Year: 2023

Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’

A tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020) by guest writer DP Rangan

(When you think of Nimmi, you think of a live-wire, innocent village belle; a mountain girl who pines for her city-slick lover; a courtesan loved by a nawab who cannot disclose his relationship to the world, which the courtesan accepts in suffering, but gives a decent upbringing to his bright brother. A commoner who dares and looks in the eye of the villainous prince. And that takes me to Aan (1952) which has become the reference point for the tagline of this article on Nimmi by DP Rangan.

I have been so far describing Mr Rangan as a septuagenarian going on seventeen. I didn’t realise that the age counter moves up every year. Now he is well into his eighties with the same unbounded energy. He was forced to lie low for some medical issues and computer malfunction. As soon as he came out of this period he was raring to go with a number of ideas for different posts. My response to him has been, now he has to take it easy. Mr Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer on Songs of Yore, and he is familiar to SOY regulars. He has as usual written a thorough article on an important actress who debuted with RK’s Barsaat in 1949 and went on to make a mark in several superhit films as the lead or the second lead. Thank you Mr Ragan for this nice tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary. – AK)

Let us jump back in time, a favourite concept in very many scientific novels/films (e.g. Back to the Future, a Hollywood movie) and position ourselves before Hotel Rialto, London on the 18th July 1952. It is a gathering of distinguished guests from England, India, Indonesia etc. Nimmi is part of the entourage along with Mehboob Khan, producer of the movie Aan. The premiere of the movie in its English version named The Savage Princess is being held. It is the first Indian film to be made in full colour and shown abroad. A few days later a reception was well attended by film personalities from Hollywood too. Dazzled by the charm of Nimmi, four producers from Hollywood, including Cecil B. De Mille offered her roles in their future ventures. Nimmi refused it. Errol Flynn, a leading Hollywood actor, sought  the hand of Nimmi to plant a kiss in the traditional western style. Taken aback, Nimmi declined it stating that she was an Indian girl and such practices were foreign to her culture. As usual paparazzi were buzzing among the guests. Next day came headlines in many papers – ‘Nimmi the Unkissed Girl of India’. This was stated by Nimmi herself in an interview. A truly remarkable way to gather such a title.READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: “चल उड़ जा रे पंछी (संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति)”

चल उड़ जा रे पंछी…
संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति (खण्ड 1 एवं खण्ड 2)
By: Dr. Narendra Nath Pandey
Kautilya Books, New Delhi: 2022
ISBN: 978-93-90885-68-8
Pages: (256+474=730)
Price on Amazon: ₹1500 (Hardcover)

I have to start with a disclosure. The author of the above book, Dr Narendra Nath Pandey, is well known to me, having studied in the same college and lived in the same hostel, he being four years senior to me in the Physics Department. This small hostel of Patna Science College was known as a house of nerds, but Narendraji stood out even those days with his interest in literature, theatre and radio plays. After college our paths separated; I moved into the wide world of anonymity, and he into academics, finally retiring as University Professor of Physics. Along the way he pursued his other interests; the Research Council of the University gave him special permission to do research in the Hindi Department, finally honouring him with D. Litt.READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The Sculptors of Film Songs (1): Sebastian D’Souza

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Sebastian D’Souza on his 117 birth anniversary (29 January 1906 – 9 March 1998)

(If you remove the prelude, interlude and orchestral arrangements from ‘Aawara hun, ya gardish mein hun aasman ka tara hun’, or ‘Mera joota hai Japani’ or scores of our everlasting songs, a bare body would be left without adornments, embellishments and beauty. The songs would be hardly recognisabale.

The ‘arrangement’ of musical instruments adds beauty to the bare body of the song created by the music director. Yet the arrangers remained behind the curtain. They were rarely credited in the credit titles in fine print, and they virtually remained unknown to the music loving people, except some who were deeply involved in it.

There have been repeated requests by the readers to write on some famous Arrangers. I had to politely skirt the issue; I realised that one needed much more information than what was there in Greg Booth’s celebrated book, “Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios”.

