Songs Of Yore — Music from old Indian cinema

A tribute to old Hindi film music. Songs of the 30s through the 60s.

Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’

18 February 2023

A tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020) by guest writer DP Rangan

(When you think of Nimmi, you think of a live-wire, innocent village belle; a mountain girl who pines for her city-slick lover; a courtesan loved by a nawab who cannot disclose his relationship to the world, which the courtesan accepts in suffering, but gives a decent upbringing to his bright brother. A commoner who dares and looks in the eye of the villainous prince. And that takes me to Aan (1952) which has become the reference point for the tagline of this article on Nimmi by DP Rangan.

I have been so far describing Mr Rangan as a septuagenarian going on seventeen. I didn’t realise that the age counter moves up every year. Now he is well into his eighties with the same unbounded energy. He was forced to lie low for some medical issues and computer malfunction. As soon as he came out of this period he was raring to go with a number of ideas for different posts. My response to him has been, now he has to take it easy. Mr Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer on Songs of Yore, and he is familiar to SOY regulars. He has as usual written a thorough article on an important actress who debuted with RK’s Barsaat in 1949 and went on to make a mark in several superhit films as the lead or the second lead. Thank you Mr Ragan for this nice tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary. – AK)

Let us jump back in time, a favourite concept in very many scientific novels/films (e.g. Back to the Future, a Hollywood movie) and position ourselves before Hotel Rialto, London on the 18th July 1952. It is a gathering of distinguished guests from England, India, Indonesia etc. Nimmi is part of the entourage along with Mehboob Khan, producer of the movie Aan. The premiere of the movie in its English version named The Savage Princess is being held. It is the first Indian film to be made in full colour and shown abroad. A few days later a reception was well attended by film personalities from Hollywood too. Dazzled by the charm of Nimmi, four producers from Hollywood, including Cecil B. De Mille offered her roles in their future ventures. Nimmi refused it. Errol Flynn, a leading Hollywood actor, sought the hand of Nimmi to plant a kiss in the traditional western style. Taken aback, Nimmi declined it stating that she was an Indian girl and such practices were foreign to her culture. As usual paparazzi were buzzing among the guests. Next day came headlines in many papers – ‘Nimmi the Unkissed Girl of India’. This was stated by Nimmi herself in an interview. A truly remarkable way to gather such a title.

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Book Review: “चल उड़ जा रे पंछी (संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति)”

8 February 2023

चल उड़ जा रे पंछी…
संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति (खण्ड 1 एवं खण्ड 2)
By: Dr. Narendra Nath Pandey
Kautilya Books, New Delhi: 2022
ISBN: 978-93-90885-68-8
Pages: (256+474=730)
Price on Amazon: ₹1500 (Hardcover)

I have to start with a disclosure. The author of the above book, Dr Narendra Nath Pandey, is well known to me, having studied in the same college and lived in the same hostel, he being four years senior to me in the Physics Department. This small hostel of Patna Science College was known as a house of nerds, but Narendraji stood out even those days with his interest in literature, theatre and radio plays. After college our paths separated; I moved into the wide world of anonymity, and he into academics, finally retiring as University Professor of Physics. Along the way he pursued his other interests; the Research Council of the University gave him special permission to do research in the Hindi Department, finally honouring him with D. Litt.

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The Sculptors of Film Songs (1): Sebastian D’Souza

29 January 2023

Guest article by Piyush M Pandya (originally in Gujarati) and Ashok M Vaishnav (English translation) as a tribute to Sebastian D’Souza on his 117 birth anniversary (29 January 1906 – 9 March 1998)

(If you remove the prelude, interlude and orchestral arrangements from ‘Aawara hun, ya gardish mein hun aasman ka tara hun’, or ‘Mera joota hai Japani’ or scores of our everlasting songs, a bare body would be left without adornments, embellishments and beauty. The songs would be hardly recognisabale.

The ‘arrangement’ of musical instruments adds beauty to the bare body of the song created by the music director. Yet the arrangers remained behind the curtain. They were rarely credited in the credit titles in fine print, and they virtually remained unknown to the music loving people, except some who were deeply involved in it.

There have been repeated requests by the readers to write on some famous Arrangers. I had to politely skirt the issue; I realised that one needed much more information than what was there in Greg Booth’s celebrated book, “Behind the Curtain: Making Music in Mumbai’s Film Studios”.

In this situation Piyush Pandya’s series in Gujarati on Web Gurjari came as a godsend. Mr Pandya retired after teaching Microbiology in a local college for 39 years, and is now settled in Ahmedabad. He was deeply interested in the songs of 1940s through 1970s, and was drawn towards fine points of orchestration. He often wondered who played which instrument at a particular spot in a song. The Internet era has helped him in scouring for information, and assisted by knowledgeable friends like Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, Harish Raghuvanshi, Biren Kothari and Chandrashekhar Vaidya, Piyushji has been able to write a series on the famous Arrangers of the Golden Era.

