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

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Latt Saheb (1967)

The movie has a familiar theme and familiar characters. The one difference here is that it was shot I believe in Kashmir. Another one is its music. It was again the dependable music director duo, Shankar & Jaikishan. Couple of songs are really catchy; Rafi Saab’s “Savere Waali Gaadi” and his duet with Asha, “Tann Mein Agan”.

Incidentally in most of these types of movies Pran used to be the villain. In this film it is Prem Chopra. Chopra was okay, but still he was an up and coming actor and his performance makes you wish it was Pran.

I am uploading these and other songs from the film and several music clips plus a couple of version songs in three back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

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Few Music Clips from the film "Latt Saheb (1967)"...

Here are a few music clips from this film...

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Few Version Songs from the film "Latt Saheb (1967)"...

Here are a couple of version songs and an instrumental of the song "Jaane Mera" from this film...

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(Majrooh) Ek Nazar (1972)

This is one of Amitabh’s early films. In this he was paired with his future wife Jaya Bhaduri for the first time. He played the role of a poet and Jaya a prostitute. Nothing new here. The second half of the picture ends up as a murder mystery with many twists and turns.

The film was directed by B.R. Ishara. He had an artistic eye to capture scenes in a novel way. Unfortunately here he was dealing with an oft told story that let him down.

One great thing about this movie was its music, songs, and lyrics. All songs in this film are ghazals. Majrooh Saab penned unforgettable lyrics. A note about the song “Patta Patta.” The first two couplets of this ghazal were initially penned by the famous poet Meer Taqi Meer of 19th century. He was from India. Almost all famous ghazal singers have sang sometime or other their own version of Meer Saab’s ghazal.

Incidentally actor Raza Murad was introduced in this film. He had a substantial role in the film.

Here are all the songs from this film…

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Bhai Bahen (1969)

Here is yet another drab and dull family drama with the same old story and predictable happenings. This one has so many absurdities that it was difficult to watch. For example, the patriarch of the house punishes his servants by using a cane when they unknowingly err in not following the house imposed rules. This type of punishment is even extended to his own grown up son that leads to ensuing unexpected tragedy.

The music of the movie was by Shankar & Jaikishan. Alas. What a letdown. This probably was one of their (I know Jaikishan passed away already – Shankar is the only music director) worst outings.

Amongst all these mundane happenings there was one bright spot. That was the performance of actor Pran. He turned in such an easy going performance as a baddie that you cannot help but admire his prowess.

Here are the songs from this film…

[swarapriya]

(Shailendra) Pinjre ke Panchhi (1966)

More you know about Salil Chowdhury, the noted music director of Bengali, Hindi, and Malayalam films, the more you want to know about him. (See his picture below). Most of us know him as a great composer. But he was much more than that. He was a poet, playwright, story writer, screenplay writer, and director. For example, he wrote the story and screenplay for this film apart from composing its music and directing.

Salilda was a musical genius. He was an expert with many different types of musical instruments. He grew up in the hills of Assam and much of his music drew inspiration from this. He was a member of the Indian Peoples Theater Association (IPTA), the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India. This was when he was barely 20. It gave him an opportunity to travel all over West Bengal to bring his songs and music even to remote villages.

For this film he utilized talents of lyricists Shailendra and Gulzar. Shailendraji wrote all but one song for the film. Gulzarji wrote the song “Aisa Hoga” and dialogues of the film. Hrishikesh Mukherjee, a notable director already, was the editor of the film.

The film deals with two escaped hardcore jail birds played by Balraj Sahni and Mahmood who become softened helping a hapless woman, played by Meena Kumari. Sahni Saab did not have much role in the film. It was all Mahmood, from beginning to end, here playing a comic as well as a serious role.

Both solos by Lata from this film are just exquisite. This film was earlier made in Bengali. I am also uploading Bengali versions of Lataji’s two solos here. One of them also was sung by Lataji.

Here is the sweet treat…

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Piya ka Ghar (1972)

This sweet little film was based on the 1970 Marathi hit “Mumbaicha Jaanwai.” It tells the story about a newly married young couple trying to consummate their marriage. They fail many times because of lack of privacy. The problem is the crowded housing in Mumbai where they have to share the space in a 2-bedroom apartment with parents, a married older brother, and a school going younger brother.

Rajshri Productions have made many wholesome pictures. This one also is in that tradition. There are only four songs in the film. All of them are good. Song of the album is Kishoreda’s touching “Ye Jeevan Hai.”

I am uploading this and other songs from the film with a few music clips and a special below. Here are they…

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Raat aur Din (1967)

In this film Nargis Dutt played a woman with a split personality. Nargisji was persuaded out of retirement to act in just one more film, this one, by her brother actor Anwar Hussain. Nargis, a great actress she was, agreed and slipped into the role splendidly. She won the very first (1967) National Film Award for Best Actress for her portrayal in this film.

Apart from Nargis Dutt’s fine performance, the music of Shankar & Jaikishan was a big plus for the movie. All songs from the film became very popular. S&J were assisted by Dattaram & Sebastian D’Souza.

A note about a couple of songs from the film. Mukesh’s version of the song “Raat Aur Din” was left out of the movie. Also, probably the song by Bhupinder Singh, “Jagat Mein” even though I am not completely sure about this. Neither one was in the DVD I watched the movie in. This was the only song Bhupinder sang for Shankar & Jaikishan.

Even with an excellent performance by the principal actress and great songs by S&J, the movie failed at the box-office. The main culprit was that the story was not fully developed. On the top of it, the sure-handed director Satyen Bose did not take care of all the loose ends properly to make the story more heart renderingly gripping. And there was Feroze Khan in a supporting role. As it is he did not get much screen time. His role was completely superfluous and his presence was wasted.

I am uploading all songs and a few instrumentals in three back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Raat aur Din (1967)"...

Here are the rest of the songs, few music clips, and a couple of specials about the songs from the film...

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Few Instrumentals of the Songs from "Raat aur Din (1967)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Garam Masala (1972)

This movie is as bad as it gets except for a few nice songs. Both duets by Ashaji and Rafi Saab are very good. RD had a complex orchestration for the song “Tum Jaison.” Ashaji comes through in flying colors in interpreting that song in her usual sweet voice.

Here are these and other songs from this film in two back-to-back posts…

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Concluding Songs from "Garam Masala (1972)"...

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

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(Shailendra) April Fool (1964)

I have uploaded songs from this abum this earlier last April 1. I am doing this again to celebrate this day again...

Shankar & Jaikishan made sure that this day, April 1, celebrated as an All Fool's Day around the world, will be remembered by the Indian music lovers forever by composing some of their beautiful and memorable music for this film. Subodh Mukherjee, who introduced Saira Banu in "Junglee" in 1960, is back here with another winner with her in this film.

All songs from this film were chart busters. S&J were assisted by Sebastian and Dattaram.

The song “Aa Gale Lag Jaa” I am uploading here has over 5 minutes of music preceding it. This is the “Pool Aquatics Show” in the movie. I am also uploading this separately as a music clip in the third post.

I am uploading all of the hit songs plus a few music clips from the film in three back-to-back posts. Here is the first set of songs…

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Concluding Songs from "April Fool (1964)"...

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

[swarapriya]

Few Music Clips from "April Fool (1964)"...

Here are a few music clips from the film...