Concluding Songs from "Ji Chahta Hai (1964)"...

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

(Majrooh) Baharon Ke Sapne (1967)

Nasir Hussain Saab produced and directed this film from his own story and screenplay. For once he was trying to do an “art” film. But it was a complete misfire. The main reason is the story. Instead of concentrating on the central theme of youth unemployment it drifts into many directions dealing with several unrelated topics thus diluting the effectiveness. Some fine songs by the composer RD and beautiful black and white photography by Jal Mistry simply go waste.

Acting-wise, most of the characters simply do not show much interest in the proceedings. The only exception was Anwar Hussain. He was simply outstanding.

The movie when it was released had a tragic ending. After a week or two, with negative response to the film from the audience, Hussain Saab revised the ending to be a comedy. But this really did not matter. Raj Kapoor did this with his 1953 “Aah” and experienced the same results.

Because the ending was revised the second part of Rafi Saab’s song “Zamaane Ne” was not relevant any more. So it was removed from the movie.

Here are the songs from the film…

(Rajinder Krishan) Bharosa (1963)

After the unexpected debacle of his most ambitious project the 1959 “Kaagaz ke Phool”, it is now considered as one of the classics of Indian films, Guru Dutt went into deep depression and decided to give up directing. Though considered to be an average actor, he was still smitten with acting bug. But he could hardly find any takers in Mumbai film world. But he had a spate of offers from South. He appeared in three movies in succession, “Bharosa” and “Bahurani” in 1963, and “Suhagan” in 1964, all originally made and successfully ran in Tamil. Soon after the shooting for “Suhagan” was completed Guru tragically passed away. At his death, that movie was still on the editing table getting ready for release.

Problem with these movies was that none of them were good. They were all forgettable family dramas, a formula that film industry in South stuck to for a long time. They almost all have similar themes and did not offer much scope to exhibit histrionics. I am one of those who has put Guru on a pedestal and it was difficult for me to watch him in these insignificant films.

Music by Ravi was one of the exceptions of the film. There are some popular songs in this album like Rafi Saab's "Iss Bhari Duniya Mein" and "Yeh Jhuke Jhuke Naina", the duet of Lata and Mahendra "Aaj Ki Mulaaqaat", and Lata's solo "Woh Dil Kahaan Se Laaoon".

In an August 2009, Asha Parekh fondly remembered Guru Dutt, her costar in this movie. While they were shooting the movie, its director K. Shankar, got indisposed and to keep the schedule on time and on budget, apparently Guru stepped in to shoot a crucial sequence that involved Asha and Nana Palsikar. In Asha's own words, "... It was a mind-blowing experience! The way Guru was moving the camera and his way of explaining what he wanted and why was different from directors in those days who just expected you to blindly follow the instructions. ..."

I am uploading all songs from the film and a couple of version songs (in post 2) in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post...

Concluding Songs from "Bharosa (1963)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this film and a couple of version songs..

Namskar
thanks your post
dhall

(Shailendra) Sautela Bhai (1962)

This movie was based on the literary classic by the giant of literature Sharat Chandra Chatterjee (who also wrote “Devdas”). Somehow the movie loses its impact in transfer from words to motion. The audience already know how the story will move and this causes to lose its grip on who are watching the movie. The story may have been a novel one when it was written but since then we have seen or read hundreds of similar ones.

Shailendra and Anil Biwas try harder to lift the proceedings, but barely. The credits give Suman Klayanpur and Arun Dutt also as playback singers. I am not certain which songs they sang. Also I could not identify several singers who are listed in my cross-reference table below as either a Female Voice or a Male Voice. May be someone reading this who has “Geet Kosh” can clarify the situation.

It is interesting note that the song “Phool Bann Baghiya” has shades of Salilda’s hit song “Bichhua…” from Bimalda’s beautiful 1958 film “Madhumati”.

I am uploading all songs from the film in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set…

Concluding Songs from "Sautela Bhai (1962)"...

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

Thank you very much Dhallji. Appreciate it. Cheers.

