Songs on themes

Fanciful ideas about breaching embankments (6)

Guest article by Ashwin Bhandarkar

(The regular readers of SoY are aware that Ashwin Bhandarkar is a BITS Pilani and IIM Calcutta alumnus and is an IT professional based in Pune. What makes him exceptional is that he has had over ten years of formal training in Hindustani classical music. This (Pun)dit (Pun)-e-kar, in a befitting यथा नाम तथा गुण, is also blessed with incorrigible punny bones which we have seen in plenty in his previous posts.

Ashwin continues his penchant for combining the profound with the light with the Title of this post, which is a cleverly crafted convoluted conundrum, which you can crack only if you are a cruciverbalist. Oh no, this is not how I write! This post must have infected me with a bug which you encounter in the very first sentence, and which permeates the entire article. You don’t have to specially look for it, you can’t miss it as it comes. But make no mistakes; Ashwin’s matter is never mundane, his mastery over music is magnificent, and the melody is always absolutely mellifluous.

Lastly, a little information about Ashwin’s perseverance with this post. He first appeared as a guest author on this blog over three years ago, and this post is also as old, because right then he had placed his handkerchief to reserve this topic for himself. After reading it, I can imagine why it has taken him so long. Now the hanky goes back to its holder until he or another guest author puts it to reserve a seat for another topic. Thanks a lot Ashwin for another superb post. – AK)

Andal's dream_Painting by S RajamI’m sure that cryptic crossword buffs amongst SoY readers would have cracked the crossword clue that is the title of this post. Let me solve it for the others:

‘Dams’ is a synonym of ‘embankments’. In crosswords, ‘about’ is the cryptic clue for ‘Re’, the short form for the reference line in formal letters. ‘Breaching’ between ‘about’ and ‘embankments’ indicates that the solution is an anagram of ‘Re Dams’. Now, what is a 6-letter anagram of ‘Re Dams’ that means ‘fanciful ideas’? ‘Dreams’, of course! And, songs about dreams are what this article is about.

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Twins Phenomena In Bollywood

Guest article by DP Rangan

(The prolific guest writer DP Rangan now writes on the twins in Hindi films, some generic tropes of these films, and gives a selection of songs from some twin films. The highlight of this post is some great songs of the vintage era. This post too has been with me for quite some time. Mr Rangan has been quite understanding of the unavoidable delay in scheduling it. Thank you Mr Rangan for yet another nice post from your pen. – AK)

Ram Aur ShyamFour billion years after the formation of the Solar System, the first elementary form of life emerged. Over the next five billion years, life underwent steady transformation and became more and more complex and advanced. Survival of the fittest was the key element in ensuring continuation of species. Apotheosis was emergence of Human beings (Phylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia) as the last to arrive at the scene. There was no longer any need to have large broods of young ones for species continuation among human beings. Single birth was the norm and over a number of years, a human couple, male and female, brought forth several children, and despite partial infant mortality perpetuation of the race was ensured. Still there were odd instances of giving birth to twins, identical or fraternal. Identical were either male or female, while fraternal could be a male and female child. For this post we are concerned only with identical twins.

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Baaja that was Harmonium that was Music

Harmonium poojaFrom time to time the importance of music instruments in our film songs have come in for some serious discussion on SoY. Some years ago, a reader Rohit Kumar (who seems to have gone off-radar) mentioned the strong association of some music directors with specific instruments, such as Roshan and flute, OP Nayyar and sarangi, SD Burman and folk instruments and so on, and suggested if I could write a series on this theme. Independently, Subodh sent me a mail discussing those songs where vocal and instrumental parts are engaged in a kind of jugalbandi, and he specifically mentioned Naache man mora magan dhikna dhik dhik as an example of the unforgettable tabla with voice. Later, in the comments on another post some earnest discussion took place about the flute and ektara. Around the same time Ashok Vaishnavji sent me a link of an article on Shankar Jaikishan’s romance with the piano accordion. More recently piano came in for intense discussion on the Open House and I was commanded by the readers to write on it. I am musically illiterate – my knowledge is limited to recognising some musical instruments when I see them 🙂 , but in deference to the readers’ request I thought of writing a few posts on some instruments I love visually in the films. The result was my first article on the piano in the series, which the erudite readers very indulgently appreciated despite coming from a lay person. Harmonium is another instrument I find very interesting and appealing in a film.

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The lost world of piano when it was more than a musical instrument

The Grand PianoDo you remember when we last saw a piano song in Hindi movies? In my recollection, Parineeta (2005) was the last movie which had a piano song, Piyu bole, in the classic style. And there is a reason for that: the story is set in the early 20th century in which the hero was from an aristocratic family. But there was a time when piano songs were quite common in our films. The grand piano was the central feature of a large hall in a mansion. It was not merely a symbol of wealth, but of class and taste. Because of its conspicuous presence, and the way it was presented in songs, it was not only a musical instrument or a mise-en-scène, but a living personality, an important character in the film.

