds .

Here is one of my fav. background music from Asli Naqli, a 1962 movie. See the intensity of performance and listen to the background music from 1.35 to 5.00 ……..of the clip . A great work of the production team !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMZvIEvk3DI&t=67s

Will come back with more . I think this subject can be taken up in Open House . I know there are members like Canasya , Mahesh, Jagnish who passionately follow this subject.

76 Ravindra Kelkar June 13, 2018 at 11:28 am

AK,
Congratulations for completing 8 years and keeping the blog going. We have here a great SOY family. Each and every persons has a unique talent and contributes in making this blog popular; directly or indirectly. My best wishes to all for continuing on this journey for many more years to come.

77 Vishwanath E June 13, 2018 at 1:06 pm

Dear AKji,
Congratulations on the successful completion of 8 years of the SoY blog. I have been a silent reader (?) of SoY blog for the past few years.
The insightful articles and the song selections excellent as they are, the enthusiastic participation and exchange of views of the regular participants is amazing.
My knowledge of classical music is very limited though I enjoy all songs of the golden era.
SoY always brings in a fresh perspective to the songs and its creators.
Ak ji, wish you all the best and hope you continue to illuminate us with you insights and wisdom.

78 AK June 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm

Mr Kelkar,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and your good wishes.

79 AK June 13, 2018 at 3:07 pm

Mr E Vishwanth,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your appreciation and greetings. It is always a pleasure to know that SoY has so many silent admirers. It is gratifying that they drop in sometimes to convey their good feelings about the blog.

Barring a few most of us on SoY have little knowledge of classical music. What binds us is the love and passion for music. Please feel free to participate openly.

80 mumbaikar8 June 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm

Dr, Shetty,
SBD recycled his Bengali song in Amar Prem and hit the pot,.
I liked the original more. Asha Bhosle sounds so sweet and the Tanuja is icing o the cake
Aaj Gun Gun Gun Kunje Amar | Rajkumari | Bengali Movie Song | Asha Bhosle
https://youtu.be/cI8OggbnNYE
Pyar Deewana Hota Hai – Kati Patang
https://youtu.be/lslZptXok8o

81 KB June 13, 2018 at 8:05 pm

Really happy to know that SOY has entertained people for eight years! let us hope that it do many more.

82 AK June 13, 2018 at 10:21 pm

KB,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes.

83 N Venkataraman June 13, 2018 at 11:51 pm

Mumbaikarji @80
Probably you meant RDB. Besides the song ye ki holo, keno holo (recycled in Amar Prem) and the one posted by you, few more songs (tunes) of Rajkumari were used in later Hindi Films. Ki je bhabi elomelo was used in Jawaani Deewaani, Tobu bole keno sahasai was used in Bande Haath & Bandha dwaare andhkaare was used in Yaadon ki Baaraat. The last mentioned song can be posted in “The path, the traveller, the journey and the destination”.

84 ksbhatia June 14, 2018 at 12:56 am

AK ji ;

Sing a song of six pence…..Yes the old golden days of Juke Box …..and Music Jockey ……. no one else but the waiter of cafe . Give him Chawani [ 25 paisa , or a quarter of a rupee ] and listen to your fav. or popular songs ……mostly aadi tappa Aadi Tappa lie rakhda or hulla gulla lie la . So to say either C. Ramchandra or Vinod . Shankar Jaikishan for Melody and Naushad for classic and serious listeners……all depending upon which drink and snacks you order . For me Veg cutlets with espresso coffee with any of fast and melody songs…..mera salam leja ulfat ka naam leja ….etc.

Looking back now , it seems we missed so many beautiful songs . These songs , caught in between as hidden gems , in domination of listening again and again of those popular songs [ sort of lost between transition ! ] .

During past SoY years we too came thru many such songs
1. never heard earlier ,
2. never heard music directors ,
3. never heard of singers ,
4. never heard of film…..and so on . I think sharing of such surprises will be a good idea in the present theme. Ofcourse we do give comment like…..hearing for the first time or never heard before. I think this is the right platform to cover those songs .

The songs which bowlled me by its sweet melodies are……

1. aa gayi bahar…..Lata….Nai Talim [1949]….Vasant Desai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdD7xgYEFo

2.Dil leke dil diya hai…..Lata, Rafi…..Stage [1951]…..Husanlal Bhagatram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvU6h1VEdKQ

85 Giri June 14, 2018 at 5:20 am

Bhatiaji @84
You have made me feel nostalgic. During my college days(in the sixties) in Coimbatore, I listened to many Hindi film songs from a juke box in an Indian Coffee House inserting a 25 paise coin!
And I agree with you on what you have said about SOY.

86 Shalan Lal June 14, 2018 at 3:10 pm

ksbahtia @ 73
Yes indeed! The introductory subject of this subject is needed to be considered for as a separate post. This will help to see the films especially the films of first five decades in a different light.
I suggest Mr Warrier is the right person to handle this topic as he has expert knowledge of both the general responsibility of the MD and the sensibility of the whole picture and not just compositions within the film.

