Shair Aur Sargam

(Javed Akhtar) Saaz (1998)

This movie of two sisters with awesome singing talent tells about their love-hate relationship. Apparently part of their story is based on the real life sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Here the movie is told mostly on younger sister’s recollections (Shabana is the younger sister and Aruna Irani is the older) and her life experiences. The movie was produced and directed by Sai Paranjape, one of the brilliant minds of Hindi and Marathi cinema and TV.

Sai’s father, Sleptzoff, was a Russian painter and mother Shakuntala was an actor of Hindi and Marathi films. Her parents separated when Sai was barely two. As a young girl she took interest in movies and stories. She published a book when she was only eight.

Sai (see her picture below) became a popular writer by publishing many books. She directed many plays before entering the film field. One of her famous work is the award-winning film “Sparsh” released in 1980. She won three National Awards and many others including two Filmfare Awards. She is a recipient of Padma Bhushan.

This movie, “Saaz”, with four different music directors has some of the excellent music seen in films. Javed Akhtar Saab is at the top of his artistic form. He wrote exceptionally brilliant lyrics for some of the songs. There are so many of them, 15 plus, and all good ones, it is hard to single out a best one.

I am uploading all the songs from the film in three back-to-back posts. The songs from the first two posts have been available in CDs. But the songs in the third post are all from a DVD. I am not certain about the singer and music director assignments. I will be thankful to anyone from our members who can clarify this.

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

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Feb 6 2015, 09:02 AM

Saaz (1998) - Post 1 (Songs)

Here are the songs in the first post...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Dec 15 2014, 07:52 PM

Saaz (1998) - Post 2 (Songs)

Here are the next set of songs from this fine album...

Concluding Songs from "Saaz (1998)" - Post 3

Here is the final set of songs from this film. I have question marks on some of the entries because I am not sure whether the credited person is the correct one or not. I will be thankful to anyone who can help resolve this issue.

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

(Majrooh) Kal Hamara Hai (1959)

With such a great title for a movie I was full of anticipation to watch a decent film. But alas. I was very disappointed. It was simply a total nonsensical movie. Even Madhubala’s dual role, one as a simple and quiet woman, and the other as an ambitious socialite did not help the proceedings. What lifted the movie from its mediocrity was its fine music. The DVD listed only Chitragupt as the music director. But various sources I have consulted give credit to Gajanan for two songs. I marked these two songs with a question mark.

Here are the songs from the film…

dear Swarapriya
yes these 2 songs which have labelled are correctly composed by gajanan as per HFGK.Thanks

My Dear Taiyab,

Thank you very much for confirming this.

Cheers,
S

(Rajinder Krishan) Aasha (1957)

M.V. Raman who introduced Vyjayanti Mala in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi films, edited, produced, and directed this film, “Aasha” that starred Mala with Kishoreda. Raman directed eight Hindi films. Kishoreda was in seven of them. These films include “Bahar (1951)”,”Ladki (1953)”,”Pehli Jhalak (1955)”, “Bhai-Bhai (1956)”, “Aasha (1957)”, “Chandan (1958)”, and “Payal ki Jhankar (1968)”. Incidentally, Asha Parekh made a brief appearance (limited to two scenes) in “Aasha” and was credited simply as Asha. This was before her stardom in the 1959 hit film “Dil Deke Dekho”. Asha is also in another of Raman productions, “Jwala”, which starred Madhubala. That film even though started in the late 50’s, did not see completion until 1971. This was mainly due to Madhubala’s prolonged illness that led to her untimely death. Madhubala’s sister, Chanchal, posed as her double to finish the film.

“Aasha”, which was shot partly in color, became a hit mainly because of the songs in it, especially the song “Eena Meena Deeka”, that is popular even today. This was one of the first Rock N Roll songs to hit an Indian screen and it became an overnight rage. It has three versions in the film, two by Asha Bhosle and one by Kishoreda.

The origins of the song “Eena Meena Deeka” make a fascinating reading. Apparently the beginning of the song was inspired by some kids who were playing outside Ramchandra’s home. They were playing a game chanting “Eenie Meenie Minie Moe”. Collaborating with his assistant John Gomes, Ramchandra came up with the word “Eena Meena Deeka, Daai Dame Nika”. Gomes was a Goan. Goan musicians in the Hindi film industry were famous for creating rhythmic sounds for songs. Gomes spoke Konknani and came up with the next set of words, “Maaka Naaka Naaka” (meaning “I don’t want”). Thus the beginnings of a hit song started.

Here is another interesting note. In his 1980 film “Karz” its director Subhash Ghai used a similar ploy that was employed in this film to nab the culprit by enacting a play in the end depicting true incidents.

I am uploading all versions of this fun song and the rest in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

Concluding Songs from "Aasha (1957)"...

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

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Dec 19 2014, 09:52 PM

Very nice uploads Swarapriya, thank you for sharing.

Thank you very much Bhai Saab for the kind words. Cheers.

S

(Shailendra) Chhoti Bahen (1959)

This was the second Hindi film under his independent production company, L.V. Prasad, producer and director of this film made. First one was the 1957 film “Sharada”. Like most of his films, this movie was a family drama. Also, like most of his films, it was based on a Telugu film.

The story of the film unfolds as the central character in the film, “Chhoti Bahen”, played finely by Nanda suffers an accident and loses her eye sight. Talking about blindness, Prasad, a recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, after making many huge hit films, established in 1987 an eye institute called “L.V. Prasad Eye Institute” which is active even today. Their work is similar to that of the widely known “Sankara Eye Foundation” founded in 1998.

“Chhoti Bahen” became a huge hit thanks to the outstanding music by Shankar & Jaikishan. All the songs were chart busters. The movie garnered several Filmfare Award nominations even though it did not win any. I am uploading all songs from the film and some specials in two back-to-back posts. Here is the first set of songs…

Concluding Songs from "Chhoti Bahen (1959)"...

Here are some specials of the songs from this film...

(Shakeel) Phool Aur Patthar (1966)

This was a star making vehicle for Dharmendra. Interestingly he was the second choice for the role as Sunil Dutt was not immediately available to play the lead. Dharamji seized the opportunity to scorch the screen with a firebrand performance. He brought the ruggedness and the manliness with his personality that ignited the screen in several scenes. Much before Salman Khan made it popular to take off his shirt to show off his physique, even if it is not necessary to do so, Dharmendra did this in this movie in an unforgettable scene to cover a shivering Meena Kumari.

O.P. Ralhan, who wrote the story, screenplay, produced and directed this film, also acted in it. While making the movie he had differences that evolved into friction with Dharmendra. Dharam thought Ralhan was arrogant to work with and he almost quit the movie in protest. Many think that this was because Dharam was romantically involved with Meena as she was going through a rough time in her marriage that director thought may not bode well for his movie. However better senses prevailed. In the end when the movie was completed it became a sensational hit. Dharam was nominated for the Best Actor Filmfare Award for his performance. However, he lost to Dev Anand who took the award for the fine movie "Guide".

The music by Ravi also helped the movie's popularity immensely. All of Asha's numbers became very popular as was Rafi Saab's solo "Mere Dil Ke Andar".

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

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Dec 23 2014, 09:01 PM

Concluding Songs from "Phool Aur Patthar (1966)"...

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