Three Of A Kind, Dev, Dilip & Kishore Options

[ketaki shukla]

Thanks Swarapriya for this lovely album.

Ketaki

[swarapriya]

Thanks Swarapriya for this lovely album.

Ketaki

You're very welcome Ketaki. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

(Dilip) Izzatdaar (1990)

Here are the songs from this film from an original soundtrack album...

[swarapriya]

(Kishore) Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966)

The writer, producer and director of hit films like "Nazrana (1961)" and "Dil Ek Mandir (1963)" was once again at the helm of this movie. It was based on his original Tamil hit "Kadhalikka Neramillai (1964)". Almost scene for scene of the Hindi film was taken from the Tamil version.

The highlight of the film was its beautiful music and a great performance by Mahmood. In particular, there is a scene between Mahmood and Om Prakash that at once was hilariously rip roaring, even though it was a copy from the Tamil film.

I am uploading songs from this film in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set from an original soundtrack album...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this fine album including a couple of musical clips and the horror story clip...

[swarapriya]

(Dev) Sharabi (1964)

Here are the songs from this film, all from an original soundtrack album, which once again proves that why Rafi Saab was such a great singer he was...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Sharabi (1964)"...

Here are a couple of extended version songs from this fine album, both thanks to the courtesy of our Forum members...

[swarapriya]

(Dilip) Saudagar (1991)

The following write-up on this film was used in one of my earlier postings...

The main feature of this lavishly produced movie was that Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar were acting together after 32 years. The only movie they acted together before was Gemini's huge hit "Paigham (1959)." They played brothers in that movie with Diliji having the major share of the role.

Besides these two thespians there were a host of other actors including two newcomers in this film. Manisha Koirala and Vivek Mushran were introduced in this film. Manisha went onto make herself a good name but Mushran’s acting stint was short lived.

The story attributed to producer and director Subhash Ghai was another rehash of Shakespearean tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.” There was nothing novel about the movie even though it was shot in beautiful locales and was helped by excellent photography.

Dilipji appeared overweight with a very puffed look. In general one expects very restrained and consummate performance from him, but very disappointingly he was overly dramatic in the interpretation of his role. Because of the anticipated high expectations that movie has set in the fans, when one saw the movie it hardly scored points except in the areas already mentioned, plus possibly music. Originally I did not care much for the songs, may be because I did not care for the movie itself, but they have a tendency to grow on you. LP does a credible job here. In the end one leaves with the feeling after watching this lengthy movie that this beautiful canvas had a splash of lovely colors adorning it but represents a wasted effort on much retreaded and often rehashed subject.

I am uploading these songs in two back-to-back posts. Here are the details of the songs in the first post and the songs themselves…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Saudagar (1991)"...

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

[swarapriya]

(Kishore) Albela Mastana (1967)

Here are the songs from this album...

[swarapriya]

(Dev) Guide (1965)

Most of the following write up appeared in one of my earlier posting of this film...

"Guide" was undoubtedly a pinnacle of achievement for Anand Brothers, Dev and Vijay. It has a fascinating history behind how a best selling novel transformed into a fabulous movie. Dev Anand read R.K. Narayan's novel "The Guide" and decided to make it into a movie. Even though Narayan initially refused, Dev, a master of persuasion convinced the author to allow him to make the novel into a movie.

Convinced that the novel has the universal appeal, Dev next set his eyes on making this in Hindi as well as English. He was able to find the Nobel laureate author Pearl S. Buck (for her work "Good Earth") to coproduce with him. Next he chose Waheeda Rehman to be his heroine. Initially Waheeda was hesitant to play the role. Mainly because the movie dealt with adultery and playing that role she thought may prove to be committing a professional suicide. Again Dev used his charm and persuading power to win Waheeda over to accept the role.