Laagi nahi chhute - male voice is Anil Bishwas
Preet gayi ... is adlib for Laagi nahi chhute ram and singer is Lata, Meena

Thank you very much Viraj for sharing the information. Cheers.

(Anand Bakshi) Chahat (1971)

There is nothing worth writing home about this retread of retread of well more retreads…

Everyone involved, including the director and the actors, seem to be disinterested in the proceedings. In spite of it LP and Bakshi Saab come up with barely average output per their standard.

For trivia buffs, Jeetendra who appeared in nearly 250 films during his career, this was the only film that was in Black & White.

Here are the songs from this film…

sangeet ka safar

thanks post this songs
dhall

Thank you very much Dhallji. Appreciate it very much. Cheers.

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Phoolon ki Sej (1964)

This movie tells about the story of an unwed mother and her travails based on Gulshan Nanda’s popular Hindi novel, “Andhere Chirag”. It was directed by Inder Raj Anand who was also responsible for its screenplay and direction. It was Vyjayanti Mala’s movie all the way. She gave a winning performance as a lover, unwed mother, and a woman fighting to keep her sanity amidst all odds. Interestingly there are no villains or bad guys in the film. Fickle finger of fate is the one that reaps havoc in the leading lady’s life.

The movie loses its momentum with Shubha Khote, Mahmood, Mukri, and Kanhaiyalal taking too much time for absurd comedy. It could have been more gripping with none of those four characters.

The movie was made by Anjali Pictures of South whose earlier Hindi film “Suvarna Sundari (1958)” was a hit mainly because of its beautiful music by Aadi Narayana Rao. Rao was rewarded with Sangeet Naatak Academy’s coveted award for his superb efforts. Even in this film Rao comes through several beautiful compositions. My favorite is the duet “Aa Bhi Jaa Rasiya”.

Whenever a Hindi film was made by South, it was generally based on a hit film based on the local language. In this case producers, Rao and his actress wife Anjali Devi, decided directly go to Hindi. The movie was a financial disaster. They almost went bankrupt. However, Rao’s wife still was an actress to reckon within south and was in very much demand. This helped them eventually to pull together financially.

I am uploading all songs from this fine album in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Phoolon ki Sej (1964)"...

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

I heard an interview of Anil da and Meena kapoor together with Tushar Bhatia in which Meena Kapoor thought she sang this song well enough to be compared to Lata Mangeshkar.

Thank you very much Nandi for sharing this information. Cheers.

(Majrooh) Jewel Thief (1967)

This was the last movie Goldie (Vijay Anand) directed for his brother Dev. Dev took over directorial chores starting with their next production and though had an occasional success at it, almost every movie he directed proved to be a disaster. But that is a different topic.

This movie with a little more care taken could have been a classic. Still it was a huge hit. The first half of the movie was done so well that you keep guessing what happens next. But in the second half Goldie let Dev play James Bond where many beautiful women hop in and out of the bed by sleeping with him. Once or twice this can be construed as normal to the storyline but when the same thing is repeated every 15 minutes or so it becomes a bit boring in spite of all the good looking women. But this did not stop the movie to become a success it apparently was. Several years later, Dev acted in a disastrous sequel to it.

One of the major contributing factors to the success the movie enjoyed owed to a large extent to the music of Burmanda. As usually is the case with him, he gave one of his best efforts. This shows in every song. Each of them became a huge hit. RD was his assistant.

I have so many favorite songs in this film. The duet by Lata & Rafi Saab, "Dil Pukaare" is an utter delight. The swinging song by Lata & Bhupinder (incidentally he was unlisted in the titles), "Honthon Mein" just keeps ringing in your ears long after you heard it. "Rula Ke Gaya" is another lovely song beautifully performed by Lata. Then that sensational solo by Asha, "Raat Akeli". It was sensually picturized and Tanuja does it so beautifully. Lovely and bubbly. An absolute delight.

I am uploading these songs, a few version songs, and several instrumentals in five back-to-back posts. The first two posts cover songs from the film. The third post contains a few version songs taken from various CD collections. The fourth post contains instrumentals from various CD collections. Finally, the fifth post consists of some more instrumentals downloaded from videos.

