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

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Nai Roshni (1967)

Director Srdihar (“Nazrana (1961)”, “Dil Ek Mandir (1963)”, “Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966)”) made better movies than this kludge of a family drama. He put together a good set of actors but major characters in the movie were ill defined. But one thing redeems this movie. The combination of Ravi, Rajinder Krishan, and Rafi Saab deliver songs that will be remembered for ages. Rafi Saab’s four solos give a glimpse of why he was one of the greatest singers of our time. Ravi composed all these songs to touchingly moving great lyrics by Rajinder Krishanji. There are other songs that are also very good. Of them one of my favorites is Asha’s “Yeh Tohfa”. Asha is simply scintillating in singing this beautiful song.

The movie title credits show Krishna Kalle as one of the playback singers. I could only think of the snippet “Gamya” as a possibility. Perhaps a full version of this song exists. There is another snippet “Aakhir” that has a male voice singing it. It was picturized on Raaj Kumar. I do not believe Rafi Saab was the singer. I had a feeling that actor Raaj Kumar may have lent his voice. I invite experts to clarify who the correct singers for these two snippets are. Thank you.

I am uploading these and other songs from the film in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Nai Roshni (1967)"...

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

[swarapriya]

(Shailendra) Guide (1965)

"Guide" was undoubtedly a pinnacle of achievement for Anand Brothers, Dev and Vijay. It has a fascinating history behind how a bestselling novel transformed into a fabulous movie. Dev Anand read R.K. Narayan's novel "The Guide" and decided to make it into a movie. Even though Narayan initially refused, Dev, a master of persuasion convinced the author to allow him to make the novel into a movie.

Convinced that the novel has the universal appeal, Dev next set his eyes on making this in Hindi as well as English. He was able to find the Nobel laureate author Pearl S. Buck (for her work "Good Earth") to coproduce with him. Next he chose Waheeda Rehman to be his heroine. Initially Waheeda was hesitant to play the role. Mainly because the movie dealt with adultery and playing that role she thought may prove to be committing a professional suicide. Again Dev used his charm and persuading power to win Waheeda over to accept the role.

Dev hired Ted Danielwski, a Hollywood man, to direct the English version. Dev wanted Vijay, his younger brother, to direct the Hindi version. But Vijay refused the offer thinking that the movie if made would ruin the image of India abroad. Dev went back to Vijay after making more arrangements for the movie. Vijay refused again stating the same reasons. By this time English version went into production. Never to give up, convinced it should be Vijay who should be handling the Hindi version of the movie, Dev went back to Vijay and persuaded him to change his mind. Third time was charm for Dev and his perseverance finally paid off. Vijay consented to direct the movie independent of the English version.

At nobody’s surprise Burmanda was signed to compose music for the Hindi version. Shailendra was assigned to pen the lyrics. Vijay wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the Hindi version. He also edited the movie. While the preparations for Hindi version were going on, Dev spent considerable energy to finish the English version first. That he did.

Dev had high hopes on the English version. But it was a resounding flop. Disappointed but undeterred Dev was determined even more so to continue with the Hindi version.

The novelist R.K. Narayan, on whose novel the movie was based, saw the script Vijay wrote and decided to disown the entire project. His main objection was that the screenplay was not completely true to his original work. Vijay's argument was that the changes were necessary to make some cinematic allowances. His point was that the story was written sometime back and was dated. To fit the existing atmosphere and maintain the continuity of the theme he felt that some changes were imminent.

The movie itself was bold in its theme by even today's (after 48 years) Indian movie standards. In the end when the movie was completed, this labor of love and hard work, “Guide”, was a huge hit. It was Dev's first color production. Burmanda's music was a rage. Every song was a marvel. Kishoreda had a duet with Lataji. But it was Lataji and Rafi Saab that took all the accolades. "Aaj Phir Jeene Ki", "Piya Tose Naina", and "Saiyya Beimaan (the superb tabla music was performed by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma)" are melodious masterpieces with Burmanda's stamp all over them. Rafi Saab had three mesmerizing solos in "Dinn Dhal Jaaye", "Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya", and "Tere Mere Sapne." Burmanda had two great songs himself. One of his songs, “Wahaan Kaun Hai Tera (I am including the original Bengali version of this song, also sung by Burmanda, in the third post)", perfectly accentuates the mood of the film. Mannada also made a small contribution by singing one song.

"Guide" went on to win an unprecedented seven Filmfare awards for that year. The awards were for: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Story, Best Dialogues, and Best Cinematography. One of the grave omission and unforgivable mistake by the award committee was not to recognize Burmanda for such wonderfully everlasting music. He richly deserved the award! Instead that award went to Shankar-Jaikishan duo for their efforts for the movie "Suraj", which also had some beautiful songs. But they were not in the same class as those composed by Burmanda for this film. If awards are a criterion for recognition, then for all the great music he created, Burmanda probably was the one least recognized. (Madan Mohan Ji was another one. But at least most of the movies for which Burmanda composed music were hits whereas several of Madan Mohan Saab’s movies did not fare well at the box office.)