Dev hired Ted Danielwski, a Hollywood man, to direct the English version. Dev wanted Vijay, his younger brother, to direct the Hindi version. But Vijay refused the offer thinking that the movie if made would ruin the image of India abroad. Dev went back to Vijay after making more arrangements for the movie. Vijay refused again stating the same reasons. By this time English version went into production. Never to give up, convinced it should be Vijay who should be handling the Hindi version of the movie, Dev went back to Vijay and persuaded him to change his mind. Third time was charm for Dev and his perseverance finally paid off. Vijay consented to direct the movie independent of the English version.

At nobody’s surprise Burman da was signed to compose music for the Hindi version. Shailendra was assigned to pen the lyrics. Vijay wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the Hindi version. While the preparations for Hindi version were going on, Dev spent considerable energy to finish the English version first. That he did.

Dev had high hopes on the English version. But it was a resounding flop. Disappointed but undeterred Dev was determined even more so to continue with the Hindi version.

The novelist R.K. Narayan, on whose novel the movie was based, saw the script Vijay wrote and decided to disown the entire project. His main objection was that the screenplay was not completely true to his original work. Vijay's argument was that the changes were necessary to make some cinematic allowances. His point was that the story was written sometime back and was dated. To fit the existing atmosphere and maintain the continuity of the theme he felt that some changes were imminent.

The movie itself was bold in its theme by even today's (after 45 years) Indian movie standards. In the end when the movie was completed, this labor of love and hard work, “Guide”, was a huge hit. It was Dev's first color production. Burmanda's music was a rage. Every song was a marvel. Kishoreda had a duet with Lataji. But it was Lataji and Rafi Saab that took all the accolades. "Aaj Phir Jeene Ki", "Piya Tose Naina", and "Saiyya Beimaan" are melodious masterpieces with Burmanda's stamp all over them. Rafi Saab had three mesmerizing solos in "Din Dhal Jaaye", "Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya", and "Tere Mere Sapne." Burmanda had two great songs himself. One of his songs, “Wahan Kaun Hai Tera", perfectly accentuates the mood of the film. Mannaji also made a small contribution by singing one song.

"Guide" went on to win an unprecedented seven Filmfare awards for that year. The awards were for: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Story, Best Dialogues, and Best Cinematography. One of the grave omission and unforgivable mistake by the award committee was not to recognize Burmanda for such wonderfully everlasting music. He richly deserved the award! Instead that award went to Shankar-Jaikishan duo for their efforts for the movie "Suraj", which also had some beautiful songs. If awards are a criterion for recognition, then for all the great music he created, Burmanda probably was one least recognized. (Madan Mohan Ji was another one. But at least most of the movies for which Burmanda composed music were hits whereas several of Madan Mohan Saab’s movies did not fare well at the box office.)

The Hindi version of the movie “Guide” was an Oscar entry that year. The 1964 “Guide” was invited to participate for a screening at a recent Cannes Film Festival in the World Classic category. Even after this many years, what an honor! Here is another note. Dev, the indomitable spirit and the evergreen hero he was, hasn’t made a good movie in his last 30 or so years. But he continued to make a movie after a movie each year and was seriously thinking of re-releasing the English version of the “Guide” before he passed away…

I am uploading songs from this film in six back-to-back posts. The first post contains all songs from the film. The second post contains specials with introductions. The third post contains some of the version songs. The fourth and the fifth post contain several instrumentals. Finally, the sixth (the last) post contains some of the extended version songs.

Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Some Specials of Songs of "Guide (1965)"

Here are some specials of the songs from this film, all with introductions...

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Some Version Songs of "Guide (1965)"

Here are some of the version songs of "Guide" sung by various singers...

[swarapriya]

Some of the Instrumentals of the Songs from "Guide (1965)"

This and the next post contain several instrumentals of the songs from the film. Here is the first set...

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More Instrumentals of the Songs from "Guide (1965)"

Here are some more instrumentals of the songs from "Guide" including the "Snake Dance" music clip...