Shair Aur Sargam

(Shailendra) Usne Kaha Tha (1960)

Here is another film that came from the production house of Bimal Roy. This one was produced by Bimalda and was directed by Moni Bhattacharjee. It was based on a famous short story by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri.

Like any movie by Bimalda it has all the ingredients that make his movies so special; good story, great unfolding of the story, realistic locations, superb characterizations, brilliant black and white photography, and melodious music. This movie has all of this but somehow it doesn't give the feeling of satisfaction. It falls short of high expectations one has of a true Bimalda movie. In the end you remember it for its brilliant craftsmanship but the beats are missing from where its heart is.

Incidentally, Indrani Mukherjee was introduced in this film in a small role as a friend of Nanda and a neighbor of Sunil Dutt.

Salilda composed several great songs for this movie. The songs like "Aaha Rim Jhim", "Balkhaati Sharmaati", and "Machalti Aarzoo" are very melodious to listen to. But for me the standout song is Maqdoom Mohiuddeen's memorable "Jaanewaale Sipaahi Se Poochho". This inspired song was made more memorable because of the soulful singing of the pair Sabita Banerjee and Mannada. It lingers in your thoughts for a long long time.

I am uploading these beautiful songs, a couple of specials, and some musical instrumentals in two back-to-back posts. The first post contains all songs from the film plus a couple of specials. The second post contains all instrumentals.

Here are the songs in the first post…

Few Instrumentals from "Usne Kaha Tha (1960)"...

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Aaha Rim Jhim" from the film...

(Anand Bakshi) Mera Dost (1969)

Here are the songs from this film...

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Boyfriend (1961)

This movie was a remake of the all-time super box-office hit “Kismet” starring Ashok Kumar that was released in 1943. In that film Ashok played a dual role whereas in “Boyfriend” brothers were played by Shammi and the up-and-coming Dharmendra. Whereas “Kismet” made unprecedented history, in spite of super hit songs, “Boyfriend” was only a modest success because of haphazard handling of the story and botched up hurried ending.

With Shammi in the central role one can expect many songs by Rafi Saab. Out of eight songs, Rafi Saab had five solos and a duet. All these and the other two songs are also very good. Dattaram served as an assistant music director to Shankar & Jaikishan.

The song “Mujhe Apna” appeared three times in the film. The second time is the same as the first one without the last antara. The last antara alone appeared when the song appeared for the third time. However it was at a slower rate. I am uploading this one along with the full one. Also, the song “Salaam” appeared twice, albeit briefly the second time. But even in this case it did not break any new ground as it is the first 52 seconds of the original song. Therefore I am not uploading this.

I am uploading all these songs and a few music clips in back-to-back two posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Feb 14 2016, 11:58 PM

Concluding Songs from "Boyfriend (1961)"...

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

(Majrooh) King Kong (1962)

This was mighty Dara Singh’s first film as a full-fledged hero. He appeared earlier in three films in smaller roles (“Sangdil” in 1952, “Pehli Jhalak” in 1954, and “Jagga Daku” in 1959). This movie was made clearly to show his strength and most of the movie exploited that.

Singh Saab in this film fought with a T-Rex like creature single-handedly, wrestled and killed a crocodile in the water, bested a famous wrestler also named King Kong in the beginning and end of the movie, took on the whole army alone and came out unscathed as a winner. The story of the film was wound around these and other exploits. Because of a poor script, uneven direction, an average musical score the film fizzles out from your memory swiftly.

Majrooh Saab and Chitragupt teamed together for many films that gave us several winning songs. But the effort here by both of them here was very feeble and below average. The only song that rose above the mediocrity I thought was “Ladi Re Ladi”. Here is this and rest of the songs from this film…

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Feb 21 2016, 10:54 PM

dear swarapriya
thanks for King kong songs
they are in better sound quality which i had.
one point the song LADI RE LADI TOSE LOOKS LIKE SUMAN KALYANPUR ALTHOUGH HFGK HAVE NOT MENTIONED ANY SINGER NAME
ALSO THE SONG DHOLAK YE BOLE ALSO HAVING USHA MANGESHKAR VOICE - SAME HFGK HAVE NOT MENTIONED ANY SINGER NAME
Any suggestions from other members.

I second you on this Taiyabji. I referred book on Suman by Mangala Khadilkar and even it credits the song to Suman though HFGK has not mentioned anything.

This post has been edited by Viraj Padhye: Feb 17 2016, 08:18 AM

Taiyab & Viraj,

So what is the consensus? Should "Ladi" be by Suman and "Dholak" by Usha? Can someone please confirm. Thanks.

S

(Rajinder Krishan) Mohar (1959)

In this movie the wife and husband team of Geeta Bali and Shammi Kapoor worked together. They worked in five films altogether. These were “Miss Coca Cola (1955)”, “Coffee House (1957)”, “Mujrim (1958)”, “Mohar (1959)”, and “Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai (1963)”.

This is yet another film where Madan Mohan Ji worked with his favorite lyricist Rajinder Krishan. It is their fifth movie during 1959. These were “Baap Bete”, “Chacha Zindabad”, “Duniya Na Mane”, and “Minister”. Earlier I have uploaded songs from all these films in our Forum.

In this film, “Mohra”, both solos by Hemantda (“Kho Gaya”) and Talat Saab (“Yaad Jab”) are excellent. My favorite is the one by Hemantda. Here are these and other songs from this film…

Excellent sharing swaraprija ji....many thanks from core of my heart.....

Thank you very much Gargi. Much appreciated.

Cheers,
S

(Shailendra) Aas Ka Panchhi (1961)

Songs from this film were recently uploaded in this very thread. They can be accessed starting at the following location...

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...658&st=1423

Yes, "Ladi" is by Suman and add Usha in "Dholak" in addition to existing singers.

Viraj

Viraj & Taiyab,

I have made changes to the table per your suggestions. Thanks.

S