Unforgettable melodies

Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (6): Pardesi

Thumbnail image for Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (6): Pardesi May 22, 2012

Since I started this series, readers have been suggesting names of various composers. Some have been covered; others would follow in due course. But no one has mentioned the name of Pardesi so far. I am not surprised; no one fits the theme Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies better than Pardesi. Pardesi who? I do not […]

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (5): Sardar Malik

Thumbnail image for Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (5): Sardar Malik March 21, 2012

Sardar Malik was not counted among the top five composers, which place was occupied by Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, C Ramchandra, OP Nayyar and SD Burman. He would not be counted among the top dozen, some people might have difficulty in including his name even in the top twenty music directors of the Golden Era. Google […]

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (4): Shailesh Mukherjee

December 6, 2011

A friend of mine is a Storehouse of Information (SoI) on music of 1950s and 60s. He has an endearing way of posing teasers. One day he asked me if I had heard of Shailesh (Mukherji), the music director. I had not. Then came a helpful one, have you heard the song Nadiya ke pani […]

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Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (3) – C Arjun

Thumbnail image for Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (3) – C Arjun October 27, 2011

I have not forgotten the Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies. It so happens that in a unique coincidence birth anniversaries of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, and death anniversaries of Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar fall in a narrow band of two and a half months between July 31 to October 13. They are the […]

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Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (2) – Vinod

Thumbnail image for Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (2) – Vinod August 13, 2011

The song La re lapaa la re lappa layee rakhda from Ek Thi Ladki (1949) always intrigued me. Its words (of mukhda) carried no meaning to me. Today I know it is based on a traditional Punjabi folk song, and these words indeed have some meaning. Then, the music director Vinod. Who was he? What […]

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Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (1) – Daan Singh

Thumbnail image for Forgotten Composers, Unforgettable Melodies (1) – Daan Singh June 20, 2011

A tribute on his passing away  I saw a small news item tucked away deep inside the Times of India’s today’s edition stating that music director Daan Singh passed away at his Jaipur home of liver ailment at the age of 78 on Saturday June 18. If you are not a keen reader or aware […]

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