There are many incidental pieces in many films, could be called as independent compositions. This is often done by the assistants or orchestrators as main MDs get overloaded by the work. But MDs like SD Burman often get involved in doing the incidental compositions as well. At present it has been out of the film music lovers attention. These make the scenes come alive. SJ were very prolific in this area. Often they used their own musical pieces to compose songs for other films as well.

Your word “textural” gives deeper understanding in this area.

Very good comment.

Shalan Lal

87 Gaddeswarup June 14, 2018 at 3:23 pm

Visiting this site often reminds by of the title music of Barsat 1949 which I heard a child in the 1940s, again in 1961 and again when I arrived in Bombay during the monsoon of 1964. I have been trying to find that bit on YouTube but I could not. Some of the themes are repeated in the following song which I contribute to congratulating the wonderful AK.
https://youtu.be/j6PO7qKvGJM

88 AK June 14, 2018 at 7:41 pm

Gaddeswarupji,
Thanks a lot for your kind words.

89 ksbhatia June 15, 2018 at 12:01 am

Gaddeswarup ji @ 87;

Perhaps you are refering to film Barsaat song….chhod gaaye balam mera pyar bhara dil tod gaaye…..duet of Lata and Mukesh . The interlude of this song was repeated in allmost every R.K production till Dharam Karam . Film Aah is an exception where instead …Jaane kahan gaaye wo din ….was used as background music , much before the making of Mera naam Joker . The Barsaat song’s interlude was predominant in Sangam’s song …..Har dil jo pyar karega and Mera Naam Joker’s….Jeena yahan marna yahan.

For other related information please refer to my comments @ 1008 of Open House of SoY .

90 Canasya June 15, 2018 at 12:41 am

AK ji:

What a post to celebrate the 8th anniversary! Hearty felicitations. Every song mentioned in the post is a treasure, including Kesarbai Kerkar’s wonderful ‘Jaat kahan’.

I had my share of earworms last year, some lasting for days, others for weeks. But one song lasted for months, and it had been composed by SN Tripathi—‘Thane kajaliyo banalyun’, sung by Lata and Mukesh in Veer Durgadas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV9JFZ13rmY

By the way, who is the dancer in the song? And do the pirouetting movements make this a Ghoomar? Pardon my ignorance. I am neither a movie buff nor knowledgeable in Rajasthani folk dances.

91 Gaddeswarup June 15, 2018 at 6:12 am

ksbhatiaji, It seems to be different and is between 2:30-4:00 minutes in the link below. I saw the movie in 1961 or 62 after dreaming about it for several years. It was between the examinations, but the next exam was a few days away. After a few minutes the electricity was off and we were refunded. But I was glad to go to the next show since I could listen to that music again. I must add that though I like all sorts of music, I am musically illiterate. I go more by melody and rhythm and meaning does not seem to matter that much. May be that is why I prefer North Indian music to Carnatic. https://youtu.be/hWkbyR_EY_4

92 AK June 15, 2018 at 11:52 am

Canasya,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. Thane kajaliya is very infectious. I have been often bitten by this bug. I would leve the judgment on ‘Ghoomar’ to experts. My impression was it has to be a group of women dancing in circles. I read somewhere that the male dancer was SN Tripathi himself.

93 mumbaikar8 June 15, 2018 at 2:05 pm

Venkataramanji, @83
Thanks for correcting my mistake, I am so much obsessed by SDB, whenever I think of MD Burman my mind auto corrects it to SDB this has happened before too I remember Hans correcting for Abhilasha song.
Thanks for additional information on other Rajkumari songs I will look for them.

94 mumbaikar8 June 15, 2018 at 3:45 pm

Gaddeswarupji,
Musically (too) I am worse than you but I will tell you what I feel, to me it seems that from 2.45 to 3.20 it is the prelude of the title song barsaat me tumse humse milen 07. to 1.00 at a slightly faster pace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHl7fyblU-w

95 Gaddeswarup June 15, 2018 at 11:00 pm

mumbaikar8 at#94. Thanks.

96 mumbaikar8 June 16, 2018 at 10:53 am

Gaddeswarupji @ 95
Is that what you were looking for?

97 Gaddeswarup June 16, 2018 at 1:29 pm

mumbaikar8 at #95. Yes, thanks. See also the link at #87.

98 S Joseph June 26, 2018 at 7:47 pm

AKji and the spirited participants of this family,
Congratulations on completing 8 years ! It is worth noting that with the years the group activities have recorded commendable progress.
On reading N Venkatraman @60 , I thought it may be useful if we have a continuously updated index for the so many beautiful articles that are being written in this group with a quick link to read any article from the index.
I am one of the so many silent listeners of this family.

