Miscellaneous

Tonga in the Tinsel World

Guest article by DP Rangan

(DP Rangan has been a familiar figure in the comments section.  He recently debuted as a guest author with his piece on Bollywood’s love affair with horses.  I had introduced him as a member of the very senior brigade, who has the enthusiasm of a teenager.  The proof is this sequel to his last post.  He had planned to put the cart before the horse, but on my suggestion he has right-sequenced the order.  For someone whose first language is not Hindi, the collection of songs is absolutely impressive.  Thank you Mr Rangan for another outstanding piece. – AK)  

Tonga songI have written enough about the horses in my earlier post and how they are part and parcel of humans even in the present age of technological advancement. Encouraged by the response of the generous readers to my first effort at ‘writing’, I venture to write its sequel on their use in horse carts, or tongas. Horses continue to be yoked to carts and haul people and goods from place to place. Fortunately, horse carts have been phased out from almost all the metropolis and may be a rare sight in countryside too. I am happy to see them in partial liberation. I hope to see a reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln to free them in totality and ensure they roam in whatever little is left of the wild. Film producers, of late, are not incorporating such scenes in their films. It is only an educated guess as I have not been to a theatre for more than fifteen years and have rarely sat before the idiot box with the technical name of Television. I am a computer nerd and, while trawling through internet, chanced upon SoY and my life thereafter became topsy turvy. I saw many snippets of songs based on tonga/cart scenes and decided to present them to the followers of this blog.

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First male dancer of Hindi films: Mumtaz Ali

Mumtaz Ali_thumb[1]I came to Mumtaz Ali in a very roundabout way. Before the Internet era I was only aware of his name as the father of Mehmood and Minoo Mumtaz etc. Internet made me aware that he was also into films, with the Bombay Talkies. Then a rare chance occurrence gave me a day out with his grandson, Ajaz Ali a.k.a AJ (son of Minoo Mumtaz), and later with his help, with Minoo Mumtaz. What they told me about his early life was most fascinating, which could be straight out of classic tales: How a young boy in Saudi Arabia, run-away from his oppressive elder sister, hid himself in a ship’s hold, and found himself on the shores of Bombay where he started eking out a living with other street children, when a kind-hearted Englishman, BG Horniman, editor of Bombay Chronicle, took a liking for him and brought him up. Mumtaz Ali was a born dancer. Bombay had a large number of theatre groups where he started dancing. Devika Rani took a liking for him and employed him in the Bombay Talkies, where he danced in many films. His dance in the song Main to Dilli se dulhna laya re ae babuji became a roaring hit. You can see the account of my meeting with AJ and his mother in conversation with Minoo Mumtaz.

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Naushad’s Long-distance Duets of Separation

NaushadHindi films have a very neat structure. They can be divided into three parts – romance, conflict and resolution. The lovers meet, or childhood friends grow up into lovers and dance around trees and sing romantic songs. Then the villain strikes, who lusts for the girl or her wealth, and kidnaps her; or the girl’s Daddy cannot stand the boy and locks her up; therefore, the lovers sing sad songs. In the end all the misunderstandings are removed, or the villain is beaten to pulp, and the lovers unite singing happy songs again. If eight or nine songs are divided evenly, about two or three should fall under the sad part. Some movies have weepy endings, especially if they happen to star a ‘Tragedy King’ or ‘Tragedy Queen’, which means that there could be proportionately more sad songs.

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Songs of Yore completes five years

Celebrating with some discovered gems, Jaunpuri, Darbari and Mukhtar Begum

Songs of Yore 5th AnniversaryThe fifth year of Songs of Yore has been more eventful than any preceding year. The year saw centenaries of four great music personalities – Anil Biswas, Begum Akhtar, Khursheed and Kavi Pradeep (the last one in the current calendar year). We remembered all of them – Anil Biswas in a grand manner, befitting his status as the Bhishm Pitamah of film music, with inaugural post by his daughter, and eight other posts on his combinations with different singers. Coincidentally, he also emerged as the Best Music Director, for 1951, which was reviewed in detail last year. The mega-series on SD Burman also concluded last year, notching up 15 posts in all. Arunji’s guest article on Hindi-Telugu in the meta-series on Multiple Version Songs completed the quartet of South Indian languages. Hindi-Bengali similar songs have many dimensions, some of which had been covered earlier. In the year gone by, SSW made a debut as a guest author with his article on Salil Chaudhary, which is likely to be the beginning of a series on him, as he is one of the most versatile talents in films and music. The Master of Multiple Version Songs, Ashok Vaishnav, resumed his super-fine explorations with songs that have hybrid multiple versions. Subodh kept up his date with his series on classical music, with his article on Pilu.