Here are the songs in the first post...

Concluding Songs from "Jewel Thief (1967)"...

Here are a few musical clips and the last song from the film...

Few Version Songs from "Jewel Thief (1967)"...

Here is a special of "Raat Akeli" with intros by Asha & SD and a few version songs...

Few Instrumentals of the Songs from "Jewel Thief (1967)"...

Here are a few instrumentals, all from various CD collections, of the songs from the film...

More Instrumentals of the Songs from "Jewel Thief (1967)"...

Here are a few more instrumentals (from various videos) of the songs from the film...

(Rajinder Krishan) Bluff Master (1963)

Shammi and Saira are back together again in this film after their thundering success of 1961 “Junglee”. Manmohan Desai, the future director of several box-office hits, wrote its screenplay and directed the film. It tells the story of a con man who cheats everyone he encounters without foreseeing what is in store for him in the future. This simple story is told with not too much to remember by except for few fine songs.

Kalyanji & Anandji were at the helm of its music. Amazingly, Laxmikant & Pyarelal, the award winning music director duo by this time, still continue to assist K&A. Even though Rafi Saab was established as Shammi’s playback voce, interestingly K&A utilize talents of different singers for Shammi in this film. These include Hemantda, Mukeshji, Rafi Saab, and Shamshad Begum! Yes, Shamshadji. She lent her voice when Shammi dons a woman’s attire to participate in a qawwali. It was not funny to watch Shammi as a female.

My favorite songs in this film include Hemantda’s “Aye Dil” and Rafi Saab’s “Govinda Aala”. Here are these and other songs from the film…

(Shailendra) Shiv Parvati (1962)

This film was written and produced by the actor Trilok Kapoor who played Shiva. He was the younger brother of Prithviraj. Even though he acted in nearly 130 movies, he is not as well-known as his famous brother. Trilokji came into the films with “Char Darvesh” in 1933. He made his niche acting mainly in mythological movies. The 1950 “Har Har Mahadev” got him recognition as Lord Shiva. He played Shiva and was paired in 18 films with Nirupa Roy playing Parvati. Kapoor also worked as an assistant director and sang in a couple of films.

1962 must have been a banner year for the music director S.N. Tripathiji. This film, like this year’s Tripathiji’s other classic contribution “Sangeet Samrat Tansen”, will be remembered for its beautiful songs. Tripathiji also directed the film and had a prominent role as “Daksha” in it. Coming back to the songs of this film, I just can’t say enough. Of the 13 songs in the film Asha renders her voice to eight of them. Six beautiful solos, and two lovely duets, one with Geetaji and the other with her younger sis Usha. I heard these songs over and over again. Just don’t seem to get enough of them.

Incidentally the quality of almost all songs is very good. There is an occasional static here and there but overall they are all in good shape. I almost debated whether to generate them using lower bit rates but decided against it. Many of these songs came from part of a VCD I found online. It was of 63 minutes duration, starting from the titles. Even though video quality of the film was only fair, the audio was surprisingly good. The other songs came from various video clips and some from the members of the Forum (thank you). I believe I have all the songs except for one.

I am uploading these songs in two back-to-back posts. I am missing Ranu Mukerjee’s song “Sabhi Ki Prabhu” (details are given in the second post). I think this is available but I could not get a copy of it. I am requesting our Forum members to share it with rest of us if they can. My many thanks in anticipation.

Here are all six solos of Asha, in captivatingly mesmerizing beautiful vocals, in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Shiv Parvati (1962)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this beautiful album. Please note that I am missing one song, "Sabhi ki Prabhu". I am requesting our members to share this song if they can. Thank you very much.

Here are the songs...

(Anand Bakshi) Dushmun (1971)

This is one of the bettrer movies of Rajesh Khanna. He gave a splendid performance as an arrogant and reckless driver who slowly transforms into a caring and dependable human being. Most of the screen time was devoted to him. Meena Kumari was there, in one of her last roles, but she hardly had anything to do. Then there was Mumtaz. Her character was introduced more than an hour into the film. Except for a few songs she did not have much to do. So Rajesh had to carry the entire film. He did this very convincingly.

