Shair Aur Sargam, Songs From Movies of 7 Great Lyricists Options

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Apradhi Kaun? (1957)

This movie directed by Asit Sen was produced by Bimalda. Sen, who made several good movies like “Mamta (1966) and “Safar (1970)”, had a good story at hand but spent too much time on frivolous characters that don’t add anything to the story. What should have been a gripping whodunit drama slows down because of this and does not go anyplace.

The movie introduced two new actors, Lillian and Tarun Bose. Lillian who played a character generally played by Helen subsequently did not appear in too many movies. However, Bose went on to portray many roles as a character actor in several films (for example, Hrishida’s “Anupama (1966)”).

A note about the music. Ever so dependable Salilda who composed songs lets you down here with uninspired music. None of the songs had his usual stamp on them. It may have something to do with the subject of the film he was dealing with.

Here are the songs from this film…

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Shagufa (1953)

I am uploading songs from this album in two back-to-back posts. The first post contains all songs from the film. The second post contains couple of instrumentals.

Here are the songs from this album...

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of the Songs from "Shagufa (1953)"...

Here are a couple of instrumentals of the songs from this album...

[swarapriya]

(Shailendra) Begunah (1956)

Shankar & Jaikishan were very busy in 1956. They had eight films released during the year, which is equivalent to three films every four months. These movies were: “Basant Bahar”, “Begunah”, “Chori Chori”, “Halaku”, “Kismet ka Khel”, “New Delhi”, “Patrani”, and “Raj Hath”.

“Begunah” was a carbon copy of Daany Kaye’s 1954 comedy hit film “Knock on Wood”. After its wide release “Begunah” with its hit songs was doing brisk business. Then Paramount Studios, who produced the English film, sued the producers of “Begunah” for unauthorized duplication. The suit went in favor of Paramount and per court order all movie boxes of “Begunah” were seized and destroyed. This was kind of unprecedented.

Among the songs Mukesh’s standout song “Aye Pyaase” became a huge hit. In the movie it was filmed in the club on the music director Jaikishan. Here is this and other songs from this album. (Incidentally Shakila’s pictures shown in the table below are not from the film.)

[swarapriya]

(Shakeel) Sohni Mahiwal (1958)

This is another beautiful album by Naushadji. It is incredible that he along with lyricist Shakeel Badayuni Saab went on to create some unforgettably melodious songs that have left their indelible mark on the Hindi film music forever.

With so many good songs in this album it is worth mentioning the song by Mahendra Kapoor, “Chaand Chhupa”. Mahendra was selected as a winner in an “All India Singing Competition”. The competition was headed by a 5-judge committee. The judges were Anil Biswas, Vasant Desai, Madan Mohan, Naushad, and C. Ramchandra.

I am not certain whether the song by Mahendra in this film was his first one or not. According to one interview Mahendra gave, he mentioned that his first song was recorded in 1958. He did not give details however. It could have been this. But there is no denying that Mahendra rose to the occasion and had sung a superb song under the careful baton of Naushadji. I am uploading this and other songs from this album in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set of songs…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Sohni Mahiwal (1958)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this fine album...

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Majboor (1964)

Here is an old fashioned family drama that was made so many times in 60’s and 70’s. One of the distinguishing features of this film was its music. Kalyanji & Anandji came up with great music. Laxmikant & Pyarelal once again were assistant music directors of the film.

Every song in this movie is a beauty. My favourite is Hemantda’s solo “Tumhen Jo Bhi Dekh Lega”. Outstanding lyrics for this song were penned by Indeewarji. Hemantda seemed to be a specialist in these types of songs. In his hypnotic voice the song mesmerizes you. Another beautiful song is the duet by Lataji and Mahendra, “Diwaana Keh Ke”. Here are these and other songs from this fine album…

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Abe-Hayat (1955)

Prem Nath played a friend of the poor taking their cause and fighting for justice. On his way to find nectar to save the life of the king he is wooed by the king’s daughter (Shashikala), an evil “pari” (Smriti Biswas), and kind sister (Ameeta) of a villainous sorcerer. With not much novelty in the story and poorly directed, many songs sprinkled throughout the film do not help with the proceedings.

Here is a note on the song “Tu Ne Pilaayee”. I am uploading it as two parts, both sung by Asha. Part 1 is in the DVD but part 2 is not. I found this on a CD. Even though beginnings of these songs are the same, they are entirely different.

