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]

Mumtaz

It is amazing that Mumtaz who later in her career made so many hit movies struggled in small roles and acted in many forgettable movies. She started as an extra and during her struggling years she starred opposite Dara Singh in as many as 16 films! Her major break came with “Mere Sanam” in a major supporting role. Later she acted opposite Dilip in “Ram Aur Shyam”. However it was “Do Raaste” where she starred opposite Rajesh Khanna that brought her finally richly deserved recognition. She was on top for nearly 12 years until she decided to quit.

Mumtaz made many movies during her early struggling career. But she will be well remembered for her contributions made in later films. Almost all of these were musical hits as well. Here is first part of her filmography …