Bolly Songs & Movies: Birth Anniversary

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Anarkali was a Musical Milestone for C Ramchandra

C. Ramchandra's biggest success as a music composer was the 1953 movie Anarkali, though he had already tasted success with Shehnai (1947), Sargam(1950), Samadhi(1950) and Albela(1951). The film was a Musical Hit and went on to celebrate Golden Jubilee. It was the highest-grossing film of 1953 and again ranks 2nd in the top 25 Best Musical Films of all times according to IMDb.

The Music direction of this film was given to the composer Vasant Prakash, who was the younger brother of famous composer Khemchan Prakash. He even composed a song “Aa jaane wafa aa” penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar and sung by Geeta Dutt. Basant Prakash had major health problems after having recorded this one song with Geeta Dutt. C. Ramchandra took over as the composer. The film had a total of 11 songs, with 10 composed by C Ramchandra and 1 by Basant Prakash.

This film was a musical hit. The first-ever 'Binaca Geetmala' Annual Program of 1953 - saw "Ye Zindagi usiki hai" catapulted to the No. 1 position. This song came in parts in the film. The first two stanzas were when the lovers happy in each others company. The 3 rd stanza - jo dil yahan na mil sake signalled their despair and separation, while the last 2 were of unrequited love when Anarkali was being cemented into a wall on all sides. Lata Mangeshkar gave her soul in singing this song.

Out of 11 songs, only one song was a duet "Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar. Hemant Da had 2 solos in this film , recall the song "Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi Hoti Hai'.There were other beautiful songs too other than the above . 1. Aaja ab to aaja [Lata Mangeshkar- lyricist Shaillendra]; 2. Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai [Lata Mangeshkar] 3. Muzse mat puch mere ishq mein kya rakkha hai [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 4. Muhabbat mein aise kadam dagmagaye [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 5. Dua kar ghame dil khuda se dua kar [Lata Mangeshkar].

Track #	Song	Singer(s)	Lyricist	Music Composer
1	"Aa Jaan e Wafaa"^[3]	Geeta Dutt	Jan Nissar Akhtar	Vasant Prakash
2	"Aaja Ab To Aaja"^[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Shailendra	C. Ramchandra
3	"Mujhse Mat Poochh"	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
4	"Dua Kar Gham-E-Dil"	Lata Mangeshkar	Shailendra	C. Ramchandra
5	"Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag"^[3]	Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
6	"Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan Hai"^[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Hasrat Jaipuri	C. Ramchandra
7	"Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi"^[3]	Hemant Kumar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
8	"O Aasman Wale Shikwa Hai Zindagi Ka"	Lata Mangeshkar	Hasrat Jaipuri	C. Ramchandra
9	"Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai"^[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
10	"Ae Baad E Saba Zara Ahista Chal"	Hemant Kumar
11	"Mohabbat Mein Aise Kadam Dagamagae"	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan

Song of Anarkali 1953

Musical Instruments Played by Raj Kapoor on Screen

Raj Kapoor had always been interested in music. He was classically trained and capable of playing several instruments reasonably well. He was good in Tabla and Harmonium, he was also excellent in Piano. He played different instruments on screen, the first time he played an instrument on screen was in a song of Barsaat 1949.

Kindly recall the iconic pose where Raj Kapoor holds a violin in one hand and Nargis in the other hand. On my research, I have found more than a dozen instruments were played by him on screen.

He was seen playing the Violin in this song, though he did not sing but played the violin only. If you watch the song 'Mujhe Kisi Se Pyar Ho Gaya' he looked so realistic as if he is actually playing it. .

Song of Barsaat 1949

The next year once again he was seen playing the flute in a song 'Sun bairi balam sach bol re' from Bawre Nain (1950), he was playing the instrument only.

Song of Bawre Nain 1950

The piano remained the favourite instrument of Bollywood Films. In almost every film it was seen in the 50s or 60s films. In many hit songs, Piano was essential Prop. In this song 'Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara' from Anhonee 1952, Raj Kapoor is singing and playing the Piano.

Song of Anhonee 1952

Raj Kapoor plays 'Daph' in this very popular song of Shree 420 (1955)film.

Song of Shree 420 (1955)

Another song from the same film 'Shree 420' Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua, Raj Kapoor can be seen playing the Penny Whistle

Song of Shree 420 (1955)

In 3 songs of Shree 420, we can see Raj Kapoor playing three different instruments. In this song, 'Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh' he plays the Trumpet for a few seconds.

