Archive for the ‘Post by Sudhir’ Category
Kete din aur kete din
Posted on: September 13, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The mention of Saigal Saab’s name evokes emotions of despondency and the sounds of a broken heart. He is mostly remembered for the sounds of melancholy songs, the tragic role of Devdas, the ghazals brimming with the stark philosophies of life, and the heart rending swansong ‘Jab Dil Hi Toot Gayaa. . .’ of the romantic Shahjehaan. And so it may surprise many a music an cine lovers, that Saigal Saab’s first forays in the arena of acting were in comedy roles.
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Main jo dinan ki thhoree
Posted on: September 11, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Kidar Sharma ‘Hasrat’, the famous lyricist, writer and filmmaker, recounts his association with Saigal Saab, while working on the film Tansen and Bhanwara. It was early 40s, and Saigal Saab was still associated with the New Theatres in Calcutta on a contract basis. Chandulal Shah of Ranjit Movietone (Bombay) planned the film Tansen, and the obvious choice for the title role was Saigal Saab. After some negotiations with New Theatres, Chandulal Shah obtained permission for having Saigal Saab work temporarily with Ranjit Movietone. The understanding was for a fixed period of time, and not for completing an assignment.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusist of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Asha Bhonsle – the name that conjures up the racy and spicy sounds of ‘udlayee udlayee udlayee o’, a voice that has a chirp, and an impish and naughty flavor to it, and the versatility that adorns thousands of music creations that have become a hallmark in the annals of Hindi film music. The second of the famous siblings of the Mangeshkar clan, Asha ji was born on this day in 1933. She started singing for films at a very young age of 10 years. Although her released recordings in 1950s were second only to Lata, she was considered as the singer for “bad girls” and vamps, and got the assignments that were turned down by Lata, Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum. Her voice started getting noticed from films like Sangdil (1952), Parineeta (1953) and Boot Polish (1954). And then came the real recognition of her talent in the mid 1950s, under the baton of OP Nayyar, with hits like CID (1956) and Naya Daur (1957). She became the voice of Helen, and has sung most of the songs that Helen has performed on the screen. Helen ji used to attend the song recording sessions personally, to better get a feel of how the song is to be performed.
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Humjoliyon ki thhee toliyaan
Posted on: September 7, 2011
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The wondrous characteristic about Saigal Saab is that whatever he sang, it became music. Even the songs with passages of prose and pauses, sound like melodies. His rendition of ‘Piye Jaa Aur Piye Jaa’ from Pujaarin (1936) is a combination of verse and prosaic speech, of a person under the influence of alcohol. It is stated that this song was recorded without any rehearsals. Just the first take is the final version we hear today. Or the song ‘Ek Raja Ka Betaa Le Kar Udne Waalaa Ghodaa’ from President (1937). Combining story telling with singing, it set up a fresh style for children songs. All examples of a gifted artist who would convert words to music.
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This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
The films in India started to talk in 1931, and with it came the music and the songs, that are so inseparable from the culture of this country. No matter what part of the country one talks about, music is the flow that nurtures and strengthens the emotional character of the society. And the music immediately became a crucial thread in the talking films, and the films became a pivotal medium for the folk and popular music to prosper. It was with the coming of the talking films that the concept of a ‘music’ industry was born in India.
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