Book/Film Reviews

Book Review: “Soulfully Yours – Ravi”

Wishing all the readers and their families a very Happy New Year Soulfully Yours: Ravi Author: Manek Premchand Published by: Blue Pencil, Delhi 2025 ISBN: 978-81-943921-4-9 Price: ₹675 (Paperback on Amazon); Pages: 455 The regulars of this blog are well-informed about old film music. How do we view Ravi? I have been quite open aboutREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion Book 4

Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion Book 4 Author: Arunkumar Deshmukh Publisher: Professor toofaani publishers, East Lansing, MI, USA Price (Pothi.com): ₹675 plus shipping (Paperback) Copyright: © Arunkumar Deshmukh Pages: 227 This is the fourth book in the series, and I have reviewed all the earlier books on this site. WhenREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: “And The Music Lives On”

And The Music Lives On Author: Manek Premchand Publisher: Norton Press, India, October 2024 ISBN (Paperback): 979-8-89588-290-0 Price (Amazon): ₹539 (Paperback); ₹269 (Kindle Edition) Pages: 417 Manek Premchand is a well-known name to SOY readers as a writer of many books on old film music. I have reviewed his several books on this forum. WhenREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: R. D. Burman: The Man, The Music

The book review as a tribute to RD Burman (27.6.1939-4.1.1994) on his 31st Remembrance Day

R. D. Burman: The Music, The Man
Authors: Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal
Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-5029-049-1
Pages: 342+24 (Index, Acknowledgements)
Price: Amazon (Paperback): ₹399

I have to admit I am an R. D. Burman-skeptic; in fact, I belong to the cohort which considers RD Burman too loud, and responsible for destroying the melody of the Golden Era of music making. Yet I have no hesitation in saying that “R. D. Burman: The Music, The Man” is an outstanding book. The authors are unabashed fans of RD Burman, yet the book is not too hagiographic. They declare they didn’t want to write a biography either. But while discussing RD Burman’s music, they discuss the man too, and it has everything you expect from a good biography. The book is written in a lucid style, and is full of interesting trivia about songs, films and related things. They know a good deal about technical aspects of music, I find on Amazon reviews someone was put off by the technical details. I am illiterate in music, but I am not put off. I have become the authors’ admirers, at least they know what they are saying. That is not to say they have made me an RDB-convert. Then why this review at all?

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Book Review: Hindi Film Reviews (1931-1950)

Hindi Film Reviews (1931-1950)
By: Arunkumar Deshmukh
Edited by: Prof Surjit Singh
Published by: professor toofaani publishers, East Lansing, MI, USA

I have reviewed Arunkumar Deshmukh’s first two books on this forum – Forgotten Artists of Early Hindi Cinema Book 1 and Book 2. I know enough about Arunji through our couple of meetings and his writings on Atul Song A Day and other blogs that he has many books in him. Sometime back he asked me for my postal address and, after a week, when he asked whether I had received a packet, I had to say, No. Then he sent me the courier’s tracking id, and I came to know it was this book. The courier’s local office was in shambles, and after a good deal of follow up from his side and my side, the book finally arrived, after considerable delay.READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

DIRECTOR’ CHAIR Hindi Cinema’s Golden Age By Manek Premchand Published by: Blue Pencil 2024 ISBN: 978-81-956660-8-9; Pages: 571 Price (Paperback on Amazon): ₹750 Manek Premchand is a familiar name to the readers of Songs Of Yore. He has written a number of books on Hindi film music and music personalities. The title of this bookREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema (2)

Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion (2) Author: Arunkumar Deshmukh (Copyright) Publisher: Professor Toofanii Publishers, Lansing, MI USA (2023) Editor: Professor Surjit Singh Price: ₹450 plus postage (Paperback) at pothi.com Have you heard of Indurao Nimbalkar, Zohra Jan, Raja Sandow or Renuka Devi? They are important names from vintage era ofREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Book Review: “Reflections & Stray Thoughts”

Reflections & Stray Thoughts
By HQ Chowdhury
Publisher: Blue Pencil, New Delhi
ISBN: 978-81-952978-3-2
Price (Amazon): ₹314 (Paperback); 0 (Free Kindle)

The SOY regulars know HQ Chowdhury as the author of “Incomparable SD Burman”, which is regarded as the definitive biography of Burman Dada. That book establishes Chowdhury as a great fan of SD Burman, and one who has a deep insight into the film and non-film songs of yore of both Hindi and Bengali. But it was entirely devoted to his subject, and didn’t give a glimpse of the author himself, except that he was from Dhaka.READ THE FULL ARTICLE