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

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Ye Gulistan Hamara (1972)

I am uploading songs from this film skipping the usual chronological order to cater for a request...

Guru Dutt passed away in 1964 but his younger brother Atma Ram tried to keep his brother’s film production company alive for some time. Ram worked as an assistant to Guru in few films but left him in disgust after Guru decided to give Raj Khosla reins to handle the directorial duties of “C.I.D.”. There was nothing new about this as Guru was noted to renege on the promises he used to make.

But after Guru passed away, Ram returned to revive his brother’s production company as Guru’s sons were still young. Except for “Shikar” made in 1968 most of his efforts went unnoticed.

Dev, who gave a start to Guru as a full-fledged director with his film “Jaal” in 1952 and starred in Guru’s earlier film “C.I.D.” in 1956 returned to star in this film. In the 20 years’ time span Dev’s fortunes also fluctuated wildly with an occasional hit amidst several misses, especially after 60’s.

Like many of Guru’s films, there were people who were common in this effort. Johnny Walker, a friend of Guru, had a role. Guru’s noted photographer and another friend, V.K. Murthy was in-charge of camera work. Burmanda who composed many of earlier Guru-directed films was back. But none of these helped the film.

When announced that Ram was a making a film about folks in Assam, there were violent protests against it. It took Bhupen Hazarika and Dev Anand to convince these people that Atma Ram was making a film on how Assamese can integrate into the rest of the country and how their education and living standards can be improved.

Good intentions not always translate into good deeds. When the movie was released it proved to be a dud. There were several reasons for this. The story as it unfolded was too preachy. The endless parade of one sermon after another tend to get on ones nerves. Besides, the characters were not fully developed. With an incohesive storyline and the end product choppily put together the movie destined for failure.

Assamese found the song “Mera Naam Aao” from the film offensive. Apparently it has something to do with the word “Aao”. Incidentally actor Danny Denzogpa, who was not in the film, lent his voice in this duet with Lataji.

Controversy set aside, it is the music of the film that stood out. Burmanda who grew up in Assam was at home providing folk music of the region in most of the songs. He blended the songs nicely with sounds of melodious instruments. Lataji’s solo and the duet of Lataji with Burmanda are real standouts of the album. Incidentally, RD, son of SD, joined Lataji and his father in a song “Raina Soyi Soyi”. In a way RD was returning a favor to his father. Only the previous year, SD sung in the film “Amar Prem” the song “Doli Mein” which RD composed music for.

I am uploading all songs from this film two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in starting in the next post…

[swarapriya]

Songs from "Ye Gulistan Hamara (1972)"...

Here are the first set of songs from this film...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Ye Gulistan Hamara (1972)"...

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

[soumik]

Dear Swarapriya,

Burmanda was born and brought up in Tripura; not Assam.

Thanks for the album

Soumik

[swarapriya]

Dear Swarapriya,

Burmanda was born and brought up in Tripura; not Assam.

Thanks for the album

Soumik

Soumik, thanks for the info. Cheers.

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Heera Panna (1973)

I am uploading these songs to accommodate a request by skipping the usual chronological order that I was following for this thread...

Dev Anand followed his hit film of 1971 “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” with this movie, “Heera Panna”. Like the “Krishna” movie, he wrote the story for this film, produced and directed it, also acted in it. He took Zeenat from that film as the principal lead for this film.

When the movie was released, everyone talked about Zeenat and her bikini draped body but the one who stole the show was Raakhee. Raakhee was simply stunning to look at. She was beautifully clad in sarees that accentuated her grace and was lovely to look at. A beautiful woman she is, Raakhee was director’s and photographer’s delight and they were very careful in choosing her shots.

This movie was a modest success. It would have been another great one if only Dev kept it going as he did the first two-thirds. It was a delightful ride. Execution by the director was just about perfect. Then suddenly everything is jumbled up. In the last one-third of the movie all mayhem gets loose with umpteen number of villains pursuing the hero to snatch the stolen diamond from him. 10 or 15 minutes of this could have been plenty enough but it was stretched to nearly 50 minutes. The viewer not only gets bored with this but loses interest in the proceedings.

RD was at the helm of music. There were only a few songs in the film but all of them became very popular. I am uploading all these and a few instrumentals in two back-to-back posts.

Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of "Heera Panna (1973)"...

Here is a version song and a few instrumentals of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Johny Mera Naam (1970)

I am uploading songs from this on request skipping the usual chronological order...

Years ago when I first saw this movie I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was remade into all southern languages and all enjoyed success. Vijay Anand (Goldie), who wrote its screenplay, edited it, and directed the film made many fine, enjoyable, and noteworthy films. He gave Dev who was going through a lean period of flops, whose last hit was “Jewel Thief (1967)”, also directed by Goldie, a chance to rejuvenate his career which it did.

