Shair Aur Sargam, Songs From Movies of 7 Great Lyricists Options

[swarapriya]

(Hasrat Jaipuri) Teesri Kasam (1966)

Here is one of the great movies of Indian cinema. Everything in this movie comes together as a tranquil distilled morning of a beautifully silent village. The acting, the story telling, the direction, the lyrics, the songs, and the whole gamut makes this one an outstanding achievement.

Shailendra bought rights to make this movie from a short story "Maare Gaye Gulfaam" by Phanishwar Nath Renu. He was fascinated with the two principle characters in the story and was willing to spend whatever he has to see the movie made. Shailendra originally had Meena Kumari and Mahmood in the roles that were eventually played by Waheeda and Raj respectively. He took an unknown Basu Bhattacharya, who was an assistant to the great Bimal Roy, to direct the movie. The simplicity and the lyrical nature of the movie has the imprint of a Bimalda’s movies all over.

Raj was a close and good friend of Shailendra. He had this inkling that this movie was not going to fly. He advised Shailendra against making the movie. But Shailendra was obsessed to see this movie through. It was said that Raj didn't want to take any remuneration for the movie. However, at Shailendra's insistence, he took one Rupee as a token for his efforts.

Raj apparently was not too happy with the choice of Basu Bhattacharya as the director. Basu was new and Raj was irked with the way things were shaping up. In the end, this movie proved to be the greatest achievement of Basu.

The movie was originally scheduled to be shot in Bihar where the actual story takes place. But because of the dacoit problems many other sites were considered. Finally Igatpuri was selected. This is the same place where Bimalda's lyrical poem on celluloid, "Madhumati (1958)", was shot.

Both Waheeda and Raj, who appeared a bit older for the character and heavier, gave wonderful performances. The performance of Waheeda reminds one of the heights she scaled in "Pyaasa (1957)" and "Guide (1965)". Shankar and Jaikishan provided some of the best music of their lives to some magnificent lyrics written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. Their music captured the simplicity, rustic nature, sweetness, and charm of rural areas. Dattaram and Sebstian were the assistant music directors.

The male version of the song “Duniya Banaane Waale” appeared twice in the film. The second one is not different from the first one, but it is only part of it with some music associated with it. A note about the qawwaal duo Shankar & Shambhu who sang the legend of “Laila & Majnu” with Mubarak Begum. A portion of this appeared in the film earlier as part of the advertisement for the “nautankee” performance. I am uploading all of these in one of the posts.

This labor of love of Shailendra, "Teesri Kasam", when released won unanimous critical acclaim. But it was a financial disaster. Shailendra lost everything he owned. A broken man, Shailendra passed away on December 14, 1966. Ironically, December 14 also happened to be Raj's birthday.

"Teesri Kasam" won the President's Gold Medal for that year. It was also nominated for the Grand Prix award at the 1967 Moscow International Film Festival. The movie also won several awards from Bengal Film Journalists Association.

There are many songs in this album, and each one of them is a sheer beauty. I am uploading these in the first three posts. The last two posts consist of a few instrumentals of the songs from the film.

The songs start beginning with the next post…

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 1 - Songs

Here is the first portion of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 2 - Songs

Here is the next set of songs from this beautiful musical...

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 3 - Songs

Here is the last set of songs from this great film...

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 4 - Instrumentals

Here are few instrumentals of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

Teesri Kasam (1966) - Post 5 - Instrumentals

Here is the last set of instrumentals of songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

(Majrooh) Raton ka Raja (1970)

This is another horrendous movie. It wanted to be a James Bondish movie. But it does not come even close. They have one Dheeraj Kumar as the hero who seems to have no clue what acting means. Usually reliable Jeevan as a villain is attired as Hitler but does not make any impression. Shatrughan Sinha appears as a goon to the villain in an insignificant role. Looking at this it is difficult to predict that he is going to be a big star one day. RD’s music is passable with average songs but great background score. He uses saxophone extensively for the background music and to some extent even in the songs. These sounds have unmistakable footprint of the great sax player, Manohari Singh. Singhji assisted RD in many films under the name Manohari. However he was not listed in the credits of the film.

I am uploading all songs from the film in the first post. The second post contains various music clips. Here are the songs…

[swarapriya]

Few Music Clips from "Raton ka Raja (1970)"...

Here are a few music clips from this film...

[swarapriya]

(Rajinder Krishan) Brahmachari (1968)

Here is a beautiful musical from Shankar & Jaikishan. It also has a heartwarming performance by the leading man, Shammi. Then there is that electric presence of Mumtaz in a supporting role. I don't think she ever looked this slim and this pretty. During the filming of this movie, according to rumours, Shammi and Mumtaz were romantically involved. May be that showed whenever Mumtaz appeared on the screen.

This movie won several Filmfare awards. It won for the Best Film, the Best Story (Sachin Bhowmick), the Best Actor (Shammi Kapoor), the Best Music (Shankar & Jaikishan), the Best Lyrics (Shailendra for "Main Gaaoon"), and the Best Male Playback Singer (Mohd. Rafi Saab for "Dil Ke Jharonkon Mein").

There are seven songs in this film, all sung by Rafi Saab. Six of them are solos and one is a duet. All songs are good, but the song "Dil Ke Jharoke Mein" is one of my all-time favorites of Rafi Saab. He was absolutely phenomenal and simply fabulous the way he sings this song.

Sebastian D’Souza was the assistant music director.

I will upload these songs in four back-to-back posts. The first two posts contain all the songs from the film and a few version songs by Sonu Nigam. The last two posts contain instrumentals of some of the songs from the film. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Brahmachari (1968)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this film and a couple of version songs...

[swarapriya]

Instrumentals from "Brahmachari (1968)"

Here are a few instrumentals of the song "Aaj Kal" from the film...

[swarapriya]

Few More Instrumentals from "Brahmachari (1968)"

Here are a few more instrumentals of the songs from the film...

[swarapriya]

(Shailendra) Gumnaan (1965)

All songs from this film were uploaded earlier in this very thread. They are available starting at the following location...

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...mp;#entry752608

[swarapriya]

(Anand Bakshi) Buniyaad (1972)

In this very forgettable movie there are only four songs. But two of them are simply outstanding. These are Lataji’s solo “Dard-E-Dil” and her duet with Kishoreda “Pukaaro”. My favorite is “Dard-E-Dil”. Great touching lyrics. Fine composition. Melodious rendition. I am uploading these songs, few music clips, and a couple of version songs in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post…

[swarapriya]

Few Music Clips from "Buniyaad (1972)"...

Here are a few music clips from this film...