The Three Reigning Queens, Albums of Madhubala, Meena Kumari & Nargis Options

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Shree 420 (1955)" ...

I am uploading here a couple of songs from the film that were not on the original soundtrack album, both by the courtesy of the Forum members. Thank you. I am also uploading a couple of specials from the album "Legends: Raj Kapoor - The Showman (CD2)". "Mera Joota Hai" includes some dialogues by Raj from the film. The song "Pyaar Hua" has an introduction by Mannada who pays a glowing tribute to Raj.

Here are these songs ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Sep 27 2010, 05:52 AM

[swarapriya]

(Madhubala) Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

I don’t understand how economics work but apparently Kishoreda to avoid huge amounts he owed in income taxes made a couple of movies, one in Bengali and the other in Hindi, hoping them to be flops. The Bengali version, “Lookochri”, starring Kishoreda opposite Mala Sinha with Hemantda’s music made in 1958 instead clicked in a big way and became a hit. He also made in the same year, 1958, the Hindi film, “Chalti ka Naam Gaadi”. As luck would have it, the Hindi film also was a huge hit.

A disgusted Kishoreda ceded all his rights to the movie, “Gaadi”, by gifting them to his secretary friend, Anoop Sharma. Kishoreda and his problem with income tax officers persisted till his death.

Aloke Dasgupta was the cameraman of the “Gaadi”. He was only 23 years old when he was put in charge by Kishoreda to photograph the movie. Dasgupta also played another important role. As his romance with Madhubala started progressing, he became the couple’s confidante.

Kishoreda originally signed Kamal Mazumdar to direct both “Lookochuri” and “Gaadi”. But Mazumdar became nervous on the first day of the shoot of the movie. Directing three brothers he felt was a daunting task and decided not to proceed. Satyen Bose was a friend of Kishoreda who directed him and Ashok in their previous movie together, “Bandi (1957)”. At Kishore’s request, Bose came to direct the first scene even before knowing what he was getting into.

Satyen Bose was not happy with the choice of the cameraman because of Aloke’s lack of experience. The picturization of “Ek Ladki” was a test case for Aloke. After the shooting of the song was completed, Bose was happy with the results, and Aloke stayed as the cameraman.

When the movie was released it became a huge hit. Its songs became a rage. The duet, “Haal Kaisa Hai”, went on to adorn Binaca Geetmala’s weekly top of the charts for more than a year. My own favorite is Kishoreda’s solo “Ek Ladki”. Apparently the song was inspired by Tennesse Ernie’s English song from his album “16 Tons”. Both Jaidev and RD were assistants to SD.

I am uploading songs from this album in two back-to-back posts. The second post also contains a couple of specials. Now for a description of the songs and the songs themselves …

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958)" ...

I am including rest of the songs and a couple of specials from this great album. One of the specials is the version song of "Ek Ladki" by Abhijeet. This is taken from his album "A Tribute to Kishore Kumar". The other special is taken from the album "Legends: Kishore Kumar - The Versatile Genius (CD 1)". This has an introduction by the current popular hero Shah Rukh Khan.

Here are the songs in this post ...

[saurabhdatta]

CHALTI KA NAAM GAADI(58)-BAAJOO, BABU SAMJHO ISHAARE - KISHORE, MANNA - 3.32 MINS - SECOND VERSION

THIS IS FROM A CASSETTE - IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT

SAURABH

[nandi]

Concluding Songs from "Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958)" ...

I am including rest of the songs and a couple of specials from this great album. One of the specials is the version song of "Ek Ladki" by Abhijeet. This is taken from his album "A Tribute to Kishore Kumar". The other special is taken from the album "Legends: Kishore Kumar - The Versatile Genius (CD 1)". This has an introduction by the current popular hero Shah Rukh Khan.

Here are the songs in this post ...

Thanks for organizing this upload.
nandi

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958)" ...

I am including rest of the songs and a couple of specials from this great album. One of the specials is the version song of "Ek Ladki" by Abhijeet. This is taken from his album "A Tribute to Kishore Kumar". The other special is taken from the album "Legends: Kishore Kumar - The Versatile Genius (CD 1)". This has an introduction by the current popular hero Shah Rukh Khan.

Here are the songs in this post ...

Thanks for organizing this upload.
nandi

You're welcome, Nandi. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

CHALTI KA NAAM GAADI(58)-BAAJOO, BABU SAMJHO ISHAARE - KISHORE, MANNA - 3.32 MINS - SECOND VERSION

THIS IS FROM A CASSETTE - IT SOUNDS DIFFERENT

SAURABH

Thanks for this different version, Saurabh. Cheers. -S

[saurabhdatta]

WELCOME SWARAPRIYA !

[swarapriya]

(Meena) Sahara (1958)

Here is one of those films where everyone seem to do harm to a hapless woman. Meena Kumari endures so much pain and anguish that what she has to go through in this movie it gets to your nerves sometimes. I am uploading songs by Hemantda in two back-to-back posts. All songs due to the courtesy of the Forum members. Thank you.