99 AK June 26, 2018 at 8:35 pm

S Joseph,
Thanks a lot. It is heartening to note that SoY has so many silent followers and admirers. There is already indexing by CATEGORIES on the right side of the blog. This itself has become quite long. If we try an index of all the individual posts (261 by now), it would look very cluttered and may not be very convenient to the readerd. Most of the categories are self-explanatory. Only ‘Miscellaneous’ gives no indication what is inside. It contains some interesting and off-beat posts.

Some latecomers have laboriously gone through each post by clicking the link ‘Previous post’ one by one.

100 S Joseph June 26, 2018 at 9:50 pm

AKji,
Thanks. We may need to only give a link to ‘index ‘. By merely clicking this link the interested reader can go through the index items comfortably. The quantum of data is growing each day and soon would require some easy method of access. I am not an expert or I may not be fully aware but may be a software engineer can guide . Going laboriously through ‘Previous post’ may be OK upto a limit . This may be of immense help for future research also.

101 ksbhatia June 29, 2018 at 12:15 am

AK ji;

I agree with S Joseph ‘s proposal . Like Home we can have Index link also for easy excess.

102 Shalan Lal June 29, 2018 at 5:54 pm

AKJi

ksbhatia has made a good supporting pint about the point raised by Mr Josph.

It will take a great skill and patience to work out something similar one gets on the articles in the Internet especially Wikipedia. There important names, ideas etc if clicked on one gets into those areas.
I use a lot of SoY articles for my research and other as well.

In many ways it is time consuming but there are many surprizes and rewards as well.

If time could be shortened jus by clicking and Ginny comes out of the bottle then it is wonderful but not at the cost of losing adventure of finding then I am all for it.

Shalan Lal

103 ksbhatia July 1, 2018 at 2:12 am

Ms.Shalan Lal;

Truly , we at this phase , are enjoying 36 hours a day of beautiful life , spending at leisure with grand children and …..Grand Master . As we grow older retro life becomes more enjoyable …..with many tags following you to discover . The hobbies and interests becomes handy for further adventures ….and of course at slow pace . I fully agree to your observations made @102.

104 AK July 1, 2018 at 12:52 pm

S Joseph, Shalan Lal, KS Bhatiaji,
I am happy announce that there is an ‘Index’ page now at the top bar by the side of ‘Open House’. Thanks for the suggestion.

105 Gaddeswarup July 1, 2018 at 6:16 pm

I remember many of the posts from the second post onwards. I seem to be here right from the beginning though my comments have been off lot of the time. It seems to be an achievement to keep in touch so long without knowing Hindi. I will be more careful.

106 AK July 1, 2018 at 8:16 pm

Gaddeswarupji,
You have been one of the earliest member of SoY and your interventions have always been of a very high intellectual order. Looking forward to your greater participation.

107 Dibakar Bala July 12, 2018 at 5:53 pm

8 Year is a Long Time for any Blog.
And you just made an Indian Music Blog cross 8 years!
Hats Off to your dedication towards Blogging.

108 AK July 12, 2018 at 10:57 pm

Dibakar Bala,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your good wishes.

109 ksbhatia July 13, 2018 at 2:09 am

Ak ji;

The Index column is really very helpful . It is really helping a lot retracing retro visits that contains many informative material.

110 AK July 13, 2018 at 5:59 am

KS Bhatiaji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.

111 Dibakar Bala July 14, 2018 at 10:54 am

Hi AK,

Thank you for such a warm welcome to SOY 🙂

How do you keep up with such a huge number of comments?

How do you make time to reply to everyone?

Seeking some Community Building Advice.

112 AK July 14, 2018 at 10:30 pm

Bala,
You flatter me. If you are a blogger, you would be checking up the comments every now and then. I do it normally thrice a day, which is not a big deal.

113 Dibakar Bala July 15, 2018 at 12:39 am

Thrice a Day is surely a big deal.
One needs to be disciplined.

114 Malyada August 25, 2018 at 9:57 pm

I have been a silent admirer for the last few years. The nostalgia, yearning for a lost time which seems more humane amd genteel, a slower pace of life when people had time to appreciate good poetry & music touched the soul, innocence, idealism – all these shine so clearly through these songs. Thank you so much for all the hard work, I come to SoY whenever i feel like time travelling. The comfort it gives me is akin to my mother’s food.

115 AK August 25, 2018 at 10:23 pm

Malyada,
It is so gratifying to know that SoY has so many silent admirers who reveal themselves from time to time. Thanks a lot for your generous words. Looking forward to your more active participation.

116 Harikrishnan, M. September 19, 2023 at 12:59 pm

Am an admirer and follower
of this site for a long time. Greatly like the Hindi songs of the 1940s and ‘50s.
A K L Saigal song that is probably really difficult to render because of its range of notes, so beautifully done by him, is Kisne yeh sab khel rachaya.
Any observations from this august group of great music lovers about this gem ?

117 AK September 19, 2023 at 5:46 pm

M Harikrishna,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. Welcome to SOY. ‘Kisne ye sab khel rachya: What can one say about a legend! A great song. Dhartimata had many great songs. My favourite is Duniya rang rangili baba.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: