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

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Amar Prem (1971)

This movie was a remake of the 1970 Bengali film “Nishi Padma”. It was based on a short story by Bibhutibhushan Badopadhyay who was the author of Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy stories. The Hindi film was produced and directed by Shakti Samanta. This was the third film in a row that starred Rajesh Khanna in Shakti’s films. All three were super hits making it a hat trick for Samanta.

Sharmila joins Shaktiji in this film once again. She was simply stunning to look at and does a magnificent job of acting. She was the dominating force in the entire film with Khanna taking a back seat. But even in a smaller role Kaka was great as Bengali Babu.

But it is not the story or performances that I took away from this film. It is the songs. It is pure sublimity. The mood of the movie was set in as the titles roll with Senior Burmanda singing magnificently the song “Doli Mein” in a rural ethos lamented mood. This was only the starter. Then like glittering and sparkling gems one song after another come through making a deep impression in your heart and on your mind. This was undoubtedly the monumental achievements for its music director R.D. Burman. The pinnacle of his career. It boasts several sensuous songs blended with a touch of melancholic haunting and a mix of spiritual philosophy. Anand Bakshi who wrote lyrics created several heart rendering songs that reverberate deep in the chambers of your heart. Several of these now classic songs were unforgettably sung by Lataji and Kishoreda. Interestingly, RD, who was known to compose music with a blend of western influence, came up here with a totally Indian version of the songs. See the picture attached below (from left to right, RD with Kishoreda, Shakti in the middle, and to the right Bakshi Saab with RD).

I am not familiar with Indian classical ragas but apparently most of the songs in the film were based on one or more of them. Here are example of this. The folksy song “Bada Natkhat” was based on the Khamaj raag. The unforgettable and deeply philosophical “Chingaari” was based on the Bhairavi raag. The scathing “Kuchh Toh” was also set in the Khamaj raag. The mellifluous honeyed “Raina” was set in the blend of two raagas. The mukhda was in the Todi raag and the antra was in the Khamaj raag. The meditative “Ye Kya” was based on the Kalavati raag.

In spite of all the magnificent efforts of RD, Bakshi Saab, Lataji, and Kishoreda, either not considered for any awards or received any. That year the Best Music Filmfare Award went to Shankar & Jaikishan for “Be-Imaan”. Now that is real be-imaani. Do you remember any good song from that film? Ghulam Mohammad Saab was at least nominated for his crowning glory “Pakeezah”. But even he was ignored. Bakshi Saab was nominated for “Chingaari” but lost to Verma Malik for the song “Jai Bolo Be-Imaan Ki”. This is another shameful thing. Mukeshji won the Best Male Singer Award for “Jai Bolo” edging out Kishoreda’s perennial heart grabber “Chingaari”. These are the state of affairs of our movie awards. Simply pathetic.

The music and songs of this film made such lasting impression that many young musicians created instrumental versions of them. I will go overboard in posting several of these. I have created nine separate posts for songs, specials, and instrumentals. The first two contain songs from the film. The third post contains a few specials and version songs. The fourth and fifth posts contain instrumentals of the song "Chingaari". A few instrumentals of the song “Kuchh Toh” are in the sixth post. The seventh and the eight post contain instrumentals of “Raina Beeti”. Lastly, the final post consists of instrumentals of “Ye Kya Hua”.

Here are the songs from this film beginning with the next post…

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jun 18 2017, 10:15 PM

[swarapriya]

Songs from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are the first set of songs from this landmark album...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this film including all three Kishoreda's chartbusters that catapulted him to the top position as a singer...

[swarapriya]

A Few Specials Related to the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

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

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of the Song "Chingaari" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

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

[swarapriya]

More Instrumentals of the Song "Chingaari" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are a few more instrumentals of the song of the album "Chingaari" from "Amar Prem"...

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of the Song "Kuchh Toh" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Kuchh Toh"...

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of the Song "Raina Beeti" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Following are some of the instrumentals of Lataji's beautiful rendition of "Raina Beeti Jaaye"...

[swarapriya]

More Instrumentals of the Song "Raina Beeti" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are a few more instrumentals of the melodious song "Raina Beeti Jaaye"...

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of the Song "Ye Kya Hua" from the Film "Amar Prem (1971)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Ye Kya Hua" in this final post...

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne (1964)

This film was produced and directed by the brilliant film maker V. Shantaram. He also wrote its screenplay and was its editor. He introduced his daughter Rajshree as the leading lady of the film. Jeetendra, who appeared in his earlier super hit classic “Navrang (1958)” as a double in a dance sequence to its heroine (!) Sandhya, was given the male lead for the first time. The movie also has the great crooner C.H. Atma in a pivotal role.

The movie itself was alternatively beautiful to watch and other times bogged down in domestic problems of the leading couple. The story itself was credited to K.A. Narayan. However it was inspired on the life of the legendary 12th century sculptor from Karnataka named Jakkanacharya. The very same year Shantaramji’s movie was released a film based on the life of the sculptor was released both in Kannada and Telugu with the name “Amara Shilpi Jakkanna”. “Geet” however was updated to reflect urban times.