The movie boasts several veteran actors. These include Abhi Bhattacharya, Anwar Hussain, Asit Sen, Johnny Walker, Kanhaiya Lal, Maruti, Murad, Nana Palsikar, Rehman, Sajjan, K.N. Singh and Tiwari. But they all had smaller roles except for Kanhaiya Lal. For a change he did not play a negative character.

The songs of the film were popular. Yet I thought they did not scale up to the heights the movie has achieved. However, LP and Bakshi Saab come up with a gem of a song in Kishoreda’s unforgettable solo, “Vaada Tera Vaada”. It was superbly sung by Kishoreda. Rajesh Khanna on whom the song was picturized was simply magnificent; roguish and charming at the same time, in enacting it.

Here is this and other songs from the film…

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Rajkumar (1964)

In 50’s and 60’s many movies became very popular strictly on the basis of beautiful music. This is one of those. There is not much one can write about it except its unforgettable music and beautiful Sadhana. Apart from its leading pair Sadhana & Shammi, there were several big names attached to this movie. Its story was written by Manmohan Desai, future producer and director of several blockbusters. Ramanand Sagar wrote its screenplay and dialogues. Sagar shot to fame later with the trend setting TV series on “Ramayan”. He followed it by producing and directing several feature films. Prithviraj Kapoor was roped in to play the king. But he hardly had any screen time to exhibit histrionics.

The movie was a huge hit thanks to all the hummable songs composed by the music director duo Shankar & Jaikishan. They had their regular assistants helping them, in Dattaram & Sebastian D’Souza. My favorite song of the film is Rafi Saab’s mesmerizingly beautiful and mellifluous solo, “Iss Rang Badalti Duniya Mein”. Hasrat Saab’s lyrics enrich the song making it memorable and heart warming.

I am uploading this and the rest of the songs and a few version songs in three back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

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

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

A Few Version Songs from "Rajkumar (1964)"...

Here are a few version songs of the popular songs from the film...

sangeet ka safar
thanks post this songs
dhall

You are very welcome Dhallji. Cheers.

(Majrooh) Patthar ke Sanam (1967)

This movie deals with a love triangle where two women fall for the same guy. It involves a convoluted story line with a few twists coming at the end of the movie.

LP seems to be going through the motions in composing music except for Rafi Saab’s title song. Most of the songs seem to have heard before, as LP recycle some of their own hit songs. I am uploading all songs from the film, plus a couple of version songs and also a pair of instrumentals in two back-to-back posts.

Here are the songs in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Patthar ke Sanam (1967)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this film. I am also including a couple of version songs and a couple of instrumentals.

Here are these...

(Rajinder Krishan) Ghar Basake Dekho (1963)

This family drama was directed by redoubtable Kishore Sahu. The same year he also directed another family drama “Grihasti”. It was a huge hit but “Ghar” did not pan out. The main reason was that there was no novelty in the story. One can tell what happens next in almost every scene.

There were couple of things that made the movie slightly different from others that have similar familiar themes. One was the performance of Mahmood. Here he played a straight man, not a comedian. He did an excellent job of it. The second thing was that Savithri, one of greatest actresses of Indian cinema, and who acted in nearly 250 films mostly in Tamil and Telugu in 50’s and 60’s was introduced in this film to the Hindi speaking audience. She also had the top billing in the film. Even though she has considerable amount of screen time, her talent as a serious actress was not exploited. A website dedicated to her films can be found at the following location: www.savithri.info

Another major disappointment with the film was its music. Most of Sahu’s films have good songs in them. But here, usually reliable Chitraguptji lets you down.

Here are the songs from this film…

(Shailendra) Soorat aur Seerat (1962)

This film was a home production of Nutan. Her husband Rajanish Bahl directed this film. This was the only film that he directed. I was not able to procure any DVD of this movie.

It seems like there are only four songs in this film. I am uploading all these here. Roshan Saab excels in at least two of these songs. The solos by Mukeshji and Lataji stand out.

Rajesh Roshan, son of Roshan Saab, based his composition for the song “Ye Bandhan” in the 1995 hit “Karan Arjun” on the tune of the flute solo of “Bahut Diya”.

