A tribute on Rafi’s death anniversary July 31
There is one thing common between Mohammad Rafi and SD Burman. If Rafi was the most versatile singer, SD Burman was the most versatile composer. He is the only music director who can claim to have composed equally great music with Rafi as with Kishore Kumar, his two main singers. There were also films in which he used the voice of Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand, when he composed unparalleled songs like Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan. And whenever he used Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh, he created songs which became landmarks of their career.
A tribute on her death anniversary July 20
There is a great deal common between Geeta Dutt and SD Burman – both being Bengalis is just one of them. Geeta Dutt was born on 23rd November, 1930 at Faridpur in East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) in a prosperous landlord family. Her family had to move to Bombay in 1942 in the wake of Quit India movement, which turned anti-landlord. Her singing was noticed by the music director Hanuman Prasad when he was passing by their apartment. He gave her a break in Bhakt Prahlad (1946) to sing a few lines in a chorus. She had some more songs in 1946, but none that could create any ripples.
SoY regulars would recall that last year I wrote a string of posts on the best songs of 1955. The idea came from the readers’ suggestion to do a yearwise review of the best songs of pre-Filmfare Award years. Even though Baiju Bawra (1952) became the first film to win the award for the best music, it transpired that in later years, no film of 1953 or 1955 won the Filmfare award, whereas two films of 1954 – Taxi Driver and Nagin – won the award in the years 1955 and 1956 respectively. Without getting into the reasons for this discrepancy, I decided to make the record straight and covered the year 1955. From this logic, this year I am reviewing the songs of 1953 (I am proceeding in the reverse order as suggested by the readers). Thereafter, it would be the turn of 1951, after which the sequence would become regular.
There are some people whose reputation precedes their arrival. Jamal Sen has come in for some great praise on at least three occasions on this blog. In Subodh’s piece on Yaman, Jamal Sen’s composition Sapna ban sajan aye was mentioned in comments as one of the best examples of Yaman, and several readers mentioned him as a befitting candidate for this series. Earlier, while researching for Suraiya’s songs, I came across an unheard gem Raton ki need chheen li ankhon ke intezar ne from Shokhiyan (1951), which I had to include over some other well known songs. And later, while writing on Mubarak Begum, Jamal Sen’s contribution in giving her some of the most memorable songs, especially the duet with Mohammad Rafi, Devta tum ho mera sahara in Dayera (1953), was recognised.
Guest article by N Venkataraman
(Venkataramanji had planned his articles on Multiple Version Songs in Hindi and Tamil films in three parts. After his first first two articles on ‘Inspired and adopted songs’ and ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, his final part was going to be on Remade films form one language to the other. However, on the way he stumbled upon a large treasure trove of South Indian dances and songs, remade from Tamil into Hindi, and decided to offer us this unexpected bonus. He would be now completing his series with two more articles on similar songs from remade films (Tamil to Hindi, and Hindi to Tamil). Thank you Venkataramanji for your very generous bounties. – AK)
After completion of the first two parts, namely the article on ‘Inspired and adopted Songs’ and the second part on ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, I am venturing into my next episode. Compared to the other two areas this is a vast sea and I thought that one should sail with the tide and try to find the moorings at the suitable time and situation. In course of my search for materials for this article I came across a fairly large number of traditional dance (and song) numbers from the films remade from Tamil to Hindi. This was a fascinating theme by itself. Therefore, though not originally planned as a separate post, I decided to anchor and take refuge at this haven for now. I would be completing my series with similar songs from remade films (probably in two parts).
Guest article by Arunkumar Deshmukh
(When I mentioned that Arunji is a living encyclopaedia, I was thinking of Hindi, Marathi, and perhaps Telugu films because of his early association with Hyderabad. While I was still struggling if I knew anyone who could write about Kannada, out of the blue, Arunji made an offer to write on similar songs in Hindi and Kannada. Now I know whom to approach for Santhali, Chhatisgarhi, Dogri or Manipuri languages, but I am sure Arunji will never cease to surprise us! After his excellent piece on Hindi-Marathi, please enjoy another highly educative article on the history of Kannada films, and their linkages with Hindi and other languages. – AK)
The First Talkie in 1931 was the beginning of a revolution in Filmdom. As expected even the first talking film was singing too! It had 7 songs. This stressed two points, one – India did not lag behind in technology, and two – music was an integral part of our lives, including entertainment.
