Foot Tapping & Heart Stopping Op, The King of Rhythm Options

[swarapriya]

Sambandh (1969)

Here is one of the great musical achievements. The music composed by OP for "Sambandh" is so different from the music he hitherto composed for other movies. There are so many things that are worth mentioning that makes this musical achievement outstanding and why it stands apart from others.

1. The film was based on a Bengali novel called "Pratham Prem". The serene and serious nature of the subject forced OP to create music that was different from others he composed thus far.

2. To aid in creating such music for the theme of the movie, OP for the first time in his career selected Kavi Pradeep to write the lyrics. Pradeepji came through in flying colors with outstandingly rich lyrics.

3. He selected Hemant Kumar to sing few songs; three solos and a duet with Mahendra Kapoor. This was the only movie in which Hemantda worked for OP. The result was absolutely fabulous.

4. After several years OP selected Mukesh to sing just one song in this movie. Mukesh previously sang a duet for OP in "Miss Coca Cola (1955)". This was only the second time Mukesh was working with OP. The result is astonishing. The song sung by Mukesh, "Chal Akela" is one to be remembered for ages. It is one of those magnificent creations where the lyrics, the music, and the singing all work in unison to produce maximum impact. Kavi Pradeepji, himself an accomplished singer, wanted to sing the song himself. But OP did not go along with the idea. Instead he decided on Mukesh. Mukesh did sing couple of more duets for another OP movie "Ek Baar Mooskura Do (1972)". By the way, when OP was composing music for the Raj Kapoor starrer "Do Ustad", Raj suggested that he should use Mukesh for his songs for that movie. OP did not go along with the suggestion and went with Rafi Saab singing all the songs for Raj Kapoor in that movie. The songs for that movie became huge hits but the movie itself enjoyed only a modest success.

5. The songs by Mahendra also have that wonderful feeling. Especially listen to the song "Andhere Mein Jo Baithe Hain". Mahendra is good with such songs, but here he outdoes himself by doing an outstanding job.

6. Asha has four solos in this movie. Once again, Asha demonstrated her love for OP's musical compositions. The song "Akeli Hoon Main Piya" is another outstanding example from this movie where she put her soul into it. In the film the song “Tum Ko Toh” came immediately after Hemantda’s song “Hey Jagat Pita”. Even though they are two separate songs, some albums list these two together as one song. I am uploading individual as well as the combined song titled as “Hey Jagat Pita - Tum Ko Toh”.

In spite of outstanding music and lyrically rich unforgettable songs, this movie did not garner a single award. It was not even nominated for any. That year, 1969, best music award went to Laxmikant-Pyarelal for "Jeene Ki Raah". Sure, this movie had some good songs, but none of them come close to the songs of "Sambandh". Best male singer was Kishoreda for "Roop Tera Mastana" from "Aradhana". Great song indeed. But Mukesh was not even nominated. Best female singer was Lata Mangeshkar for "Jeeni Ki Raah" song "Aap Mujhe Achche Lagte Hain". Very routine and ordinary song. Best lyricist was Neeraj for the film "Chanda Aur Bijli" for the song "Kaal Ka Pahiya". Kavi Pradeepji was not even nominated.

I am uploading all the songs and some instrumentals in three back-to-back posts. Apart from some music clips from the film, the third post has some instrumentals. All these are uploaded starting in the next post…

[swarapriya]

Songs from "Sambandh (1969)"...

Here is the first set of songs from this beautiful album. Please note that the song "Hey Jagat Pita - Tum Ko Toh" is the combined version of the song "Hey Jagat Pita Parmaatma" and "Tum Ko Toh Karodon Saal Hue". Even though they are two separate songs, in the movie these two songs appear in quick succession...

[swarapriya]

Continuing Songs from "Sambandh (1969)"...

Here are more songs from this OP's classic album...

[swarapriya]

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

Here are some music clips from the film and instrumentals of the song "Chal Akela"...

[swarapriya]

Sawan ki Ghata (1966)

This movie is another fine effort from the maestro OP. Each one of the song became immensely popular. The song “Honton Pe Hansi” even though was recorded and issued in LPs and later CDs, it was not picturized in the film. I am not sure the reason behind this decision. G.S. Kohli and Sebastian were OP’s assistants.

Shakti Samanta who produced and directed this film selected Manoj to play the lead opposite Sharmila whom he introduced two years earlier in “Kasmir Ki Kali”. Shammi acted in several Samanta movies, six altogether, was bypassed this time. I think this movie badly needed him. In spite of his best efforts, Manoj was still ill at ease in the type of role he was playing.

I am uploading all songs of the film and some instrumentals in three back-to-back posts. The first two posts contain all songs. The third post contains some instrumentals.

Here is the first set of songs…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Sawan ki Ghata (1966)"...

Here are the rest of the songs and some music clips from this film...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 14 2015, 07:05 PM

[swarapriya]

A Few Instrumentals of the Song "Haule Haule" from "Sawan ki Ghata (1966)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Haule Haule"...

[swarapriya]

Taxi Driver (1973)

Vishal Anand, the hero of this film, is related to Dev Anand. He appeared in only handful of films. He also produced and directed films under the name of Bhisham Kohli which is his real name. One of his hit films was the 1976 “Chalte Chalte” that he produced as well as acted in. He gave Bappi Lahiri break in this film in which number of songs including the title song were chart busters.

In this film he adapted all the mannerisms of Dev Anand but the movie did not work. In spite of the routine and predictable melodrama, there is unnecessary comedy with Tun Tun, Asit Sen, and Mohan Choti taking too much of film’s time thus slowing any tempo there is.

OP did his usual stuff here. Part of the song “Pyaar” appeared towards the end for the second time in the movie. I am uploading it as part 2. Also, the beginning of “Kha Kar”, appeared for the second time at the end of the movie. There is no music preceding or following it. So I am not uploading it.

OP’s website lists a second version of the song “Jinhen” that was sung by Asha and Usha Khanna. However the song was not in the DVD and I could not find it anywhere else. Could this be an error? Or if the song does exist, please kindly share it with rest of us. Thank you…

I am uploading above mentioned songs and others in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set of songs…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Taxi Driver (1973)"...

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

[swarapriya]

The Killers (1969)

Leave it to OP. Whether the movie is A grade or whether it is a B grade, he always gave his best. This movie is a prime example of this. Each and every song in this film is very good with Asha participating in all of them. Here are the songs…

[HarshBhatt]

Thanks Swarapriya, you are getting young day by day.
Never heard of The Killers before, Thanks for sharing

[swarapriya]

Thanks Swarapriya, you are getting young day by day.
Never heard of The Killers before, Thanks for sharing

You always have nice and encouraging words for me. Thank you kindly Harshji.

Cheers.

[Abdur Rehman]

Thanks SP for the songs ...

[Abdur Rehman]

Thanks SP for the songs ...

[RakeshKumar]

Thanks!! You are amazing!! I also never heard of this film..Thanks again!!