Influenced by Ray’s films, the director Bahl decided to have his heroine of the film, his wife Nutan, appear in the entire movie without any makeup.

Incidentally the pictures of Nutan you see at the bottom of the table below are her other various films and not from this movie.

Here are the songs from this film…

(Anand Bakshi) Haathi Mere Saathi (1971)

It is simply amazing to me that this movie was such a huge box-office hit. It was made by the South Indian producer Chinnappa Thevar from a Tamil film called “Deiva Cheiyal”. The Hindi film was directed by his brother Thirumugam. When all said and done, no other film made in South came close to the money this movie made until then.

With Rajesh Khanna riding an unprecedented popularity, Thevar decided to make a movie with him. He offered Rajesh an enormous amount of salary, hitherto unheard of such remunerations. Rajesh apparently was in the middle of buying a house and was cash strapped when this offer came. Only thing was Rajesh did not like its screenplay. He approached Salim and told him the predicament he was in. He wanted Salim to straighten the screenplay for some sum and promised them that they will be credited. Salim agreed to do it and decided to take Javed Akhtar as his partner to come up with the screenplay. That was how the Salim-Javed pair came about. They went onto create history by writing stories, screenplays, dialogues for many future box-office hits.

I am uploading all songs from this film, a few music clips, and a couple of version songs in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Haathi Mere Saathi (1971)"...

Here are a few music clips from the film and a couple of version songs...

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Sangam (1964)

This movie is an example of the magic of Raj Kapoor. He takes an ordinary story and turns it into a blockbuster. In 60’s decade only one other film was able to top the money this film made. It was Asif’s magnificent romantic tale of Anarkali, “Mughal-E-Azam” that was released in 1960. “Sangam” was photographed in dazzling Technicolor with choice locations. It was the first movie to be shot abroad. Some of the locations include England, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Almost 45 minutes of the movie that was of nearly 4 hours in length was shot outside of India. Thus Raj started a trend that is in full vogue today. It had magnificent music by the incomparable duo Shankar & Jaikishan. It had a pretty lady in the lead role. Vyjayanti Mala never looked more gorgeous and camera was in love with her and captured her in her complete glory. You mix all this into a potion and that spells movie magic. Those are some of the reasons why Raj Saab was called a “Master Showman”.

Besides acting in the movie, Raj also produced it, edited it, and directed it. Apparently Raj waited to make this movie for a long time. When he decided to make it, he had Dilip Kumar in mind as part of the love triangle. Dilip didn't forget what happened with Mehboob Khan's "Andaz (1949)". Also, Vyjayanti Mala who was one of Dilip’s favorite heroines, was slowly drifting away from him. Raj recognizing this immediately had her sign to play his leading lady in the movie. The net result was that Dilip decided to not accept the offer. The role eventually went to Rajendra Kumar.

Raj earlier starred with Vyjayanti in “Nazrana (1961)” which enjoyed only a limited success. But opposite Vyjayanti’s youthful looking figure, Raj looked old (ironically the hit song from this movie itself “Main Kaa Karoon Ram Mujhe Buddha Mil Gaya” sounds so appropriate here), completely out of shape, and even appeared tired in some of the scenes.

Like any Raj’s movie, this movie also has melodious songs. Each of them became very popular. S&J had their usual assistants in Dattaram & Sebastian. My song of the album is Mukeshji’s “Dost Dost Naa Raha”. Most of the songs have music attached to them, either preceding them or following them, or sometimes both. I wanted to capture S&J’s music in its entirety wherever appropriate.

I am uploading all songs from the film (Posts 1 & 2), few music clips (Post 3), some specials and version songs (Post 4), and several instrumentals (Posts 5 & 6). Here is the first part of the songs starting in the next post…

Songs from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 1

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

Concluding Songs from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 2

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

A Few Music Clips from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 3

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

Few Specials Related to Songs from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 4

Here are a few specials and version songs related to the popular songs from "Sangam"...