Ashok M Vashnav offered to translate these articles in English for publication on SOY, one a month. Ashokji is well known to SOY regulars. He retired as an engineer and now is a freelance management trainer based out of Ahmedabad.

Piyushji and Ashokji have decided to launch the series in the New Year with one of the greatest Arrangers, Sebastian D’Souza on his 117^th birth anniversary (29 January 1906 – 9 March 1998). Being the first article in the series, it has a long introduction how our film music evolved from our ancient roots in other performance traditions; this would not be repeated in the remaining articles. With this I also welcome Piyushji on his debut in the new Year on SOY. Thanks a lot Piyushji and Ashokji for this wonderful New Year gift. – AK)

Introduction: Evolution of Film Music

A school of knowledgeable people believes that the music came into being when an infinitely dense singularity exploded with a Big Bang to bring our universe into existence. That explosion is our primal sound. The spread of that sound on a wave of radiation brought rhythm into existence. Thus, the two basic elements of music – the note (melody) and the beat (rhythm) – also can be believed to have come into existence simultaneously with the universe. The blowing of winds, explosions of volcanoes, the thunders of clouds and the strong winds of tornadoes that kept happening throughout the chain of events on the earth brought in them vast range of sounds. The waves of oceans, flowing waters of streams, winds blowing through the woods, the chime of rain drops falling on the leaves blended variety to the diversity of sound.

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Pyarelal Santoshi: Jack of All Trades?

12 January 2023

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to the polymath PL Santoshi, the lyricist, dialogue & script writer, actor, singer, producer, director

(Most of us with some familiarity about our vintage films know PL Santoshi as one of the prominent lyricists. His association with C Ramchandra in several blockbusters made his name quite well-known. But very few of us know about his other talents as comes out in this article by DP Rangan. After reading this article you would know that he also produced and directed films, acted and sang in some films, and wrote dialogues, stories, and scripts. One can’t but bow to such a talent.

Mr Rangan has chosen to present his tribute on the 105th birth anniversary of C Ramchandra in recognition of Santoshi’s most prominent association with him. SOY regulars are quite familiar with Mr Rangan. For a septuagenarian with a non-Hindi background to do this kind of thorough work is awe inspiring. Thanks a lot Mr Rangan. – AK)

In one of my earlier posts on lyricists, I had stated that with the advent of talkies from 1931 in India, the triumvirate of music director, singer and lyricist constituted a major element of film production. It has continued to be so till date, but with a progressive decline in quality over years, particularly in the twenty first century.

Film industry is a conglomerate of different disciplines as is revealed in the details of names of various individuals along with their role at the start of the film projected on the silver screen in the auditorium. I can think of a few constituents – lyricist, dialogue writer, story writer, screen writer, scenario, art director, special effects, actor, producer, director et al.

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‘Parent’-‘Adult’-‘Child’ in songs

1 January 2023

Wishing the readers and their families a very Happy New Year.

You might recall some songs picturised on Harindranath Chattopadhyay, who always looked over 80, or on the patriarch of three generations Prithviraj Kapoor, and several such songs on an ever-old Om Prakash or David. Coming to the next generation, most songs were picturised on adult romantic lovers. As for children, they had an important place in our films as in our lives, and you can reel off dozens of songs picturised on them in our films. It is another matter that barring a few songs like Naani teri morni ko mor le gaye, baaki jo bacha tha kaale chor le gaye, or Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe ghoda, most of the children songs made them mouth mature philosophies. A popular soap on Sony TV, currently on air, is centred around a 6-year child who, like a 60 year old strategist, untangles the mess, removes her mother’s confusion and helps her in defeating the gang of vamps and villains in the family. Bollywood took Wordsworth’s poetic expression, “The Child is Father of the Man”, literally, and gave it a new meaning altogether.

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Vasant Desai Part 4 (post-1950s): His ‘other’ female singers

22 December 2022

Continuing the series of tributes to Vasant Desai, the final tribute on his 47th Remembrance Day (9 June 2012 – 22 December 1975)

When I started writing my tribute to Vasant Desai to fill up a noticeable gap on SOY, I didn’t know how many articles I would need to cover his career to my satisfaction. I knew it would be more than one, because he straddled both the Vintage Era (1930s and 1940s) and the Golden Era (1950s and 60s) and he was multi-faceted having acted and sang in his early films, besides being a renowned music director. Sometime in the Vintage Era he gave up acting and singing. I have covered all the facets of his enormous talent in the Vintage Era in Part 1 of my tribute. In the post-50s period he confined himself only to music direction and made a mark for himself. This was a period when a hundred flowers bloomed, and to do justice to Vasant Desai, I had to continue my series by writing on his songs for major singers.

