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]

Kashmir Ki Kali (1964)

This was the first Hindi movie in which Sharmila appeared. It seemed like Shammi was starring opposite newcomers and making hit movies one after another. This was no exception. It was shot in its entirety in Kashmir. It has some melodious tunes by O.P. Almost all of the songs are still popular today.

It seems that in an interview O.P. opined that if there is no Mohd. Rafi, then there is no O.P. Nayyar. This is an amazing admission. O.P. was not talking about Asha, but Rafi Saab. When you hear some of the songs Rafi sang in this movie, you can see why O.P. felt that way. Such a great tribute to such an exceptionally gifted singer ... Of course, as usual, singing for O.P. Asha is in her element as well.

There are quite a few songs in this movie. I am uploading them in two back-to-back posts. The "Humming" of Asha was contributed by the Forum members. The extended version of the song "Meri Jaan Balle Balle" is a DVD rip.

Here is the first set of songs ...