Song of Shree 420 (1955)

The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument from the Indian subcontinent, In this song, Raj Kapoor plays the Sarangi

Song of Parvarish 1958

There is another song from Parvarish where he plays the Tabla. He displays his real skills in this song. He plays the Tabla with his elbow also.

Song of Parvarish 1958

Another rustic instrument played in a song of the 1959 film Do Ustad. Raj Kapoor playing the been in this song. Generally Been is used by the snake charmers.The Been music was very popular in the 50s, especially after the popularity of the song from Nagin in 1954. Recall the song 'Man Dole Tan Dole'

Song of Do Ustad 1959

'Daph' was the favourite instrument of Raj Kapoor. He played this instrument again in the Songs of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Raj Kapoor plays 'Dhol' in the song 'Yeh To Kaho Kaun Ho Tum' from 'Aashiq' released in 1962

Song of Aashiq 1962

Sangam (1964) film had 3 songs in which he played 3 different instruments. He plays the Piano in the song 'Dost Dost Na Raha', Piano Accordion in 'Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega' and Bag Pipe in 'Bol Radha Bol Sangam'

Song of Sangam 1964

In the 1967 film 'Deewana', he played Shehnai in almost all the songs

Song of Deewana 1967

Dilip Kumar- Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri

Recall this song of Naya Daur(1957), became a rage those days. This song was specially written by Sahir Ludhianvi for Dilip Kumar. Sahir used the word 'Zulfay' with reference to Dilip Kumar's mop of hair which was attracting attention right from his earlier films.

In the early years, many critics used to make fun of his unruly hairstyle falling on his forehead. But the same hairstyle became a fashion later. His fans used to adore it, they love to blow the hair in the wind. There as an incident in 1954 when one day Dilip Kumar led a procession of many filmstars on the street of Mumbai to raise fund for the flood victims, he discovered by the end of the day, they received hundreds of combs along with money.

In the 70s Alim Hakim was a celebrity hairstylist. He used to cut Dilip Kumar's hair. He was at Hotel TAJ, Mumbai as a hairstylist and later started his salon by the name of HAKIM’S. His clientele included who’s who of the film industry and icons from different walks of the world. From Dilip Kumar to Sunil Dutt to Anil Kapoor to Bachchans all were his clients.

In the 50s and 60s, Dilip Kumar was a fashion role model of India and Pakistan. Many of the youth in Pakistan used to have a Dilip Kumar hairstyle. There was an exciting story of a young boy of Lahore who walked to a very famous studio and asked the famous photographer to click his photograph similar to the photograph of Dilip Kumar which he was carrying with him.

The famous photographer gently patted on his cheek and said ' I can click the similar photo only if you have the same features.

Song of Naya Daur 1957

BAPPI LAHIRI- The Gold Man of Bollywood

Bappi has his own unmatched personal style. He is the perfect blend of East and West, and his wardrobe ranges from the traditional Indian kurta and sherwani to the western sweatshirts and blazers. He is fond of wearing pieces of jewellery that represent significant symbols in his life. Bappi is famous throughout India for his trademark gold ornaments and sunglasses.

Talking about his love for the yellow metal, Bappi Da said in an interview, “I have everything in gold, right from my glasses, rings to my watches and all my ornaments. Mere jaisa ornaments aaj tak koi bhi nahin pehenta hai. Main gold ko lucky manta hoon. I believe that whatever work I have done in the last 50 years and I am still doing, is because of the grace of the Goddess Lakshmi.”

Bappi Lahiri was born in Calcutta, West Bengal on 27th Nov1952 into a family with a rich tradition in classical music. He began to play the tabla at the tender age of three. Even at that tender age, Bappi showed signs of greatness as he played the tabla with the proficiency of an experienced professional.

His father, Aparesh Lahiri was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri was a musician and a singer who was well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. His parents trained him in every aspect of music. Kishore Kumar was his maternal uncle.

Bappi as Child

Bappi as Teenager

At the age of 19, he became an independent composer in a Bengali film. His first Hindi film as a composer was 'Nanna Shikari' released in 1973 but the film which established him in Bollywood was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975),

He shot to fame in the 80s and 90s with foot-tapping disco numbers. He introduced Vijay Benedict and Sharon Prabhakar to the Bollywood and paved the path to fame for Alisha Chinai and Usha Uthup through his compositions.He is also known for soundtracks like Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi

Along with Biddu, Bappi popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema with an Indian flavour. Most of his songs werer rendered by singers such as Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle In 2011, he sang the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar. In late 2016, Bappi Lahiri lent his voice to the character of Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney's 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film Moana; he himself also composed and sang a song in the film