Saat Saath, Musings & Amusings Options

[swarapriya]

(Raaj) God And Gun (1995)

Raaj made only one more movie after this, "Jawaab", also in 1995. Since Raaj started his career in 1952, many things have changed in the 43 years he worked in the film industry. Most of the old stalwarts of the industry either passed away or passed the baton to the next generation, sometimes to the members of their own families. For example, take the music directors of this film, Anand & Milind, who are the sons of the great music director of yesteryears Chitragupt. Also the lyricist, Sameer. Son of another great lyricist of yesteryears, Anjaan. The old singers gave way to the new ones. These include the new set of singers, like Abhijeet, Arun Bakshi, Kumar Sanu, Poornima, Sadhna Sargam & Udit Narayan. These are the singers in this album.

Here are the songs from this album...

[swarapriya]

(Rajendra) Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964)

Here is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining movie. Beautiful scenery. Beautiful music. Beautiful songs. Even after 47 plus years these songs haven't lost their charm. Shankar & Jaikishan during early 60's simply couldn't do anything wrong. Everything they touched was a winner. Rightfully so. You can feel their unabated creative energies flowing endlessly with Rafi Saab and Lata equally brilliant playing their part with superb singing. Most of the movies became huge hits because they were all musical blockbusters with so many memorable songs that are still heartwarming to listen to even today.

This beauty of an album by Shankar & Jaikishan has just one after another melodious song. It boasts some of the great solos of Rafi Saab who brings life to the rich and inspired lyrics of Hasrat Jaipuri, like "Bura Maan Gaye", "Main Pyaar Ka Diwaana", and "Tum Kamsin Ho". This album also has one of my favorite Lata's solo, "Tumko Hamaari Umar Lag Jaaye". The song stays fresh forever and each time you listen to it sways you away because of its rich lyrics and the way Lata delivers it. Melodious. Mesmerizing. It was a typical signature song that S&J had in most of his movies, yet they always sounded fresh with their sweetness that made them so endearing.

In this movie Rajendra Kumar was the hero and Dharmendra had a secondary role. Dharmendra still was an up and coming actor. But his presence on the screen in this movie was dynamite. His dashing looks, rugged mannerisms, and good performance scorched the screen. Even though his role was negative, every scene he appeared with Rajendra, Dharam was simply dominating. You can see that he will be one of those actors worth watching for in the coming years.

I am uploading songs from this album on request in two back-to-back posts. The first post contains all the songs from the film from an original soundtrack album. The second post contains several extended versions.

Now for the details of the songs in the first post and the songs themselves...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 11 2011, 01:04 PM

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Ayee Milan Ki Bela (1964)"...

Here are some of the extended version songs from this popular musical album...

[Pratul]

Thanks a lot Swarapriya, for Ayee Milan Ki Bela songs!

Pratul

[swarapriya]

Thanks a lot Swarapriya, for Ayee Milan Ki Bela songs!

Pratul

You're welcome Pratul. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Sunil) Ek Gunah Aur Sahi (1980)

Here are the songs from this album, all thanks to the courtesy of our fellow member, raz...

[Pratul]

Dear Swarapriya,

Could you please upload songs of

Ganga Ki Laharen (1964) and
Banarasi Thug (1962)

Thanks
Pratul

[swarapriya]

Dear Swarapriya,

Could you please upload songs of

Ganga Ki Laharen (1964) and
Banarasi Thug (1962)

Thanks
Pratul

Will do. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Manoj) Banarasi Thug (1962)

Here is one of the early films of Manoj. The movie had its moments but the real hightlights include the performance of I.S. Johar and the music of Iqbal Qureshi Saab. Johar, the comedian actor, played the role of a comic villain. The extra touch he gave to the character was that he recites "shairi" couplet before he says anything. This happens every time he is on the screen. I thought this was some what unique.

The second highlight of the movie was its music. Iqbal Qureshi Saab hasn't given music to too many movies. But whenever he worked, he seemed to have the magic touch. Apart from this film, some of his hit music was in the films like "Bindiya" in 1960, "Cha Cha Cha" in 1964, "Love in Simla" in 1960, "Oomar Qaid" in 1961, and others. I am uploading these songs in two back-to-back posts. These are ripped from a DVD.

I am re-uploading these songs on request. Here are the songs in the first post...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 13 2011, 11:04 AM

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Banarasi Thug (1962)"...