In this situation Piyush Pandya’s series in Gujarati on Web Gurjari  came as a godsend. Mr Pandya retired after teaching Microbiology in a local college for 39 years, and is now settled in Ahmedabad. He was deeply interested in the songs of 1940s through 1970s, and was drawn towards fine points of orchestration. He often wondered who played which instrument at a particular spot in a song. The Internet era has helped him in scouring for information, and assisted by knowledgeable friends like Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, Harish Raghuvanshi, Biren Kothari and Chandrashekhar Vaidya, Piyushji has been able to write a series on the famous Arrangers of the Golden Era.

Ashok M Vashnav offered to translate these articles in English for publication on SOY, one a month. Ashokji is well known to SOY regulars. He retired as an engineer and now is a freelance management trainer based out of Ahmedabad.

Piyushji and Ashokji have decided to launch the series in the New Year with one of the greatest Arrangers, Sebastian D’Souza on his 117th birth anniversary (29 January 1906 – 9 March 1998). Being the first article in the series, it has a long introduction how our film music evolved from our ancient roots in other performance traditions; this would not be repeated in the remaining articles. With this I also welcome Piyushji on his debut in the new Year on SOY. Thanks a lot Piyushji and Ashokji for this wonderful New Year gift. – AK)

Introduction: Evolution of Film Music

A school of knowledgeable people believes that the music came into being when an infinitely dense singularity exploded with a Big Bang to bring our universe into existence. That explosion is our primal sound. The spread of that sound on a wave of radiation brought rhythm into existence. Thus, the two basic elements of music – the note (melody) and the beat (rhythm) – also can be believed to have come into existence simultaneously with the universe. The blowing of winds, explosions of volcanoes, the thunders of clouds and the strong winds of tornadoes that kept happening throughout the chain of events on the earth brought in them vast range of sounds. The waves of oceans, flowing waters of streams, winds blowing through the woods, the chime of rain drops falling on the leaves blended variety to the diversity of sound.READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Pyarelal Santoshi: Jack of All Trades?

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to the polymath PL Santoshi, the lyricist, dialogue & script writer, actor, singer, producer, director

(Most of us with some familiarity about our vintage films know PL Santoshi as one of the prominent lyricists. His association with C Ramchandra in several blockbusters made his name quite well-known. But very few of us know about his other talents as comes out in this article by DP Rangan. After reading this article you would know that he also produced and directed films, acted and sang in some films, and wrote dialogues, stories, and scripts. One can’t but bow to such a talent.

Mr Rangan has chosen to present his tribute on the 105th birth anniversary of C Ramchandra in recognition of Santoshi’s most prominent association with him. SOY regulars are quite familiar with Mr Rangan. For a septuagenarian with a non-Hindi background to do this kind of thorough work is awe inspiring. Thanks a lot Mr Rangan. – AK)

In one of my earlier posts on lyricists, I had stated that with the advent of talkies from 1931 in India, the triumvirate of  music director, singer and lyricist constituted a major element of film production. It has continued to be so till date, but with a progressive decline in quality over years, particularly in the twenty first century.

Film industry is a conglomerate of different disciplines as is revealed in the details of names of various individuals along with their role at the start of the film projected on the silver screen in the auditorium. I can think of a few constituents – lyricist, dialogue writer, story writer, screen writer, scenario, art director, special effects, actor, producer, director et al. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

‘Parent’-‘Adult’-‘Child’ in songs

Wishing the readers and their families a very Happy New Year.

You might recall some songs picturised on Harindranath Chattopadhyay, who always looked over 80, or on the patriarch of three generations Prithviraj Kapoor, and several such songs on an ever-old Om Prakash or David. Coming to the next generation, most songs were picturised on adult romantic lovers. As for children, they had an important place in our films as in our lives, and you can reel off dozens of songs picturised on them in our films. It is another matter that barring a few songs like Naani teri morni ko mor le gaye, baaki jo bacha tha kaale chor le gaye, or Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda, most of the children songs made them mouth mature philosophies. A popular soap on Sony TV, currently on air, is centred around a 6-year child who, like a 60 year old strategist, untangles the mess, removes her mother’s confusion and helps her in defeating the gang of vamps and villains in the family. Bollywood took Wordsworth’s poetic expression, “The Child is Father of the Man”, literally, and gave it a new meaning altogether.READ THE FULL ARTICLE