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Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 4

11 December 2022

And the Award for the Best Music Director goes to?

The year 1943 was like 1944 in many respects. Kismet became a cult hit for its novel theme; it also happened to have outstanding music by Anil Biswas. Anil Biswas also gave some excellent music in Hamari Baat. Naushad didn’t have a Rattan (1944) exactly, but he gave music to three films – Namaste, Kanoon and Sanjog – and all the three celebrated silver jubilees. Towering above all these, KL Saigal, Khursheed-starrer Tansen became a musical masterpiece, composed by Khemchand Prakash. Ram Rajya, composed by Shankar Rao Vyas had some songs which have acquired iconic status. New Theatres maintained their quality with Kashinath (Pankaj Mullick) and Wapas (RC Boral). There were several others making a mark, such as Kamal Dasgupta, Shyam Sundar, Pt. Govind Ram, Vasant Desai and Rafiq Ghaznavi. For lovers of music of the vintage era, these are familiar names and they have acquired a place in the Roll of Honour.

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Thinkers’ songs

30 November 2022

(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail for confirmation from “follow.it“. This is not a spam. You would have to simply confirm, and you would start getting the notifications of new posts. However, there are technical difficulties in fixing the feature for getting notifications of new comments. – AK)

Rohit Shetty proudly says, “For watching my movies you have to leave your brains behind at home”. Farah Khan says something similar when she talks about making “my kind of movies.” But are these movies really brainless? They require a very high degree of intelligence to make and for the audience to appreciate. In Om Shanti Om, the superstar Om (Shahrukh Khan) remembers from his past life the secret of Arjun Rampal, and wants to avenge the killing of Shantipriya (Depika Padukone), his love-interest in his previous life. Since there is no proof, he wants Arjun Rampal, a big producer in Hollywood now, to resume the shooting of OSO, so that he could be made to confess by recreating the crime with the help of Shantipriya lookalike (Deepika Padukone again). He is extremely reluctant and offers a Hollywood project to the superstar. In this game of chicken, Shahrukh Khan casually drops in, Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! Other references in the film are over the top and unmissable, but this one from Gone With The Wind is very intelligently inserted.

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Romancing other miscellaneous balmas

20 November 2022

(Note: I understand some SOY regulars are not getting email notification of new posts. You are all requested to register your email in the box at the bottom of the post. You would get a mail for confirmation from “follow.it“. This is not a spam. You would have to simply confirm, and you would start getting the notifications of new posts. However, there are technical difficulties in fixing the feature of getting notifications of new comments. – AK)

After I had written on romancing the major types of balmas, such as anadi balma, pardesi balma, ajnabi balma, bedardi balma and jaadugar balma, I was left with a lurking feeling that there were still many types of balmas which did not fall in any of the above major categories. I had posed a question: In which category would you put the Shakti Kapoor-balma in the film Chaalbaaz (1989)? I don’t have a satisfactory answer. But it suggests we need to have a post on assorted types of balmas who cannot fit in the five major categories.

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Master Ghulam Haider: A Trailblazer

9 November 2022

Guest article by DP Rangan as a tribute to Ghulam Haider on his 69th Remembrance Day (1908 – 9 November 1953)

(DP Rangan has been the most prolific guest writer for SOY, but it is more than a year since he last wrote. Some health issues which required hospitalisation, and his computer suddenly conking off has kept him down. But he has been restless all this while to come back to SOY. After getting over his niggling problems he is back with an exhaustive article on Ghulam Haider. There has been no exclusive article on him on this blog so far; he only makes one-third appearance in my post titled Shamshad Begum with 3G (one of the 3G, albeit the most important for Shamshad Begum’s career being Ghulam Haider).

Mr Rangan has long retired from government service and he is well into his seventies. Because of his frail health and his handicap of language I have been advising him to take it easy. But he has boundless energy. This exhaustive article is a proof. Thank you Mr Rangan for filling an important gap on the SOY. – AK)

Human beings are highly individualistic in nature and each has his own unique personality and attributes. What sets apart some from the multitude is their innate good nature, getting along with fellow human beings, caring for the sensibilities of others, readiness to nurture and encourage talents of those they are frequently interacting with, besides being highly proficient in their chosen field of activity. This is a sine qua non in film industry to avert ego clashes. Ghulam Haider (hereinafter referred to as GH in the post) is unique in this regard as he had all these qualities fused in him. He cared for his fellow workers and had an uncanny ability to spot talents among budding singers and nurture them in right ways. He was a pioneer in revolutionising the way music was set for films and was a pathbreaker. In his career of 18 years in film music composition from 1935 to 1953, he gave music for just about 32 films of which roughly one fourth were Punjabi films. Quality always takes precedence over quantity while judging a music director’s calibre and he came out with flying colours when viewed in this light.