The Hindi version of the movie “Guide” was an Oscar entry that year. The 1964 “Guide” was invited to participate for a screening at a recent Cannes Film Festival in the World Classic category. Even after this many years, what an honor! Here is another note. Dev, the indomitable spirit and the evergreen hero he was, hasn’t made a good movie in his last 30 or so years. But he continued to make movie after a movie each year and was seriously thinking of re-releasing the English version of the “Guide” before he passed away…

I am uploading songs from this film in eight back-to-back posts. The first two posts contain all songs from the film. The third post contains specials with introductions. The fourth post contains some of the version songs. Because of the enormous popularity of the songs from the film, it has inspired many budding as well as seasoned independent musicians to have the songs instrumentalized on their favorite instruments. I am uploading some of these in the last four posts.

The songs start beginning with the next post…

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 1 - Songs

Here are the first set of songs from this film...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:45 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 2 - Songs

Here are rest of the songs, a few musical clips and instrumentals of this film...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:46 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 3 - Specials

Here are a few specials related to the songs from this film...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:47 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 4 - Version Songs

Here are a few version songs...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:48 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 5 - Instrumentals

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Aaj Phir" and others...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:49 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 6 - Instrumentals

Here are a few instrumentals of the songs "Dinn Dhal" and "Gaata Rahe"...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:49 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 7 - Instrumentals

Here are a few instrumentals of "Piya Tose" and "Tere Mere"...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:50 PM

[swarapriya]

Guide (1965) - Post 8 - Instrumentals

Here are a few more instrumentals in this concluding post...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Nov 14 2018, 07:51 PM

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Baghi (1972)

This film directed by Rajkumar Kohli had music by Laxmikant & Pyarelal with lyrics written by Anand Bakshi. I do not have a single song from this film. I am requesting our members to share any songs they may have from this film. Thank you.

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Teesri Kasam (1966)

Here is one of the great movies of Indian cinema. Everything in this movie comes together as a tranquil distilled morning of a beautifully silent village. The acting, the story telling, the direction, the lyrics, the songs, and the whole gamut makes this one an outstanding achievement.

Shailendra bought rights to make this movie from a short story "Maare Gaye Gulfaam" by Phanishwar Nath Renu. He was fascinated with the two principle characters in the story and was willing to spend whatever he has to see the movie made. Shailendra originally had Meena Kumari and Mahmood in the roles that were eventually played by Waheeda and Raj respectively. He took an unknown Basu Bhattacharya, who was an assistant to the great Bimal Roy, to direct the movie. The simplicity and the lyrical nature of the movie has the imprint of a Bimalda’s movies all over.

Raj was a close and good friend of Shailendra. He had this inkling that this movie was not going to fly. He advised Shailendra against making the movie. But Shailendra was obsessed to see this movie through. It was said that Raj didn't want to take any remuneration for the movie. However, at Shailendra's insistence, he took one Rupee as a token for his efforts.

Raj apparently was not too happy with the choice of Basu Bhattacharya as the director. Basu was new and Raj was irked with the way things were shaping up. In the end, this movie proved to be the greatest achievement of Basu.

The movie was originally scheduled to be shot in Bihar where the actual story takes place. But because of the dacoit problems many other sites were considered. Finally Igatpuri was selected. This is the same place where Bimalda's lyrical poem on celluloid, "Madhumati (1958)", was shot.

Both Waheeda and Raj, who appeared a bit older for the character and heavier, gave wonderful performances. The performance of Waheeda reminds one of the heights she scaled in "Pyaasa (1957)" and "Guide (1965)". Shankar and Jaikishan provided some of the best music of their lives to some magnificent lyrics written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. Their music captured the simplicity, rustic nature, sweetness, and charm of rural areas. Dattaram and Sebstian were the assistant music directors.

The male version of the song “Duniya Banaane Waale” appeared twice in the film. The second one is not different from the first one, but it is only part of it with some music associated with it. A note about the qawwaal duo Shankar & Shambhu who sang the legend of “Laila & Majnu” with Mubarak Begum. A portion of this appeared in the film earlier as part of the advertisement for the “nautankee” performance. I am uploading all of these in one of the posts.

This labor of love of Shailendra, "Teesri Kasam", when released won unanimous critical acclaim. But it was a financial disaster. Shailendra lost everything he owned. A broken man, Shailendra passed away on December 14, 1966. Ironically, December 14 also happened to be Raj's birthday.

"Teesri Kasam" won the President's Gold Medal for that year. It was also nominated for the Grand Prix award at the 1967 Moscow International Film Festival. The movie also won several awards from Bengal Film Journalists Association.

There are many songs in this album, and each one of them is a sheer beauty. I am uploading these in the first three posts. The last two posts consist of a few instrumentals of the songs from the film.

The songs start beginning with the next post…

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 1 - Songs

Here is the first portion of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 2 - Songs

Here is the next set of songs from this beautiful musical...