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

[Pratul]

Thanks a lot Swarapriya for Banarasi Thug songs.

Pratul

[swarapriya]

Thanks a lot Swarapriya for Banarasi Thug songs.

Pratul

You're welcome Pratul. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Amitabh) Naseeb (1981)

This popular entertainer was a rehash of “Amar Akbar Anthony (AAA)” that was directed by Manmohan Desai. “AAA” was released in 1977. Both films, “AAA” and “Naseeb”, have a huge star cast and Amitabh was on a roll as an actor during 70’s and early 80’s. Besides, Desai, during these same years had the Midas touch. He made one hit movie after another. At one time he had 13 silver jubilee hits. Till today the record is unsurpassed. Given all this, the film “Naseeb” was all fluff and not much stuff. It had nothing new to offer but entertainer it was.

I read in some interview Waheeda gave that she never acted opposite Shammi Kapoor in a movie as his heroine. This is incredible. They did appear in Manmohan Desai's "Allah-Rakha" in 1986, but not as lovers. While Desai was shooting for "Naseeb" he wanted to include several stars as guests in the song "John Jani Janardhan". When he approached Shammi to appear as a guest, Shammi apparently suggested that he would like to appear with Waheeda. Desai agreed. In the song sequence of "John Jani", they appear together hand-in-hand.

I am uploading these songs from this film in two back-to-back posts. These are from an original soundtrack album. Here is a description of the songs and the songs themselves in the first post…


This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 13 2011, 11:35 PM

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Naseeb (1981)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this album. The bit song by Anwar is thanks to the courtesy of our Forum member Dharmaan Khan Saab.

Now for the songs...

[swarapriya]

(Dharmendra) Ganga ki Lahren (1964)

Savithri was one of the greatest actresses of Telugu cinema, if not our times. If she were a Hindi actress, she would be right up there with Meena Kumari and Nargis. During 50’s and 60’s she was the reigning queen of both Telugu and Tamil films. She had the top billing in most of the movies. Her presence generally guaranteed success.

Savithri started as a bit star in Telugu films like “Samsaaram” and “Patala Bhairavi”. When the producers gambled to take her to play Parvati in the classic “Devadasu (1953)” in Telugu opposite Akkineni Nageshwara Rao (ANR), many felt it was foolhardy. But when the film was released she received rave reviews for her performance matching ANR scene for scene and the movie enjoyed unprecedented success. After this then there was no turning back for Savithri.

“Devadasu” was also made and released in Tamil with the same pair at the same time and was also a resounding hit. This made Savithri a sought after star in Tamil as well. She continued to act in both languages and had a string of major hits to her credit. She ventured into Hindi movies when S.S. Vasan offered her a supporting role in “Bahut Din Huye” in 1954 with Madhubala in the lead. Subsequently she also appeared in “Ghar Basake Dekho (1963)” with Manoj Kumar, “Ganga Ki Lahren (1964)” with Dharmendra, and “Balram Shri Krishna (1968)” in which Prithviraj Kapoor was her costar.

Savithri’s crowning achievement as an actress came with the film “Chivaraku Migiledi (1960)”. She received the National Award for Best Actress for her brilliant and memorable performance in that film. This was a remake of the Bengali movie starring Suchitra Sen. It was remade into Hindi with Waheeda as “Khamoshi (1969)”.

Savithri was married to the Tamil actor Gemini Ganeshan, father of the actress Rekha. Ganeshan already had several wives. The less I say about this better. Later on they got separated. The depression of the separation was devastating to Savithri. Her life took for a sorry turn and in the end when she passed away at the young age of 44 she was broke and helpless and very heartbroken.

How come all these brilliant actors seem to leave us so young leaving us to reminisce the rich legacy they left with us? It seems like fate plays such cruel joke with their personal lives. They seem to be on the top of the world giving so much pleasure with their many memorable performances in the films they act in and yet they are not able to manage their own personal lives. A real pity.

There is a web site dedicated to Savithri, who acted in nearly 250 movies, mostly in Tamil and Telugu. The URL for this web site is: savithri.info

I am re-uploading these songs on request in two back-to-back posts. All songs are from an original soundtrack album except for one. The exception is the song “Ek Paise Ka Hai Sawaal”. This was contributed by one of our fellow members, Aditya Pant. Thanks for sharing this with us Aditya.

Now for the songs in the first post…