Here are these two versions of the song and others in two back-to-back posts…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Abe-Hayat (1955)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this album...

[swarapriya]

(Javed Akhtar) Khel (1992)

This film directed by Rakesh Roshan deals with a group of cheats (played by Madhuri, Anil & Anupam Kher) who tried to swindle out of riches of a widow (Mala Sinha). The story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics of the songs were written by Javed Akhtar Saab. But Akhtar Saab generously borrowed material from a couple of popular English films, “Bedtime Story (1964)” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)”. The latter was almost a remake of the former. Some of the funny scenes from “Khel” were almost direct lifts from these movies.

There are several good songs in the film. Ashaji’s two versions of “Ek Baat” are beautiful to listen to. Amit Kumar has a fine solo, “Soone Shaam”. Here are these and other songs from this film…

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Lal Batti (1957)

One of our great thespians, late Balraj Sahni, who was one of the principal actors in the film, was also its co-director. I have not seen the movie but it has a great premise for a story. It is about passengers who were forced to spend the night in a train while it was detained on the platform on the eve of India’s independence. The music composer was Salilda. At least one song is standout. “Haaye Jhilmil” is a sheer beauty that comes alive in the sweet voice of Lataji. Here is this and other songs from this album…

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 24 2013, 01:17 PM

[taiyab53]

(Majrooh) Lal Batti (1957)

One of our great thespians, late Balraj Sahni, who was one of the principal actors in the film, was also its co-director. I have not seen the movie but it has a great premise for a story. It is about passengers who were forced to spend the night in a train while it was detained on the platform on the eve of India’s independence. The music composer was Salilda. At least one song is standout. “Haaye Jhilmil” is a sheer beauty that comes alive in the sweet voice of Lataji. Here is this and other songs from this album…

Dear Swarapriya
Laal Batti contains only 4 songs
the song Jaane Kahan Khoya mera laal is from the Film Jawahar 1960. MD Salil Da.
just correction
taiyab

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Lal Batti (1957)

One of our great thespians, late Balraj Sahni, who was one of the principal actors in the film, was also its co-director. I have not seen the movie but it has a great premise for a story. It is about passengers who were forced to spend the night in a train while it was detained on the platform on the eve of India’s independence. The music composer was Salilda. At least one song is standout. “Haaye Jhilmil” is a sheer beauty that comes alive in the sweet voice of Lataji. Here is this and other songs from this album…

Dear Swarapriya
Laal Batti contains only 4 songs
the song Jaane Kahan Khoya mera laal is from the Film Jawahar 1960. MD Salil Da.
just correction
taiyab

Thank you very much Taiyab. I made changes to the table to reflect your recommendation. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Ferry (Kashti) (1978)

This is an early album of Hemantda that starred Geeta Bali & Dev Anand, the pair that sizzled the screen in "Jaal (1952)". Here Dev played a much subdued role of a mild mannered and protective father of a child who lost his mother whereas Geeta Bali played a woman running away from her past.

Music director Hemantda utilized talents of some fine singers in this album whose names we don't hear every day (Laxmi Shankar and Ratna Gupta). But the results are the same. Beautiful. Incidentally, Laxmi Shankar’s voice almost sounds like that of Geetaji’s.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan played sarod (for Dev's character) and Pt. Nikhil Banerjee played sitar (for Geeta Bali's character). Ravi was the assistant music director. There is a beautiful piece of sarod music and a “jugalbandi” in the film. The jugalbandi starts as a sitar solo. It slowly drifts into a sarod solo. Finally it ends up as a jugalbandi between the two players of these respective instruments. Simply awesome.

Many songs from the film are repeated throughout the movie. Hemantda’s beauty “Naav Badha Le” starts as the title song but some of its pieces are repeated throughout the movie, some 7 or 8 times. Laxmi Shankar’s song “Kaisi Laagi” has two parts. The song by Ratna Gupta, “Yehi Hai”, appears in the movie three times. The third part is a repeat of portions of the first, but it appears like may be at a slightly slower pace. Nevertheless I am uploading it here.

Rajinder Krishan who also collaborated with Hemantda the very same year for the history making music of "Nagin" wrote the lyrics.

I am uploading these songs in two back-to-back posts. The first post contains all songs that have several parts. The second post contains the rest.

Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Ferry (Kashti) (1978)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this fine album...