However, watching this film now I have a different opinion about it. It may be Goldie’s weakest outing as screenplay looked hodgy-podgy (by the way he won the Filmfare Award for it), direction very patchy, and some characters like Prem Nath’s was so routine one can tell immediately his next move. There was no element of surprise there, one of the trademarks of Goldie’s movies.

Only thing I have not changed my opinion about the film is about its great music by the duo Kalyanji & Anandji. All songs are fun to listen to. Especially Kishoreda’s songs “Nafrat Karne” and “Pal Bhar” are a joy to listen to. Lataji had two melodious songs, “Govinda Bolo” and “O Baabul”. My favorite of the album is “O Baabul”.

I am uploading these and other songs from this film and a few instrumentals in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals of "Johny Mera Naam (1970)"...

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

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Shareef Badmash (1973)

I am uploading these songs to accommodate a request by skipping the usual chronological order that I was following for this thread...

Dev went back to his old friend Raj Khosla to direct this film. With a desire to become a singer Raj came to Mumbai but found it was hard going for him. He befriended Dev who introduced him to Guru Dutt. As an assistant to Guru for some of his early films, Khoslaji learned the ropes to make good movies. When he turned as a director, Raj’s first five films starred Dev as the hero. These were “Milap (1955)”, “C.I.D. (1956)”, “Solva Saal (1958)”, “Kalapani (1958)”, and “Bombai Ka Babu (1960)”.

This movie had familiar premise for its story. Routinely predictable situations did not help. Part of the blame is how the screenplay was written. Surprisingly Khosla, who was responsible for so many winners before this, simply falters here. It is almost as if he was disinterested in the proceedings. Clearly his heart was not in it.

Dev seemed like was desperately trying to create the magic of his 1970 super hit “Johny Mera Naam”. But that magic was not there. Dev was popular making fashion statements with his films. In the first third of the movie he wore a lady’s pink hat that looked not only silly but also ridiculous on him. Hema also seemed like holding back. This was evident more in her dance number scene with Helen. Whereas Helen was nimble footed and charming Hema seemed ill at ease. There is no question about her dancing abilities that were already established and proved time and again. She is trained and is an accomplished dancer and used it as a ticket to establish herself in the Hindi filmdom. But her performance as a dancer somehow did not come through in this sequence with Helen. Shatrughan Sinha, appeared still dope eyed as in many of his early films, made a brief cameo appearance.

The usually reliable RD was the composer and unfortunately he was with the rest of the cast. Only few songs, five to be exact, but none except for one are anything to mention. Even that one song, “Main Nikal Jaaoonga”, it seems like was inspired by LP’s composition “Vaada Tera Vaada” from the 1972 hit “Dushman”. Incidentally Bakshi Saab wrote lyrics for that song also. Both were sung by Kishoreda. Nevertheless this song is a sheer pleasure to listen to. Kishoreda seemed to be best with these type of songs. I am also uploading part 2 of this song that is actually totally contained in the first song. It seemed like this part sounded even more exhilarating to listen to.

Incidentally this was the third film Dev was paired with Hema during 1973. These include “Chhupa Rustam”, “Joshila”, and this movie.

I am uploading above mentioned and other songs plus a few music clips in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Sep 1 2018, 05:11 AM

[swarapriya]

A Few Music Clips from "Shareef Badmash (1973)"...

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

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Banarasi Babu (1973)

I am uploading these songs skipping chronological order to cater for a request...

Shankar Mukherjee, who directed this film, made his debut with “Baarish” in 1957. It was not a super hit but was a modest success. Encouraged, he directed another seven films all starring Dev except for his last outing the 1975 “Faraar” with Amitabh. However, success eluded him with the exception of the 1962 film “Baat Ek Raat Ki” which was also only a modest hit.

For this movie Mukherjee clearly was somewhat inspired by what Goldie has done with 1970’s “Johny Mera Naam”. In “Johnny” I.S. Johar played three brothers, triplets. In this film, he acts as three separate people with the same names as in “Johny”. Dev has another person looking exactly like him, the secret, which probably is not much of a secret, is revealed at the end of the film. With Dev in double role, there is hardly any screen time for other people. Even the talent of the ever so beautiful Raakhee is completely wasted in a forgettable miniscule role with no scope.

The music duo which partially was responsible for “Johny’s” success were composers for the songs of this film. They are not bad and hummable for once or twice but then easily forgotten.

The title song appeared twice in the film. First time Kishoreda started the song but was interrupted by Asha’s “Kamar Meri”. I am uploading this song as it appeared in the movie. Also, in the movie there is a briefer version of the song “Mere Peechhe” by Lata. I am also uploading it here.

Here are these and the rest of the songs from the film…

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) The Train (1970)

Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend why a crummy film becomes such a commercial success. Except for a few good songs, this movie has nothing new or novel to offer. The story is a routine affair. The screenplay is wishy washy. Characters are insipid caricatures. Direction is incohesive. Enough said.

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

[swarapriya]

A Few Music Clips from "The Train (1970)"...

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

[swarapriya]

Few Instrumentals of the Songs from "The Train (1970)"...

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