2022

Vasant Desai Part 4 (post-1950s): His ‘other’ female singers

Vasant Desai December 22, 2022

Continuing the series of tributes to Vasant Desai, the final tribute on his 47th Remembrance Day (9 June 2012 – 22 December 1975) When I started writing my tribute to Vasant Desai to fill up a noticeable gap on SOY, I didn’t know how many articles I would need to cover his career to my […]

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Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 4

Khemchand Prakash-Anil Biswas December 11, 2022

And the Award for the Best Music Director goes to? The year 1943 was like 1944 in many respects. Kismet became a cult hit for its novel theme; it also happened to have outstanding music by Anil Biswas. Anil Biswas also gave some excellent music in Hamari Baat. Naushad didn’t have a Rattan (1944) exactly, but he gave music […]

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Thinkers’ songs

The Thinker November 30, 2022

(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail for confirmation from “follow.it“. This is not a spam. You would have to simply confirm, and you would start […]

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Romancing other miscellaneous balmas

Saat Saheliyan November 20, 2022

(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail for confirmation from “follow.it“. This is not a spam. You would have to simply confirm, and you would start […]

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Master Ghulam Haider: A Trailblazer

Ghulam Haider November 9, 2022

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Ghulam Haider on his 69th Remembrance Day (1908 – 9 November 1953) (DP Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer for SOY, but it is more than a year since he last wrote. Some health issues which required hospitalisation, and his computer suddenly conking off […]

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Saraswati Devi: The First Lady of Film Music Who Broke The Glass Ceiling

Saraswati Devi October 28, 2022

(Note: Dear Readers, I believe some registered readers have not been getting email notifications about new posts on SOY. I request all the readers to register themselves again by entering their email in the bottom box captioned “Get mail updates”. You will get a notification from ‘Follow.it’ for confirmation. Please confirm the link, and you […]

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Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 3

More balapan ke sathi-Dheere dheere aa re baadal October 19, 2022

And the award for the best duet goes to? There is something about duets which make them exceptional. If you take a re-look at my Overview Post, six out of the eight ‘Special Songs’ are duets. There are just so many varieties in them. For example, the titles of Bhojan ke nazaarein hain and Main […]

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हे भगवान्‌ !

O duniya ke rakhwale October 9, 2022

Gods have been an important part of our lives and, therefore, our films. We do not set off on a journey without checking whether it was an auspicious moment or not. There is a Rahukaalam when everything comes to a standstill: No weddings, no new investment or purchase of car or home appliances, no taking […]

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Vasant Desai Part 3 (post-50s): His best songs for Lata Mangeshkar

Vasant Desai-Lata Mangeshkar September 28, 2022

Continuing the series on Vasant Desai, his best songs for Lata Mangeshkar as a tribute to her on her 93rd birthday (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) Lata Mangeshkar would have been 93 today. This is her first birthday after she left this mortal world and this calls for a tribute to her. Coincidentally […]

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Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 2

Amirbai Karnataki-Parul Ghosh-Khursheed-Kanan Devi September 19, 2022

And the Award for the Best Female Solo singer goes to ? If you browse through the Wrap Up 1 regarding the best solos of 1943, it was clearly a one-horse race with KL Saigal being the Pole Star. During Saigal-Noorjehan-era there was no female Saigal, or as I have said earlier a number of […]

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