The Three Reigning Queens

I have no argument with it Nandi. It is definitely one of my favorites of Atma. The voice has so much melancholy filled with deep feelings that it echoes deep in the chambers of your heart for some time. Very very deeply impressionable singing style. Just love it . Cheers. -S

(Nargis) Bewafa (1952)

Ustad Allah Rakha Qureshi, fondly known as Allah Rakha throughout the music world, ran away from home when he was 12 to learn playing tabla. As a kid he was fascinated by the beat and rhythm of tabla and some day wanted to be good at it. To accomplish his goals, he worked with some of the great masters of his time.

A strict disciplinarian, his regimen for practice and dedication to his work became legendary. Early in his career he composed music for several Hindi and Punjabi films. But it was his association with Pandit Ravi Shankar that brought him worldwide recognition and the celebrity status. For scores of years he travelled with Shankar all over the world giving concerts. He was the chief tabla player to Shankar’s magic with the sitar. He was not only a noted accompanist but was also a magical soloist. Please see his picture in the attachment below.

Rakha’s percussive wizardry was a popular item in these concerts. He was a prolific composer, a master of improvisation, an electrifying showman, a flawless soloist, and a task master teacher. He elevated the stature of tabla in the eyes of the music world to that of a chief musical instrument.

Ustad Allah Rakha trained countless people in tabla through a school he founded in Bombay, the Institute of Music. His son, Ustad Zakir Hussain, is now recognized as one of the world renowned tabla players was one of the notable beneficiaries of his teaching.

I had the good fortune of attending several concerts of Ravi Shankar where I watched the display of tabla wizardry by the Ustad. It is a happening that stays with you. Until one experiences it one has no idea what a tabla can do as a medium of music. I also attended several father and son concerts of Allah Rakha and his son Zakir Hussain. Hussain is a chip of the old block. He is a magician with his fingers and already has a carved a name for himself. When those fingers start dancing on the percussion instruments it leaves you drenched with experience of a lifetime that is mesmerizingly spellbinding. By the way Hussain also toured with Shankar after the senior Ustad passed away. I am attaching a picture below that shows Shankar on the left, Rakha in the center, and Hussain to the right.

Qureshiji was recognized with several honors throughout his career both in India as well as abroad. He was honored with Padma Shri, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, and the Indo-American Achievement Award.

I am uploading here a couple of musical pieces associated with Rakha Saab. The first one is with Ravi Shankar. This is a live recording from the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival with Shankar on the Sitar and Rakha on the tabla. The other piece is with his son Zakir Hussain. This is taken from the 1989 album called “Together”.

Here are the details of these two musical pieces and the actual instrumental wizardry itself …

Songs of "Bewafa (1952)"

This is another movie starring Nargis and Raj Kapoor. Incidentally, Talat Mahmood was the voice of Raj in this movie also. This is the third movie released in 1952 that had Talat lending his voice to Raj (other two being “Anhonee” and “Ashiana”).

Now for the details of the songs and the songs themselves …

Thanks for Bandhan & Ek Hi Raasta
nandi

You're welcome, Nandi. Cheers. -S

(Madhubala) Raj Hath (1956)

Sohrab Modi made himself a name for making mostly historic or period dramas on a grand scale. His first film was "Khoon Ka Khoon" made in 1935. It was based on Shakespeare's famous play "Hamlet". "Raj Hath" is a period drama. One of the distinguishing feature of the movie is its beautiful music by the irrepressible Shankar & Jaikishan. There are plenty of songs in this film, 11 to be exact. All of them are beautiful to listen to.

I will upload these songs in two back-to-back posts. Here are the details of the songs from the first post and the songs themselves ...

Concluding Songs from "Raj Hath (1956)" ...

Here are the rest of the songs from this beautiful S&J album ...

Thanks for this upload. I recently re-ran the DVD of this movie. This remains one of Madhubala's top movies. Of course to me, all Madhubala movies are A-One!
nandi

Although Nadiya Kinare Phiroon Pyaasi is included in the ACD of Raj Hath, and was probably originally recorded for Raj Hath, it was not used in the film. It was finally picturised on Jayshree Gadkar a few years later in Do G unde, made by the same producers. The rest of the songs of Do G unde were composed by Ghulam Mohammed, though.

Aditya

(Meena) Halaku (1956)

Here is a beautiful early original soundtrack album of the great duo S&J with every song a winner ...

(Nargis) Sheesha (1952)

Here are songs from this nice album by Ghulam Mohammad Saab. Most of these songs are by the courtesy of the Forum members. Some came from CD collections. Overall quality is adequate except that the source of the songs seems like is from a slow spinning gramophone player (not at the right speed) ...

dear SP

here is one more from film BEWAFA-1952 SUNG BY TALAT

KAAM HAATHON KA HAI MILNE KI DUA KARNA----2.16MTS--@192KBPS


QUOTE=ROMESH

SP,

There was some discussion about the singer of 'aajaa na mere dilruba'. The singer is most probably Sandhya Mukherjee.

Exon

Thank you very much Romesh for the song. Cheers. -S

Thank you for the info Exon. Should I go ahead and make this change like you have suggested? Or, should I wait for someone else to autheticate this? -S