Here is the first set of songs ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Oct 12 2010, 08:45 PM

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Sahara (1958)" ...

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

[Yadavagiri5]

(Meena) Sahara (1958)

Here is one of those albums where everyone seem to do harm to a hapless woman. Meena Kumari endures so much pain and anguish that what she has to go through in the movie it gets to your nerves sometimes. I am uploading songs by Hemantda in two back-to-back posts. All songs due to the courtesy of the Forum members. Thank you.

Here is the first set of songs ...

Here is Bengali song by Lata (Duration 3:18) which sounds very similar to So Jaa Dukhiyaare, but is also different in many ways. Can anyone provide more details on this song?

[swarapriya]

(Meena) Sahara (1958)

Here is one of those albums where everyone seem to do harm to a hapless woman. Meena Kumari endures so much pain and anguish that what she has to go through in the movie it gets to your nerves sometimes. I am uploading songs by Hemantda in two back-to-back posts. All songs due to the courtesy of the Forum members. Thank you.

Here is the first set of songs ...

Here is Bengali song by Lata (Duration 3:18) which sounds very similar to So Jaa Dukhiyaare, but is also different in many ways. Can anyone provide more details on this song?

Thanks for the song YG. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Nargis) Chori Chori (1956)

Shankar & Jaikishan were introduced by Raj Kapoor in the history making "Barsaat" in 1949. Since then they composed music for a number of films and in the process created many unforgettable songs. Yet they never won any major award for all of their accomplishments. Not until this movie, "Chori Chori", came along. This was the first movie for which they got Filmfare award for Best Music. It was the first of eight they got in their brilliant career. Until recently this number seemed unsurpassable with Laxmikant & Pyarelal coming in a close second with seven awards. But recently A.R. Rahman has eclipsed all these numbers. He has swept away every major award any country has offered. He garnered a staggering 25 Filmfare awards (14 regular and 11 South) in a brief period of time!

By the time "Chori Chori" was ready to go into production, Mukesh was firmly entrenched as the voice of Raj Kapoor. Yet, Shankar & Jaikishan had Manna Dey sing for Raj in this film. This was a surprising choice. But not surprisingly, Manna da delivers some unforgettable duets with Lataji that are cherished even today.

This movie was based on director Frank Capra's English hit "It Happened One Night" made in 1934 that starred Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. It won five major Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay). Not until 1975 another movie ("One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest") won as many major awards. The feat was repeated only once more with "Silence of the Lambs" in 1991 grabbing all major Oscars. The movie "It Happened One Night" was also remade in English as a musical, "You Can't Run Away From It" starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon.

"Chori Chori" was a carbon copy of the English version, “It Happened One Night”. It was remade in Hindi by Mahesh Bhatt in 1991 under the name "Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin". This movie was also a success mainly because it has some beautiful music composed by the duo Nadeem & Shravan. The movie was also made in Bengali with Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar in 1959 under the name "Chaoa Paoa". It was also made in Kannada under the name "Hudugaata".

The fascination for the English film “It Happened One Night” also yielded at least another two musicals in Hindi. The adaptations include “Solva Saal (1958)” and “Basant (1960)”. “Saal” had some lilting music by Burmanda and “Basant” had some swinging music by OP. But none of these movies enjoyed the same success as “Chori Chori” did.

It is interesting that Raj Kapoor who played Clark Gable's role in "Chori Chori" was complimented by the Hollywood actress Shirley Maclaine during her visit to India when she told Raj that he looked like Clark Gable unaware that Raj played his role in “Chori Chori”.

"Chori Chori" has some beautiful music and sweet songs with great compositions. Apart from the three Lata-Manna duets, Lataji's two solos,"Panchhi Banoon" and "Rasik Balma" are absolute delights. Lata never sounded this sweet and this better.

Here is one great story reported about the song "Rasik Balma". The late great Mehboob Khan was recuperating from a heart problem in a Los Angeles hospital. He loved "Rasik Balma" so much that he wanted to hear the song but no record of the song was yet available in Los Angeles. He called Lataji in Bombay and she readily obliged by singing the song over the phone for him. Lata repeated this gesture many times during his stay in the hospital while Mehboob Khan was recovering. Later after returning to India, a healthier Mehboob Khan thanked Lata for bringing him solace by singing the song for him and helping him in a quick recovery.

I will post songs of this film in three back-to-back posts. The first two posts consist of all songs of the film from an original soundtrack album. The third post contains a couple of version songs. Now for details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Oct 26 2010, 12:07 PM

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Chori Chori (1956)" ...

Here are the rest of the songs from this award winning beautifully melodious album ...

[swarapriya]

Some of the Version Songs of "Chori Chori (1956)" ...

The following couple of version songs, a solo and a duet with Geetaji as the principal singer, are by the courtesy of the Forum members. Thank you ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Oct 26 2010, 12:07 PM