Guest Authors

Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (8): Avinash Vyas

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav

(Many talented music personalities from regional films/languages enriched Hindi film music. Some achieved great name and fame in Hindi films, especially those from Bengal, such as SD Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chaudhary, or in the Vintage Era, RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick; or from Marathi, such as C Ramchandra or Vasant Desai, or in the Vintage Era, Keshavrao Bhole etc. Some others, especially from Gujarat, could not replicate their success they had in their native language. Avinash Vyas is one such case. Highly talented, and the Pole Star of Gujarati film music, commercial success eluded him in the fickle world of Hindi films. Our familiar expert, Ashokji, is paying a tribute to this genius on his death anniversary, August 20. – AK)

Avinash VyasAvinash Vyas (21 July 1912 – 20 August 1984), true to his name, Avinash, has left indelible mark on the world of Gujarati sugam (light) music, through around 10000+ songs. He composed music for over 190 Gujarati films (around 1200 songs). His songs covered a very wide panorama of subjects and moods. He can be single-handedly considered to have pioneered roping in almost the entire front ranking playback singers from Hindi Film World for the Gujarati film and / or non-film songs.

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Multiple Version Songs (13): Hindi and Tamil film songs (3) – Dance (r) s of Deccan

Guest article by N Venkataraman

(Venkataramanji had planned his articles on Multiple Version Songs in Hindi and Tamil films in three parts.  After his first first two articles on ‘Inspired and adopted songs’ and ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, his final part was going to be on Remade films form one language to the other.  However, on the way he stumbled upon a large treasure trove of  South Indian dances and songs, remade from Tamil into Hindi, and decided to offer us this unexpected bonus. He would be now completing his series with two more articles on similar songs from remade films (Tamil to Hindi, and Hindi to Tamil).  Thank you Venkataramanji for your very generous bounties. – AK)

Deccan dancersAfter completion of the first two parts, namely the article on ‘Inspired and adopted Songs’ and the second part on ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, I am venturing into my next episode. Compared to the other two areas this is a vast sea and I thought that one should sail with the tide and try to find the moorings at the suitable time and situation. In course of my search for materials for this article I came across a fairly large number of traditional dance (and song) numbers from the films remade from Tamil to Hindi. This was a fascinating theme by itself.  Therefore, though not originally planned as a separate post, I decided to anchor and take refuge at this haven for now.  I would be completing my series with similar songs from remade films (probably in two parts).

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Multiple Version Songs (12): Similar songs in Hindi and Kannada

Guest article by Arunkumar Deshmukh

(When I mentioned that Arunji is a living encyclopaedia, I was thinking of Hindi, Marathi, and perhaps Telugu films because of his early association with Hyderabad. While I was still struggling if I knew anyone who could write about Kannada, out of the blue, Arunji made an offer to write on similar songs in Hindi and Kannada. Now I know whom to approach for Santhali, Chhatisgarhi, Dogri or Manipuri languages, but I am sure Arunji will never cease to surprise us! After his excellent piece on Hindi-Marathi, please enjoy another highly educative article on the history of Kannada films, and their linkages with Hindi and other languages. – AK)

Sati SulochanaThe First Talkie in 1931 was the beginning of a revolution in Filmdom. As expected even the first talking film was singing too! It had 7 songs. This stressed two points, one – India did not lag behind in technology, and two – music was an integral part of our lives, including entertainment.

From historical and even mythological times all kings – big or small had their “Court-Singers”. With love of common people and the royal patronage, it was not a wonder that ALL talkie films in ALL languages had songs in it.

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Multiple Version Songs (11): Similar songs in Hindi and Malayalam

Guest article by Anuradha Warrier

(There are some guests on whose arrival you exclaim, “Wo aye hamarey ghar khuda ki qudarat, kabhi hum unko kabhi apne ghar ko dekhate hain!”   Anu writes an outstanding blog spanning books, movies, music and whatever. She is also a writer and editor. With all that, and with the constraint of having grown up outside Kerala, it is indeed a very kind gesture on her part to agree to write on similar songs from Hindi and Malayalam movies. With such generous people I am confident we should be able to cover all the major languages in India in which such cross fertilisation with Hindi movies and songs have taken place. Thank you , Anu, for your excellent article. – AK)

Yesudas and MS BaburajI’d been following the mega-series of posts by Mr Ashok Vaishnav on the various combinations of multiple versions of songs on Songs of Yore with great interest. With AK hosting these posts, and Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh and Mr N Venkatraman writing on the links between Hindi-Marathi and Hindi-Tamil songs, it’s been a journey worth travelling.

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Multiple Versions Songs (10): Gujarati to, and fro, Hindi (film) songs (2)

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav

(In the tenth article in the series on Multiple Vesrsion Songs, which is the second part of Ashokji’s article on cross-pollination between Hindi and Gujarati songs, he looks at the influence of Gujarati light/folk sangeet on Hindi film music.  Some of the examples are very well-known songs without our being aware of Gujarati folk influence on them.  So, here is another voyage of discovery of the Hindi film songs influenced by Gujarati folk dance and songs. – AK)

Gujarati GarabaWe had had a peep into the versions Gujarati light (sugam) sangeet from Hindi film music in the first part of this article. In this second part we will take a reverse track and have a look at the influence of Gujarati light / folk sangeet on Hindi film music.

