Dev Anand described his autobiography as ‘Romancing with Life’. He got to sing on the screen, Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, Har fikr ko dhuyen mein udata chala gaya, embodying this philosophy. But he continued with his romantic hero image well into his 70s to the dismay of his fans. To me, he appeared as if he was not romancing with life, but with Dev Anand the screen star, who was long past his ‘Use before’-date.
Remembering Ninu Mazumdar – the composer and the singer
Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to Ninu Mazumdar on his 21st death anniversary (9 September 1915 – 3 March 2000)
(Ninu Mazumdar is a big name in Gujarati music. Hence we have Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to him with this guest article. He has brought us closer to other stalwarts from Gujarat, such as Avinash Vyas and Dilip Dholakia, who worked actively in Hindi films too. This is in addition to Ashokji’s numerous other guest articles on this blog on many themes.
Ninu Majumdar’s music and songs have been mentioned sometimes on SOY. But not many know that he was also a very melodious singer. Ashokji has done a very extensive research on his career, and in this article he presents songs sung by him under his baton as a music director. Except one, Ayi gori Radhika, all the songs presented here must be new to the readers. This bouquet of songs is a listener’s delight. I thank Ashokji for this excellent article. – AK)
Ninu is the family pet name of Niranjan Mazumdar (B: 9-9-1915 | D: 3-3-2000), who has 20 Hindi films to his credit as a music director, 28 Hindi film songs in his own voice, one film each as a lyricist and as a film director. Ninu Mazumdar was born in a community, which was traditionally more literate in those times. His father, Nagendra Mazumdar, was a dramatist and director in the silent film era. Nagendra Mazumdar has also acted in a comedy cameo role in K L Saigal’s classic Tansen (1943). Ninu Mazumdar’s childhood upbringing happened under the guidance of his maternal grandmother at the then Gaikwad princely state Baroda. She herself was a leading social reformist. Here, Ninu Mazumdar got his initial training in classical music under Ustad Faiyaz Khan and Ustad Imam Chili Khan.
Romancing the Stranger
For quite some time songs like Ajnabi, tum jaane pahchaane se lagte ho, and Kuchh ajanbi se aap hain, kuchh ajanbi se hum have been buzzing like bee in my head for an inexplicable reason. Then an incredible coincidence happened. One day I decided to browse through my books collected over the years that had not been touched, many of which are likely to remain unread. When I randomly opened a page of The Collected Poems of Vikram Seth, I came across this:
Songs of Raja-Rani
We all love historical films of Raja-Rani, even though their story does not have much to do with reality or history, except that they pertain to well-known historical figures set in a defined period in history. These films showed the grandeur of the palace and the royals’ life style. Sohrab Modi acquired larger than lifeREAD THE FULL ARTICLE
Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (14) – The Melodious Trio: Bageshri, Rageshri and Malgunji
Greeting the readers on the 71st anniversary of our Republic Day with guest article by Subodh Agrawal (Subodh Agrawal last wrote his guest article in the series on film songs based on classical music about a year ago. That was on Bhimpalasi and her sisters Dhani, Multani and Patdeep. He again writes on a setREAD THE FULL ARTICLE
The Unlucky Genius N Datta: His songs for ‘other’ singers
Wishing the readers Happy Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri and Magh Bihu with the concluding tribute to N Datta, with his songs for ‘other’ singers
N Datta’s music in BR Films’ Sadhana (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), and Dharmaputra (1961) is of such a high quality that I found it quite surprising that Gumrah (1963) onwards Ravi became almost a permanent fixture in BR Chopra camp. The music and the movies were so successful that it was difficult to think of anyone replacing Ravi. But it is important to remember that N Datta gave music for BR Chopra films five years before Ravi first joined the banner, and secondly, N Datta’s music is absolutely superb, his iconic songs matching with the best of anyone, and treating him as some kind of lesser-Ravi, or Ravi-filler is misplaced. As for record, N Datta debuted with Milaap (1955), the same year as Ravi debuted with Vachan. And if Ravi had been assistant to Hemant Kumar, N Datta to an even more celebrated Bengali music director S D Burman.
Hans Akela: A song that stood tall amid the ruins
Wishing the readers a very Happy New Year with guest article by Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli
(Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli is a familiar name for SoY regulars. He is one of the latecomers to the blog, having first discovered it in 2016 – the blog was started in 2010. But he has made a mark for his insightful comments, wit, easy command of language and interesting turn of phrase. An eminently suitable person to write a guest article. I am happy that he accepted my request to write one on a topic of his choice.
‘Ud jayega hans akela’ is a famous Nirgun bhajan of Kabir, which has become synonymous with Kumar Gandharva. We all leave this world alone. Similarly there are solitary songs from forgotten films or forgotten music directors that have achieved everlasting fame. Hindi film music would be poorer without these Hans Akelas.
Covid19 changed the world in many fundamental ways. The most important change it forced on us was to make us unlearn that the ‘Man is a social animal’. My post on ‘Songs and contra-songs’ was influenced a great deal by the raging pandemic. Its broad theme was suggested by Mr Muli, though long before anyone had heard of the new virus. It is befitting that he has chosen to write on ‘Hans Akela’ to herald the New Year. We all wish that the dark clouds disappear in the New Year and we don’t ‘have to be’ Hans Akelas, and we are back to our normal lives as we are used to.