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Some thoughts on taxonomic-mathematical analysis of Hindi films and songs

Music Balance(SoY regulars would recall that discussions have often given rise to questions for which I have suggested a multi-disciplinary team of film/music experts and mathematicians for more precise analysis. It seems the experts have not come forward out of modesty. They must be looking for someone to take the initiative. In this post, I am summarising three main areas for study and also suggesting the composition of the teams. I am sure the experts would appreciate the seriousness of my intent, and spare their valuable time and energy for the larger good of the society. – AK)

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The Master of Musical Comedies C Ramchandra and his ‘Patanga’ (1949)

A tribute on C Ramchandra’s birth anniversary January 12 (12 Jan 1918-5 Jan 1982)

PatangaIn my simplified history of Hindi film music, when I move from RC Boral-Pankaj Mullick to Anil Biswas to Naushad, it would be quite unfair if I miss C Ramchandra. The Great Maratha (in the sense of one belonging to Maharashtra) was the most worthy rival of the Great Mughal, almost all the way, until Lata Mangeshkar deserted him, and his music floundered. He had no Plan B. But what a spectacle it was when it lasted! If Naushad had Mughal-e-Azam, CR had Anarkali. When Naushad swore by classical music, CR would create lilting classical based songs like Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag, Ye zindagi usi ki hai, Radha na bole na bole na bole re, Jab dil ko sataawe gham, without making a song or dance about it. When Naushad prided on his folk roots, CR would create Shehnai (Hamare angana aaj baaje baaje shehnai) and Nadiya Ke Paar (More raja ho le chal nadiya ke paar).

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The Jewel in the Crown of Naushad: ‘Rattan’ (1944)

SoY celebrates 2015 as the Year of Naushad in the 75th Anniversary Year of his debut

RattanIf I were to write the history of Hindi film music, it would go as follows. Once upon a time there were RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick. Then came Anil Biswas. He was followed by Naushad, who in a few years reached a pinnacle which his peers could only envy and aspire to attain. He became the Greatest Mughal of Movie Music, who withstood palace intrigues and all overt and covert attempts to dethrone him, and straddled like a colossus for about 25 years.

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Aao bachcho tumhein dikhayen jhanki….ki

Independence Day greetings to India and Pakistan

Jagriti-BedariFill in the blank in ‘Aao bachcho tumhein dikhayen jhanki…ki’. We all know the answer – ‘Hindustan’. If you think of it, ‘Pakistan’ also fits in perfectly. It is quite befitting that this is so, because no two countries have such shared history, shared culture, language, musical tradition, dress and appearance. India and Pakistan both got independence on the same day (August 15/14) from the British rule by the same Act of British Parliament, ‘India Independence Act 1947’. This was more like a surgeon separating two children at birth, with the ‘surgeon’ Radcliffe cutting the land into two by drawing his scalpel on the map, creating two nation-states.

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Songs of Yore completes four years

With a tribute to Juthika Roy

Songs of Yore_4 yearsI have often said I started blogging स्वान्तः सुखाय. As Songs of Yore completes four years today, I find I have become a little less selfish. Now I do a lot of things that are suggested and driven by the readers. And, you don’t need a preacher to tell you that nothing pleases a person more than knowing that what he does also pleases a lot of other people. So, I have to thank all the readers for making the journey of Songs of Yore so delightful.

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Multiple Version Songs (16): Rabindra Sangeet and Pankaj Mullick

Hridaya Pankaje Rabi Viraje

A tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) and Pankaj Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) by guest author N Venkataraman

(The appeal of Rabindranath Thakur’s poetry and songs of love, nature and worship transcends the boundaries of language and culture. Pankaj Mullick, one of the titans of music and films, has a historical place in bringing Rabindra Sangeet mass popularity through his singing, and using it in films for the first time. I was looking for a knowledgeable Bengali to write on Rabindra Sangeet-Pankaj Mullick-films songs, as a part of the series on Multiple Version Songs. SoY readers are familiar with Venkataramanji’s breadth and depth of knowledge, and he is as pucca a Bengali as anyone could be. I am grateful that he accepted my request to write this double tribute to the two great souls of India on the occasion of Gurudev’s 153rd and Pankaj Mullick’s 109th birth anniversaries. – AK)

Rabindrnath Tagore-Pankaj MullickSometime during May last year, AKji had wished to bring out two articles, under the Multiple-Version-Songs series. The first one, on ‘SD Burman’s Bengali songs and their Hindi versions’, was done by AKji in October 2013. The post on ‘Rabindra Sangeet tunes used in Hindi films’ was generously offered to me, but with a rider – I must accommodate a tribute to Pankaj Mullick, whose birthday follows a couple of days after Gurudev’s. The topic, Rabindra Sangeet tunes used in Hindi films, has been covered earlier on some other sites, and I believe most of our knowledgeable readers and our Bengali friends must be aware of these songs and related facts. But that did not prove to be a deterrent. On the contrary, it gave me an opportunity to explore uncharted areas and approach the subject a bit differently. The experience was not futile. Although I could use only a fraction of my acquisition in this post, it helped me to enhance my knowledge and listen to many wonderful songs.

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