Few Instrumentals of the Songs from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 5

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

Few More Instrumentals of the Songs from "Sangam (1964)" - Post 6

In this last post, I am including few more instrumentals of the songs from this film...

(Majrooh) Shagird (1967)

This film was produced by Subodh Mukherjee. This was his third successful film with Saira Banu in the lead. It started with the 1961 super hit “Junglee” in which Miss Banu was introduced. It was followed by another hit, the 1964 “April Fool”. Then came this 1974 film that was also a hit. This comedy for which Subodhji wrote the story and screenplay was great until last 30 minutes of the film. The fun was spoiled by unnecessary crime and unwanted action in the end.

Apart from its tame ending, for me another major disappointment was Saira Banu’s performance. All she does is shriek and giggle. But when this is done over and over again it became boring. For this performance she earned a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. Imagine recognizing something like this type of acting.

Gulzarji shared dialogue writing with Vishwamitra Adil.

All songs from this film became very popular. Songs sung by Lataji are excellent. “Dil-Vil Pyaar-Vyaar” was a chartbuster but the other solos by Lataji “Kaanha” and “Ruk Jaa” are actually more melodious. I am uploading these and other songs from the film plus a few instrumentals in three back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Shagird (1967)"...

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

Few Instrumentals of the Songs from "Shagird (1967)"...

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

(Rajinder Krishan) Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963)

This movie was loosely based on the much publicized case of Nanavati, a Sindhi naval officer, and Ahuja, a Parsi businessman. Nanavati was accused of murdering Ahuja because of the affair he was having with his Anglo-Indian wife. The case became much sensationalized as the editor of the weekly magazine "Blitz", R.K. Karanjia took it personally supporting Nanavati's release. Nanavati was found guilty of the murder as charged and was eventually sentenced to jail. This was the last jury trial in India. Soon after this the President of India pardoned Nanavati thus pleasing both Parsi and Sindhi communities. Because of the inconsistencies of a jury trial, the Indian Government decided to abandon its practice altogether. Nanavatis decided to leave India.

In this movie Sunil played the role of Nanavati. Beautiful Leela Naidu played his wife. Rehman gave an admirable performance as Ahuja. Half way through making this movie producer ran out of money and decided to abandon the project. But Sunil came to the rescue. He bought the movie rights and went on to finish and release it under his own banner of Ajanta Arts. This would be his maiden production.

In spite of all the publicity the real incident generated, it was expected that movie will do well. But it only enjoyed limited success. Even the beautiful music composed by Ravi didn’t help the cause. One of the major problems was that the chemistry between Naidu and Dutt was never established. Also, most of their scenes together were shot in dark. The director R.K. Nayyar told the story in a series of flashbacks with more than half of the movie time spent in the court room. One of the highlights of the film was that two great veteran actors Motilal (as the Public Prosecutor) and Ashok Kumar (as the Defense Attorney) had an opportunity to show why they were able to reach the status they enjoyed from the fans.

Incidentally, Gulzarji remade this story in 1973 as “Achanak”. Most recently, the film “Rustom” released in 2016, also was based on the same story. “Rustom” was the only film that was a success.

All songs from “Yeh Rastey” became huge hits. All solos by Asha and Rafi Saab and that beautiful duet by Asha and Rafi, "Yeh Khaamoshiyaan", are standouts of this album.

I am uploading below all songs in two back-to-back posts. Here is a description of the songs in the first post and the songs themselves...

Concluding Songs from "Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963)"...

Here are the rest of the songs and a couple of music clips from the music director Ravi Saab's crowning achievement...

(Shailendra) Bandini (1963)

As one critic put it, “Bandini” is “…the collective radiance of Bimal Roy’s striking imagery, S.D. Burman’s expressive score, and Nutan’s potent realism …”. The movie was at once symbolic and layered. It revealed the facets of human nature and its unpredictable side. It displayed how blacks and whites make gray. It showed the momentary rage of insanity. It demonstrated the resolve for life renewal with full of promise and hope.

