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

[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...

[swarapriya]

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…

[swarapriya]

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

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

[swarapriya]

(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…

[swarapriya]

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...

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Doli (1969)

This movie was based on the 1965 Telugu hit “Thene Manasulu.” In a daring experiment, director Subba Rao introduced all newcomers and shot that movie in color. His gamble paid off when the movie became a hit.

Subba Rao also directed this Hindi film. None of the actors in this film were newcomers but Babita, Prem Chopra and Rajesh Khanna were still fresh faces. This film was also a success.

Most of the songs from the film became popular. My personal favorite is Asha’s solo “Aaj Main.” I am uploading this and other songs from this film in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Doli (1969)"...

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

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Raaste Kaa Patthar (1972)

This film was adapted from Billy Wilder’s 1960 multiple Oscar winning Hollywood film “The Apartment.” But if that English film was brilliant and considered to be a classic, this adaptation is dull and very forgettable. There are a couple of songs that are nice however. It is the title song and for me the song of the album, a duet by Asha and Mukesh, “Main Hardum Kisi Ko.” Here are these and other songs from this film…

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Double Cross (1972)

Besides being the hero of this film, Vijay Anand co-wrote its screenplay, wrote the dialogues, and was its editor. It was directed by his nephew Gogi Anand.

Vijay wore a wig that looked simply horrendous. It seemed like that he was in almost all scenes in the film. He played a double role. The movie was simply bad.

RD composed its music. Unfortunately his songs were also not up to par that one expects from him. Only background music was effective. I am sharing several music clips from the movie.

I am uploading all the songs and the above mentioned music clips from the film in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Music Clips from "Double Cross (1972)"...

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