Shalan Lal

In the Musical Memory of Meena Kapoor

Meena Kapoor March 17, 2020

Guest article by Shalan Lal as Part II of the Remembrance Tribute to Meena Kapoor (c. 1930 – 23 November 2017) (Shalan Lal wrote a comprehensive post on Meena Kapoor on her first death anniversary 23 November 2018. I didn’t know that she was planning to write a second part too. She sent me the […]

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‘Would there ever be another Lata Mangeshkar?’

Lata Mangeshkar September 28, 2019

Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very happy 90th birth anniversary (b. 28 September 1929) with a guest article by Shalan Lal (Lata Mangeshkar turns 90 today. This momentous occasion demanded something special befitting the milestone. However, in the year of the Ravi celebration on SoY, most readers almost took it for granted that today I would […]

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Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 3

Ye desh hai veer jawanon ka May 26, 2019

Guest article by Shalan Lal (After the earlier two articles covering the 1930s and 1940s, Shalan Lal concludes her three-part thesis on chorus songs with the Golden Decade of the 1950s. As we have come to expect from her, these articles do not merely present the representative songs of the period, but also take us […]

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Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 2

Meri pyari patang May 14, 2019

Guest article by Shalan Lal (In the first part of her three-part dissertation on chorus songs in the films of yore, Shalan Lal covered the first decade of the 1930s, dominated by three major studios: The New Theatres of Calcutta, Bombay Talkies of Bombay and Prabhat Film Company of Poona.  This was published on 2 […]

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Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 1

Kaisa chhaya hai ala ujala rasiya May 2, 2019

Guest article by Shalan Lal (Readers are aware, when Shalan Lal  writes on a topic she writes a research paper as if  for an academic seminar, even if it is for a blog like ‘Songs of Yore’. She does a similar comprehensive work to discuss the chorus songs of the films of yore. This is […]

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In the Musical Memory of Meena Kapoor

Meena Kapoor November 23, 2018

Guest article by Shalan Lal as a tribute to Meena Kapoor (c. 1930 – 23 November 2017) on her first death anniversary (Meena Kapoor has not been acknowledged enough on SoY. Mumbaikar8 has drawn pointed attention to this omission, and was sore that I credited the songs of ‘Anokha Pyar’ (1948) like ‘Yaad rakhan chaand […]

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The Faint Echoes of the October Revolution: A Centenary of the Capricious Philosophy in the Socio-political life!

Communist star October 24, 2018

Guest article by Shalan Lal (No event in history has caused as much impact on the world of politics and ideas as the Russian Revolution of October 1917. And no revolution has strayed as much from its path, turning into a totalitarian regime and causing untold miseries on its people. The political edifice collapsed under […]

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Hundreds of shades of Pyaar

Pyar hua iqaraar hua February 14, 2017

Wishing the readers a very happy Valentine’s Day with guest article by Shalan Lal (Today on Valentine’s Day, love is in the air everywhere. Love of mushy messages; of roses and chocolates; of romance and togetherness. ‘Genre’-theorists hold that the concept of genre is not relevant for Indian films, as all our films are essentially […]

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Dekho Dosto Chhed Ka Maza!

Padosan September 18, 2016

Guest article by Shalan Lal [The title is adapted from Hasrat Jaipuri’s lyrics in the film ‘Shararat’ (1959)] (From Krishna teasing the gopis to Kishore Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and other heroes teasing heroines in the films, chhed chhad has been an integral part of our culture.  You would expect from the title that the post […]

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An aviary of Songs

Bird January 1, 2016

Bird-watch in the Songs of Yore Wishing Happy New Year to all the readers with guest article by Shalan Lal (Once upon a time there were birds around us and they were a part of our lives, songs, mtyths and legends. When the crow cawed we knew it was advance intimation of a guest coming; […]

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