Shantaram utilized the talents of Ramlal as its music director for the second time in a row. He was so good in his earlier film the 1963 “Sehra” so it was not a surprise that he was hired to score music for this film. Ramlalji did not disappoint. He was absolutely brilliant. Each song became a chartbuster except for possibly “Raat Naujawaan”. Ahsaji, Kishori, Mahendra were all very good. But C.H. Atma with three songs easily stole the show. The CD version of the film has combined the song “Likh Deta” with “Ek Pal”. I am including it here for completeness sake but also uploading the DVD version of “Likh Deta” which is more elaborate with lots of mandolin music following it.

The fabulous Hasrat Saab wrote lyrics for all songs except for one. The one song Vishwamitra Adil wrote is “Aaiye Padhaariye”. His name was not listed as a lyricist even though he was responsible for the dialogues. Incidentally Vasant Desai, who was a regular with Shantaramji, scored the background music for the film. Someone told me that Desaiji helped Ramlalji in scoring both title tracks. I cannot substantiate it.

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

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne (1964)"...

Here are the rest of the songs and a few music clips from this beautiful musical...

[swarapriya]

Few Instrumentals of the song "Tere Khayaalon" frpm "Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne (1964)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Tere Khayaalon Mein Hum" from this film...

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Teesri Manzil (1966)

This is one of my favorite movies. Everything comes together in this movie like a well-organized and well executed musical concert. The story, the songs, the music, the performances, they all add up to make “Teesri Manzil” a thoroughly enjoyable entertainer.

Nasir Husain, who produced the film, was busily getting ready with "Baharon Ke Sapne" and approached Vijay Anand to direct this movie. One of the reasons was that originally Vijay’s older brother Dev Anand was to star in it. But Dev was enjoying his new found success and recognition from making "Guide" and was not immediately available. Instead the role went to Shammi who was the hero of two of his previous blockbusters, "Tumsa Nahin Dekha" in 1957 and "Dil Deke Dekho" in 1959. Husain Saab wrote the story of the film, its screenplay, and dialogues as well.

Nasir Husain was looking for someone to compose the music and Shammi recommended his good friends Shankar and Jaikishan. Majrooh Sultanpuri, who wrote lyrics for every Nasir Husain movie and a close friend of Husain, suggested R.D. Burman’s name. R.D. was new to the game and had only "Chhote Nawab" behind him. However, Husain went along with the idea. Vijay Anand knew R.D. well (being son as well assistant of S.D. Burman), and liked the idea. But Shammi wouldn't budge. R.D. composed a couple of songs to convince Shammi that he will be able to do the justice and when Shammi heard them he had no problem.

R.D. became a regular with Nasir Husain for many of his future films. Together the tandem of Husain-Burman-Majrooh collaborated in churning out many memorable musical hits that are remembered even today after this many many years passed away.

The music of “Teesri Manzil” was a standout. It had breakaway music and sounds that were never heard on an Indian screen before. An excellent example of this is the duet Asha and Rafi Saab sang “Aa Jaa Aa Jaa Main Hoon Pyaar Tera”. It was a clever juxtaposition of Eastern and Western music, picturized with a touch of eroticism that was at once appealing to ears as well as hearts. Asha Bhosle and Rafi Saab sang all of the songs in the movie. Apart from the song already mentioned, the other standout songs are the beautiful duet of Asha and Rafi Saab, “O Mera Sona Re Sona Re” and the romantic solo of Rafi Saab “Deewaana Mujh Sa Nahin”. It turns out that this was the last Nasir Husain movie where Rafi Saab sang all of the male songs. He did return with a bang in Hussain's "Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (1977)" where he sang that memorable National Award winning song "Kya Hua Tera Vaada".

The picturization of the songs from this movie is still talked about. Vijay Anand used some unusual camera angles to film the songs, like a dance seen from an eye or a guitar hole. Incidentally Salim, who would later become part of the famous Salim-Javed writing team, played a bit role in the movie. He plays drums to Helen's song and the dance number "O Haseena Zulfon Waali". Salim, father of actor Salman Khan, later married Helen.

During the filming of this movie Shammi lost his actress wife Geeta Bali succumbed to a tragic illness. Vijay Anand helped Shammi overcome the grief by being supportive whenever it was necessary.

The songs from this film became so popular that they inspired many musicians to come up with instrumentals of them. I am uploading these along with songs from the film in eight back-to-back posts. The first two posts contain songs from the film. The third post contains a few specials. The fourth post contains instrumentals of the songs “Aa Jaa Aa Jaa”. The fifth post has a few instrumentals of “Deewaana Mujh Sa Nahin”. Instrumentals of the song “O Haseena” are in the sixth post. “O Mere Sona Re” instrumentals are in the seventh post. Finally, the eight and the last post consists of instrumentals of the song “Tum Ne Mujhe Dekha”.

The songs of the film start in the next post...

[swarapriya]

Songs from the Film "Teesri Manzil (1966)"...

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