2012

Film songs based on classical ragas (2) – A date with Yaman

Thumbnail image for Film songs based on classical ragas (2) – A date with Yaman April 26, 2012

Guest article by Subodh Agrawal (Subodh Agrawal’s second article in this series has been a long time in coming.  I am responsible for part of the delay as it came when I had scheduled my post on the Best songs of 1955.  But when you read it you would agree it has been well worth […]

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Best songs of 1955: And the winners are!

Thumbnail image for Best songs of 1955: And the winners are! April 9, 2012

I am delighted to present a survey of the best songs of 1955 and invite the readers to an interactive discussion to choose the best songs, singers and music director. For this post I have to thank the readers AM and KR Vaishampayan who suggested while discussing the music of Mughal-e-Azam (which failed to win […]

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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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Some perspectives on Jhumka gira re

Thumbnail image for Some perspectives on Jhumka gira re March 8, 2012

Every married man encounters this experience quite often – you are all dressed up to go to a wedding, you go out to take out your car. The dear wife should have by then locked the house and come to the driveway. But you wait and wait, yet there is no sign of her. You […]

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Duets of Talat Mahmood: Breaking the image trap

Thumbnail image for Duets of Talat Mahmood: Breaking the image trap February 24, 2012

A tribute on his birth anniversary February 24 When you think of Talat Mahmood you think of his iconic soft, sentimental melodies like Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana, Jalte hain jiske liye, Humse aya na gaya tumse bulaya na gaya, Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho, Zindagi denewale […]

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Suraiya: The Last Singing Star

Thumbnail image for 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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Best non-film songs of KL Saigal

KL Saigal January 18, 2012

A tribute on his death anniversary January 18 If you grew up in the radio era and had an ear for music, Saigal-song-a day was a daily ritual – Radio Ceylon would end their programme of old film songs with a Saigal song every morning at 7.57 AM. So by the time I reached college […]

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