Bimal Roy who had Nutan in his previous classic “Sujata (1959)” waited for her to come back from her “retirement” to act in “Bandini”. Nutan took a leave from acting to have a baby and was in no mood to come back to resume her acting career in the movies. But Bimalda’s persuasion paid off. And what a glorious come back it was. Nutan gave one of the greatest performances of her life in breathing life into the title role of a woman that had many vibrant shades. She brought a kind of moving restraint and a delicate dignity with such powerful and compelling touch to the role that was neither theatrical nor overdramatic. It was at once subtle and gracefully poetic. Nutan demonstrated why she was one of the great consummate actresses who knew how to be a master of the power of histrionics and how she had complete control over it. This was one of the most understated and silently strong performances of any actresses of our time.

The movie was based on a book by Jarasandha. He was a former jail superintendent and published several stories based on his prison experience.

Bimalda who was famous for making films based less on melodrama and more on situations does this masterfully. Yes, a master raconteur. Bimalda was never overpowering with his narrative and moved through the entire movie in an easy engrossing way. He presented the entire movie from the woman’s point of view. Thus we see Nutan in most of the scenes in the movie. Incidentally, even though more movies were produced under Bimalda’s home banner, this was the last movie he directed.

The mood of the stark nature of the prison life is brilliantly captured in glorious black and white photography by the cameraman Kamal Bose. Bimalda, who himself started as a photographer, knew how to get the best from this cameramen. Here Bose responded brilliantly. His camera captured the vacuous stillness of prison life with its rich tonal quality in an unforgettable way.

Gulzar made debut as a lyricist with the song “Mere Gora Rang Lei Le” in this movie. It is a beautiful romantic song brilliantly sung by Lataji and melodiously composed by Burmanda. (See the special version of the song I am attaching where Gulzar speaks about his debut as a lyricist.) Interestingly, Gulzar, who also was an assistant director to the movie, initially tuned down the offer from Bimalda to write the song because he wanted to be a director. It was Burmanda’s persuasion that made Gulzar to change his mind and write the song. Rest of the songs were all written by the great Shailendra. The quality of all the songs is embellished with the richness of the poetry.

The music of this movie was another masterful achievement from Burmanda. His last association with Bimalda in “Sujata” produced some of the most melodious songs he ever composed. This time Burmanda was up to the task again. The songs from this movie are rated as some of his best work ever. That itself says a lot because most of Burmanda’s work had this his trademark of melody exuding sweetness. The songs of this film remain as sweet and melodious as they were when they became originally available. Every song, especially songs by Lata, Asha, Mukesh, and Burmanda himself speak volumes. Apart from the Lata’s song mentioned earlier there are several that are worth mentioning. There is a haunting song by Mukesh “O Jaane Waale”. Mukesh sang for Burmanda after a long time. He used this opportunity to deliver a great song. There is a song sung touchingly by Asha, “Ab Ke Baras”, which achingly expresses a longing to go to her parents’ place. Asha also has another beautiful song in “O Panchhi Pyaare” reflecting the solemn solitude of the prison life. The other song by Lata “Jogi Jab Se” is another beautifully sung romantic piece. Then there is that great song by Burmanda himself “O Re Maajhi”. It was picturized using the vastness of water that is dark, deep, still, chilly, and lonely. This song brings the movie to a closure in Burmanda’s rich and distinctive voice. R.D. Burman was the assistant music director.

Apart from Nutan, the movie also starred Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra. Both male roles were comparatively minor. Dadamoni walked through his role with professional aplomb. But this is the movie in which the up and coming Dharmendra got noticed. Under Bimalda’s great direction, Dharmendra gave a restrained and dignified performance. Not until Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Anupama (1966)”, Dharmendra’s this talent was ever ably exploited on the screen. Unfortunately, these type of movies in which Dharmendra acted one can only count them on fingers, that too probably on one hand.

The movie won several major awards and rightfully so. It won the National Award for Best Feature Film. It walked away with all major Filmfare awards. These include Best Picture, Best Director for Bimal Roy, Best Actress for Nutan, Best Cinematographer for Kamal Bose, Best Sound for Billimoria, and Best Story for Jarasandha.

I am uploading all songs from the film, a couple of specials, and a few instrumentals in two back-to-back posts.

Here are the songs from the film starting in the next post…