Guest Authors

The Sculptors of Film Songs (14): Four Shades of the Dusk of the Series

Bhanu Gupta-Homi Mulan-Kishore Sodha-Ranjit 'Gamzer' Kancha April 11, 2024

The concluding article in the series on Arrangers and Musicians by guest authors, Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation), wishing everyone Eid Mubarak (As we celebrate Eid, our guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M Vaishnav mark the happy occasion with their concluding article in the series on Arrangers […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (13): Ramprasad Sharma & Sons

Ramprasad Sharma & Sons March 30, 2024

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (Ramprasad Sharma may be an unfamiliar name to many, but Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo were the biggest guys on the film music scene. They broke all the records: for number of films for which they composed music, total number of songs by them, […]

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Rafi’s Centenary Special: 35 songs from 35 years (1946-1980)

Rafi March 19, 2024

Guest article by Sivanandam Palamadai as a tribute to Rafi with 35 songs in 35 years (1946-1980) in the continuing series of articles on Rafi’s centenary (24th December 1924-31st July 1980) (Songs Of Yore is celebrating 2024 as the centenary year of Mohammad Rafi. I heralded the year with his solos from A to Z. […]

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Street Dancers of Bollywood

Thumbnail image for Street Dancers of Bollywood February 13, 2024

Guest article by DP Rangan (An interesting feature of our films is the dances performed in the streets, often by unknown actors. Sometimes the main protagonists also take to dancing and singing in the streets. Naturally a big crowd assembles around them enjoying the performance. These songs generally come at a critical juncture in the […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (11): Goody Seervai

Goody Seervai January 20, 2024

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (Continuing their series on Arrangers and Musicians, now the guest authors Piyush M Pandya and Ashok M Vaishnav throw the spotlight on one of the most respected musicians, Goody Seervai, who became synonymous with piano accordion. The songs they have mentioned have […]

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Qamar Jalalabadi: The Unforgettable Lyricist

Qamar Jalalabadi January 9, 2024

Guest article by DP Rangan paying a tribute to Qamar Jalalabadi on his 21st Remembrance Day (b. 9 March 1917 – d. 9 January 2003) (Among the main markers of a film song – the film, the singer, the lyricist and the music director – the lyricist, whose words gave birth to the song, is […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (10): Van Shipley

Van Shipley December 21, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (Van Shipley earned acclaim for his proficiency in violin and guitar, and he brought out many independent albums of tunes of film songs on these instruments. As such, he was among the well known arrangers and musicians. Yet there is no […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (9): Dattaram

Dattaram November 30, 2023

Guest authors Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (The most prominent identity of Dattaram is as long-time assistant of Shankar-Jaikishan. He later started giving music independently, but he continued his association with S-J. Thus in public mind when one thought of Dattaram, one thought of Shankar-Jaikishan, even though Dattaram had composed […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (8): Ramlal

Ramlal October 30, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (We all know Ramlal as the music director of V Shantaram’s films ‘Sehra’ and ‘Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne’. We also generally know that he was an ace shehnai player having been associated with Ustad Bismillah Khan. But we hardly know that […]

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (7): V Balsara

V Balsara September 17, 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (Gujarati original) & Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) (V Balsara was an extremely talented musician encompassing proficiency in all the links in the vertical chain of producing music – instrumentalist to arranger to music director. He was a master of many instruments. He was also a rare exception for […]

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