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‘Vandya Vande Mataram’: The story of a Song Perennial

Guest article by N Venkataraman to celebrate 70th Anniversary of the Republic

(During our days of innocence we learnt in the school that ‘Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He’ was our ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Vande Mataram’  was our ‘National Song’, both of  equal reverence, and we sung both with equal fervour on special occasions.

When we grew up and became more ‘knowledgeable’, we learnt that both the songs had controversy dogging them right since they were created. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was said to have been written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911 in the honour of the British King George V on the occasion of his visit to India, and ‘Vande Mataram’  occurring in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s 19th century novel, ‘Anandamath’, was said to have religious overtones, which might offend the sensibilities of the minority community.

This controversy carried on right through the sessions of the Indian National Congress and, later, Constituent Assembly debates when question as to the declaration of a National Anthem came up. There were strong voices in favour of ‘Vande Mataram’ – as a matter of fact the Constituent Assembly session on 14 August 1947, which is famous for Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ at the midnight, began at 11 pm with singing of this song.  However, the hesitation to take a final call continued.  Finally, right on the last day, i.e. 24 January 1950, at the time of signing of the copies of the Constitution, the President Rajendra Prasad made a statement that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ shall be the National Anthem and “Vande Mataram, which has played an important part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and shall have equal status with it.”

Today we are again at troubled times because of the sectarian fault lines. As the Indian Republic turns 70,  we wish all the best for our country and its people. To celebrate the occasion, N Venkataraman  writes a scholarly article on the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’. As per the policy of this blog to steer clear of contentious political issues, Venkataramanji has put the focus specially on its rich musical history.

This article has long been in the making. A keen follower and the creator of the mega-series ‘Multiple Version Songs’, Ashok M Vashnav was also contemplating to write on different versions of ‘Vande Mataram’,  but happily passed it up when he came to know that Venkataramnji was at it. I am happy that despite his personal difficulties and other commitments, he has been able to complete it on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day, which happens to be in the 10th year of this blog. Thanks a lot Venkataramanji. – AK)

Vande MataramLet me backtrack to my early childhood days, a nostalgic trip down the memory lane. At the break of the dawn, as the activities of the house started, I would wake up to the Akashwani signature tune followed by VANDE MATARAM on the National Echo radio-set placed on the shelf of our living room (then it was my bedroom too). It took a minute for the vacuum tube valves to start up and the green magic eye to glow. Initially only a crackling sound could be heard before the station came on air. If I remember right it was 6:00 AM, I have no doubt that most of us and many more woke up to a new dawn listening to the Akashvani signature tune and ‘Vande Mataram’. And that was my first acquaintance with this song.

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Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 3

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 usREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 2

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 May 2019. The second part, dealing with  the second decade of the 1940s, and chorus songs from this era, gives a good insight into the main trends during this period and style of music. I compliment Shalan Lal on another well-researched article and thank her on behalf of the readers for her painstaking work. Shalan Lal is a UK-based academic. – AK)

Three Decades of Chorus Songs
Introduction and the Second Decade 1941-50

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Now into the tuneful forties.

In this section we discuss how the choruses and musical accompaniment in the films already established by the studio-based film companies had been used by the other companies to further the art of songs and chorus songs to their advantage.

The three film companies, New Theatres, Prabhat, and Bombay Talkies, mentioned in the first part of this series, developed internal institutional troubles and towards the end of the forties they were going to be dissolved or go limping to vanish; so more or less individual music directors became independent and allowed themselves to be hired by the film companies and the individual entrepreneurs to do contracted piece-work and free to do work for other companies on contracts. The reason for this was that the studios themselves would go on renting their space and facilities to other companies as well. Music directors would hire outside halls to rehearse their songs. As playback became gradually became the norm, the recording studios would need their studios booked in advanced.

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Chorus Songs in the Hindi Films of Yore: Part 1

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 isREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Barahmasa in film songs

Wishing a very Happy Holi to all the readers When the first monsoon rains quench the thirst of the parched earth, and dry rivulets, water bodies and ponds get filled with water, and green shoots emerge from dry plants and trees, and the farmers rush to the slushy fields for transplantation, it’s a time forREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Tujhe chaand ke ‘bahaane’ dekhun ki ‘chhat’ par aa ja goriye

Ude jab jab zuklfein teriToday’s young generation would scarcely believe the stratagems the lovers in the earlier days had to adopt to set up a rendezvous. ‘Atariya’ was one favourite place going back to the days of Romeo and Juliet. As we have seen earlier, its vantage position at the back of the house made it an appropriate place for a date, away from the prying eyes of the parents and others. ‘Angana’, on the other hand, was a central feature of the house, and more like a public square in a private home, where the family lived out its daily life, drying papads and pickles, chillies, spices and grains, did the pounding, dehusking, grinding, and finally, communal cooking, and laying out cots for sleeping under the sky and the stars. This was also the place for ceremonies and functions. Even in such a bustling place, the intrepid lovers managed to steal a glance and more: Kabhi yaad karke gali paar kar ke chali ana hamare angana.

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