Foot Tapping & Heart Stopping Op, The King of Rhythm Options

[swarapriya]

C.I.D. (1956)

This was the movie in which Guru Dutt, the producer, introduced Waheed Rehman to Hindi audience. She just made a sensational debut in a Telugu movie (“Rojulu Maarayi”) in South, and Guru Dutt immediately signed her for a long term contract to act in his movies. For all practical purposes this was a stunning debut. Waheeda went on to act in many successful movies and reaped many rich laurels on herway to the top.

This was the movie also in which Raj Khosla, who was assisting Guru Dutt, made a second start as a director. He was a close friend of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt. He earlier directed Dev Anand in the movie “Milap” that was a commercial failure. He got a second chance when Guru Dutt offered him to direct “C.I.D.” This time Khosla didn’t waste his opportunity. He made a great movie comparable to any crime noir thrillers of Hollywood ala Bogart. Very stylish and very suspenseful. Also to embellish this was rich music with beautiful song picturizations. Raj Khosla had training as a singer and wanted to be one when he arrived in Bombay. This background and working with Guru Dutt made him realize the importance of songs and their picturizations. The picturization of songs of “C.I.D.” are still talked as much as its music composed by the one and only O.P. Nayyar Saab.

With this movie, Guru Dutt also was sort of “paying back” his friend Dev Anand. Guru Dutt got a break as a director with Dev’s own movie “Baazi.” For a brief period in mid-50’s, Dev was going through a “lean” period and was looking for a major hit. This movie offered him that chance.

There were only a few songs in this movie, but each one of them is a marvel. The rustic charm of Shamshadji’s voice comes through in her two solos as well as the complex “Leke Pahla Pahla Pyar” song. The seductive mysticism of Geetaji comes throug in both of her duets and especially the song “Jaata Kahan Hai Diwane.” The picturization of “Leke Pahla Pahla Pyar” was just astonishing. Shakila looked very impish and beautiful in the song to Dev’s trademark stroll by the seaside promenade. This song had all of the melodic charm as it was picturized on three different singers.

Then there was Johny Walker who almost stole the show from Dev Saab. His song sung by Rafi Saab, “Yeh Hai Bombai Meri Jaan” with Geetaji is another one of those beauties (horse carriage trots again!) that is still considered a homage to the great city.

Now for details of songs and the songs themselves …

[swarapriya]

Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956)

This movie was before Shammi Kapoor shaved his mustache and established his own identity as a "Rebel" star. This was an all out comedy. It was expected because I.S. Johar was at the helm of affairs. He wrote the story, directed the movie, and had a major role in the movie. It was made by Filmistan and was a huge hit. O.P. Nayyar's music contributed strongly for the movie's commercial success.

I.S. Johar was an award winning author before he entered into the movies. Soon he established his own brand of comedy. He also acted in several English movies. These include "Harry Black and the Tiger", "Northwest Frontier", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Maya", and "Murder On The Orient Express". For "Harry Black", he received a nomination for best supporting actor from the British Academy of Films and TV Arts (BAFTA). These awards are equivalent to American Oscars in Britain. "Maya" also starred Master Sajid who was introduced by Mehboob Khan in "Mother India." After the huge success of this movie, Mehboob Saab adopted Sajid and gave him the principal starring role in his "Son of India." By the way, the movie "Maya" subsequently became a television series in USA and ran for several seasons with Sajid sharing honors with an American actor.

The famous producer and director Yash Chopra got his start with I.S. Johar. Yashji worked as an assistant director to Johar Saab before started working in the same capacity for his brother Bal Raj Chopra (B.R. Chopra). After directing few movies for his brother he started his own production company "Yash Raj Films" and has been making one popular film after another for a number of years.

The CD has eight songs. However, the song "Hum Ko Hanste Dekh Zamana Jalta Hai" appears twice on the CD. They sound identical to me. Therefore, I am uploading here only one of them. If someone is interested, I will be happy to upload the other song.