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Multiple Versions Songs (9) : Gujarati to, and fro, Hindi (film) songs (1)

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav

(Ashokji, who is the originator of the mega series on Multiple Version Songs, now takes us to the little known world of cross fertilisation between Hindi and Gujarati film and folk music.  He plans to do it in two parts, in the first part of which he presents an overview of the theme and impact of Hindi film music on Gujarati songs.  Needless to say, anything from his pen would show depth of research and eye for detail. – AK)

Gujarati sangeetI will begin this post with an humble and honest disclaimer: This preamble will provide an entrée background to our subject of the present post, and is in no way any statement of authority on the subject.

In order to make the posting of the article manageable, we will split the article in two parts, first part dealing with impact of Hindi film music on Gujarati songs, while the second part will present the reverse effect of Gujarati light sangeet on Hindi film music.

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Multiple Version Songs (8): Hindi-Tamil film songs (2) Songs from Dubbed Versions

Guest article by N. Venkataraman

(Mr Venkataraman’s first part of Hindi-Tamil similar songs was on ‘Inspired and adopted songs’.  He also mentioned in that article that he would be covering the subject in three parts.  In the second part he discusses songs from Hindi movies which were dubbed in Tamil.  Synchronizing the lyrics, meaning, meter and lip movement requires a great deal of talent.  It is a journey into a fascinating world, which, I presume, is unknown to most of us.  There is a warning though.  There is something infectious about these songs – you would soon forget that Madhubala ever sang ‘Mohabat ki jhoothi kahani pe roye’, because ‘Kanu kanda kaathal’ will grip you, or that Nargis sang ‘Raja ki ayegi baraat’, because after reading this article you would be humming, ‘Kalyana oorvalam varum’, and so on. – AK) 

Gul-e-bakawaliAt the outset, I feel like a traveller commencing the second part of my journey through a desert looking for the elusive oasis. I am afraid that the scope and variety found in the first part will be lacking to a great extent in this article. Except the lyrics and the singer(s), everything else will be almost similar in both the versions. Even the singer(s) in one or two instances can be the same. Hoping that the deserts too can provide enough charm on a calm and moonlit night.

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Multiple Versions Songs (7) – Both versions by female playback singers (2) – A Happy and A Sad Version

Guest article by Mr Ashok Vaishnav

(Ashokji continues his mega series which is the seventh article in the series, a couple of which have been contributed by other guest authors, namely Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh and Mr N Venkataraman.  His last piece was on both the versions by female playback singers.  He develops the same theme further in the second part which deals with the specific case of female versions in which one version is happy and the other sad.  This article too bears his characteristic depth of research and ear for detail.  –AK) 

Multiple version songsWe continue the second part of our journey of multiple version songs in Hindi films – all versions rendered by female playback singer(s), in the form of one of the most basic use of version songs – to present a happy and a sad situation in the same film.  The instances presented here have cases where both the versions are rendered by the same female playback singer. As it happens, all songs except the last one are rendered by Lata Mangeshkar

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Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (7) – Desh and Tilak Kamod

Guest article by Subodh Agrawal

(Subodh returns, after some gap, with an outstanding article on Desh and its close variant, Tilak Kamod.  Some of the most iconic songs, such as ‘Dukh ke ab din beetat nahi’, ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Baje sargam har taraf se goonj bankar Desh Raga’ are in Desh. He also includes the concluding portion of Tagore’s dance drama ‘Shyama’, which is one of the most poignant and beautiful compositions in Desh you can find anywhere. The classical pieces he has included  are recognised landmarks in these Ragas.  He combines his great taste in music with a precision in writing he has acquired from his training in Physics and Mathematics in IIT. – AK)

Raga DeshFor my sixth article in this series I have opted for one of the most pleasing of the ragas – Desh. Along with it I also include its closely related cousin – Tilak Kamod, because Tilak Kamod would perhaps not merit a separate post by itself, and the two go together quite well. Both these ragas have strong roots in folk melodies. Because of this they are often dismissed as minor ragas, which – in my opinion – is grossly unfair.

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Multiple Versions Songs (6) – Both versions by female playback singer(s) (1) – Abhi To Main Jawan Hun

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav

(The series on multiple version songs, started by Mr Ashok Vaishnav, is now getting multidimensional.  Besides three parts by Ashokji, we also had Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh writing on Hindi-Marathi, and Mr N Venkataraman on Hindi-Tamil version songs.  Ashokji resumes where he left off – now with all-female versions.  This he proposes to do in two parts, which he explains in his article – AK)

Multiple version songsWe continue our journey of the multiple versions songs through a mirror-image of all-male version songs sub-category – multiple version songs in Hindi films – all versions rendered by female playback singer(s).

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