From historical and even mythological times all kings – big or small had their “Court-Singers”. With love of common people and the royal patronage, it was not a wonder that ALL talkie films in ALL languages had songs in it.
Celebrating with three triad songs
Today SoY completes three years. When I look back, it is not merely more of the same. To be sure, the frequency has increased from the preceding two years. Thirty-three posts in the year gone by, i.e. a post every 11 days, is far more than the preceding two years. But more important is the variety. With songs on themes like River, Naiya, Kinare, Jigar; personalities like Asit Baran, Mubarak Begum, Minoo Mumtaz, some potpourri like Wrap Up of Songs of 1955, Mahamoorkhon ke gaane, and historical-musical travelogue of Rangoon/Burma, I have indulged in my freewheeling wanderings. I have to admit, as I have said earlier, that there is an element of स्वान्तः सुखाय here, borne out of the fact that I am the host of the blog. But what is really gratifying is that a lot many people with tremendous amount of knowledge have joined me in sharing my delights.
Guest article by Anuradha Warrier
(There are some guests on whose arrival you exclaim, “Wo aye hamarey ghar khuda ki qudarat, kabhi hum unko kabhi apne ghar ko dekhate hain!” Anu writes an outstanding blog spanning books, movies, music and whatever. She is also a writer and editor. With all that, and with the constraint of having grown up outside Kerala, it is indeed a very kind gesture on her part to agree to write on similar songs from Hindi and Malayalam movies. With such generous people I am confident we should be able to cover all the major languages in India in which such cross fertilisation with Hindi movies and songs have taken place. Thank you , Anu, for your excellent article. – AK)
I’d been following the mega-series of posts by Mr Ashok Vaishnav on the various combinations of multiple versions of songs on Songs of Yore with great interest. With AK hosting these posts, and Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh and Mr N Venkatraman writing on the links between Hindi-Marathi and Hindi-Tamil songs, it’s been a journey worth travelling.
Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav
(In the tenth article in the series on Multiple Vesrsion Songs, which is the second part of Ashokji’s article on cross-pollination between Hindi and Gujarati songs, he looks at the influence of Gujarati light/folk sangeet on Hindi film music. Some of the examples are very well-known songs without our being aware of Gujarati folk influence on them. So, here is another voyage of discovery of the Hindi film songs influenced by Gujarati folk dance and songs. – AK)
We had had a peep into the versions Gujarati light (sugam) sangeet from Hindi film music in the first part of this article. In this second part we will take a reverse track and have a look at the influence of Gujarati light / folk sangeet on Hindi film music.
Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav
(Ashokji, who is the originator of the mega series on Multiple Version Songs, now takes us to the little known world of cross fertilisation between Hindi and Gujarati film and folk music. He plans to do it in two parts, in the first part of which he presents an overview of the theme and impact of Hindi film music on Gujarati songs. Needless to say, anything from his pen would show depth of research and eye for detail. – AK)
I will begin this post with an humble and honest disclaimer: This preamble will provide an entrée background to our subject of the present post, and is in no way any statement of authority on the subject.
In order to make the posting of the article manageable, we will split the article in two parts, first part dealing with impact of Hindi film music on Gujarati songs, while the second part will present the reverse effect of Gujarati light sangeet on Hindi film music.
There is one thing common between Mohammad Rafi and SD Burman. If Rafi was the most versatile singer, SD Burman was the most versatile composer. He is the only music director who can claim to have composed equally great music with Rafi as with Kishore Kumar, his two main singers. There were also films in which he used the voice of Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand, when he composed unparalleled songs like Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan. And whenever he used Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh, he created songs which became landmarks of their career.
