Muse & Music, Music of the Golden Age Options

[swarapriya]

Muse & Music

Most film loving folks think that the music made for films from 50’s through 80’s represents golden age of music. This may be debatable. However, one thing is certain. Several great musicals emerged during this period and we saw the rise of many singing legends during this time.

One way to take a closer look at the music of the Golden Age is to look into the period through the female stars who were popular in this time frame. Because it is just about impossible to cater for all the stars, I came to a conclusion that probably the following 12 stars will sufficiently represent movies that are part of this golden era. These are:

Asha Parekh
Hema Malini
Mala Sinha
Mumtaz
Nutan
Rekha
Sadhana
Saira Banu
Sharmila Tagore
Vyjayanti Mala
Waheeda Rehman
Zeenat Aman

Others may come up with a different list. But for the music of the Golden Age I want to share with our fellow members these stars probably make a fair representation.

Let us look at filmographies of these actresses and see if we can come to some conclusions. I will present the filmographies in the order listed above.

[swarapriya]

Hema Malini

Hema Malini first appeared in a dance sequence in a Telugu movie. She tried her hand to enter Tamil film field. Director Sridhar (of "Nazarana", "Dil Ek Mandir", and "Pyar Kiye Ja") who considered her briefly for his film rejected her saying that she does not have what it takes to be an actress. Later she got her break with “Sapnon Ka Saudagar” opposite Raj Kapoor. After that she never looked back.

Her major costar in her heydays was Dharmendra. They apparently appeared together in 38 movies! Eventually Hema married Dharmendra rejecting proposals from other actor suitors Jeetendra and Sanjeev Kumar.

Many of the movies in which Hema starred made money and several of them were huge musical hits. She was quite busy as an actress. Here is the first part of her filmography …