Mr Muli is an MSc in Statistics and a trained Cost & Management Accountant (CMA). He has been a banker for a number of years, a faculty member at ICFAI, and has been now managing his own coaching institute for CA aspirants in Aurangabad.
Mr Muli’s debut article has everything you can expect from his pen. Thank you Mr Muli and welcome to the Guest Authors Club. – AK)
I believe that an average Indian has at least one of the following three traits: she or he is a Hindi Film buff, or a zealot cricket lover, or a disillusioned political analyst and I am no exception.
My journey with HFM started at the age of 7 years when I first listened to Aaasma ke neeche. Mine was a well-to-do family in a small town of Marathwada. In the late sixties, arrival of a new radio was no less than a festival for us. The seller had come to our house and was demonstrating the clarity of various stations. While surfing he hit upon this station where Aasma ke neeche was being played. He lingered over there for a moment and changed the station quickly, knowing very well that Vakil Saab (my father) abhorred Hindi films and songs. But the song had a lasting impression on me, and in the due course when I became aware that SD Burman was the composer, I became and still am his fan (a case of love at first sight).
Best songs of 1945: Wrap Up 4
And the Award for the Best Music Director of 1945 goes to? And wishing everyone Merry Christmas
Coming to the final Wrap Up 4, i.e the Best Music Director of 1945 is akin to the end of a Season of a web-series. For those who have not been with SOY since the beginning of the series, a refresher of how it all started will be in order. Long back then-active readers AM and KR Vaishampayan suggested that I do a yearwise survey of the music of pre-Filmfare Awards years 1953-45, in reverse order, and place it for in-depth analysis, comments and suggestions by the readers. AM and KRV have gone off the radar since, but off and on I get mails from KRV about his welfare and that he has been busy in his personal matters.
Filmfare Awards selection calendar was not coterminous with the calendar year in which the films were made, because the cut-off date for nomination was before the end of the year and due to other administrative procedures. For example, the first Filmfare Award for the Best Music was given to Naushad in 1954 for Baiju Bawara (1952). Two movies made in 1954 – Taxi Driver (S D Burman) and Nagin (Hemant Kumar) – got the Awards for the Best Music Director in 1955 and 1956 respectively. Thus, there are gaps in 1955 and 1953, hence you see these years covered in my yearwise reviews.
N Datta-Rafi: When they meet it is GOLD
Guest article by Hans Jakhar as a tribute to N Datta (12 December 1927 – 30 December 1987) on his 93rd birth anniversary with his songs for Rafi
(You can’t get a more passionate fan of Asha Bhosle than Hans Jakhar, and she was the principle female playback singer for Ravi. Therefore, he was the most natural choice to write on her best songs for Ravi in the series of tributes on him last year. The discussions on that post led to N Datta for whom Asha Bhosle was even a more predominant singer. Hans again became the natural choice for writing on her anniversary this year with her best songs composed by N Datta.
A most welcome bonus was that he offered to write on N Datta’s songs for Rafi. This was the classic case of one thing leading to another, but he became terribly busy with his personal affairs. It was very kind of him to, nevertheless, squeeze time for this post, though we have overshot N Datta’s 93rd birth anniversary by a day.
Readers are aware that Hans never does anything half-heartedly. This post too bears his exhaustive research, and you get not only an excellent selection of songs, but also an overall perspective on N Datta’s rise and fall, and despite that, his great talent in composing some everlasting songs.
Let us pay a tribute to the unlucky genius N Datta with his songs for another genius Rafi, on his 93rd birth anniversary. Thank you Hans for you efforts. – AK)
Last year in the series on Ravi, I wrote on Ravi-Asha Bhole and Ravi-Shakeel Badayuni. In my second post, Mumbaikar8 commented that she would have liked me to write on Ravi-Rafi. By that time both of Ravi-Rafi posts had already been written by AK. I am sure every reader on SOY knows that not only AK’s write-ups and song selection are exemplary, but also the song descriptions. I am sure Mumbaikar8 agrees with me on that and the reason for her wish was due to the fact that she wanted to see a write up from the perspective of a Rafi fan. AK also agrees to the difference of perspectives and because of that he asked me to write on N Datta-Asha Bhosle, though he has already written a number of great posts on her. This time I requested him to allow me to write on N Datta-Rafi to which he kindly agreed.
Hemant Kumar’s Non-film Songs
Concluding the series of centenary tributes to Hemant Kumar (16 June 1920-26 September 1989) with his non-film songs
My introduction to the last post by Ashok M Vaishnav on Hemant Kumar’s solo songs under the baton of other music directors conveyed that that rounded off his centenary celebrations. But it rankled me that his centenary celebrations would be incomplete without a post on his non-film songs. Fortuitously, a slot made itself available in the calendar year, enabling me to fulfil my desire and round off the centenary celebrations with my favourite non-film songs (NFS) of Hemant Kumar.