Now for details of songs and the songs themselves ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jun 24 2008, 05:50 AM

[Pratul]

Swarapriya ji,

Thanks for Hum Sab Chor Hain

[swarapriya]

Swarapriya ji,

Thanks for Hum Sab Chor Hain

You're welcome Pratulji. -S

[swarapriya]

Naya Andaz (1956)

Here is another beautiful album from the maestro O.P. Nayyar. Shamshad Begum and Kishoreda are the stars of this album with able support coming from Rafi Saab. There are some melodious duets by Shamshadji and Kishoreda, the most famous being "Mere Neendon Mein Tum".

I am uploading 11 songs here, all from CD. There is one song missing. The name of the song is displayed in red italics in the table shown below.

Now for the details of the songs and songs themselves ...

[swarapriya]

Songs Of Naya Andaz (1956) Continued ...

Now for the rest of the songs of "Naya Andaz (1956)" ...

[RakeshKumar]

swarapriya,
Thanks and heartfelt appreciation for these wonderful posts!!

[swarapriya]

swarapriya,
Thanks and heartfelt appreciation for these wonderful posts!!

Thanks Rakesh. You're doing your share by posting some of OP's best work yourself too. Cheers. -S

[swarapriya]

Naya Daur (1957)

Here is another movie for which O.P. Nayyar gave fabulous music that is at once youthful and zestful. This time he had Sahir Saab writing some of the finest lyrics. This was the first of the many movies that Sahir collaborated with Chopra brothers (Bal Raj and Yash Raj) until his death.

For this movie, originally Madhubala was cast opposite Dililp Saab. B.R. paid her advance and shot several weeks of film with her. Then the shooting shifted from Bombay to outdoors in Bhopal. This was the time when Dilip was making advances for Madhubala's affection and it was no secret in the film industry. Because of the extended weeks of shooting scheduled for Bhopal, Madhubala's father became nervous and decided to pull her off the film. Eventhough her love for Dilp was reciprocal, Madhubala decided to stick with her father's decision. Chopra sued Madhubala asking court to honor the commitment she made. But it was evident that the court was not in a hurry to make any decision soon. Chopraji went ahead and replaced Madhubala with Vyjayanti Mala. Dilip Kumar himself was called as a witness to the court that had open proceedings. He testified against Madhubala and her father. It was evident that Madhubala was about to lose the case. In the mean time the film was made, released, and became a runaway hit. There was lot of negative publicity and Madhubala's reputation tarnished and as a result she suffered severely. B.R. Chopra decided to drop the case to save the eternal beauty from further embarrassment and possible conviction.

This was BR's second movie. His first movie, "Ek Hi Raasta" was a huge success. During its jubilee celebrations, BR invited OP Saab to attend the function. One of the highlights of the evening was Punjabi folk dances and Bhangra dances. OP, who was signed to give music for BR's next film, decided to use this type of music as the main theme for the movie. No wonder "Naya Daur" heavily leans on the upbeat Punjabi music.

Akhtar Mirza, the story writer of "Naya Daur", initially approached several producers to make his story into a movie. Those decided not to touch the subject matter included Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, and Subodh Mukherjee. But when BR Chopra heard the story, he at once decided to make it into a movie.

Also, when BR Chopra approached Dilip Saab to act in the movie, he refused thinking that it will not fly. BR was coming off fresh from the success of his first movie "Ek Hi Raasta" which starred Ashok Kumar. Ashok and Dilp Kumar were good friends. Ashok Kumar heard the story and knew Chopra Saab. He pursuaded Dilipji to accept the role. Under his pursuasion, Dilipji reluctantly accepted to play the lead.

Ironically, this movie won Dilip Saab a best actor award from Filmfare. Also, the story by Akhtar Mirza also won the Filmfare award. OP Saab's music also won the best music award. This was the only Filmfare award OP won.

All songs I am upoloading here are from CD. All extended versions are courtesy of the members of the Forum. There is that horse trotting song also present in this movie, "Maang Ke Saath." Apparently there is another solo by Asha is missing. I never heard it and also it is not included in the DVD either. The details of this song are shown in red italics in the table below. If anyone of the members has it, please share with us.

Like "Mughal-E-Azam" this movie was also colorized and re-released in 2004. Whereas the former hit the boxoffice bull's eye, "Naya Daur" couldn't earn the colorization money invested.

As a bonus, I am uploading a Lataji singing OP's song! It is only a snippet, of 45 seconds duration. She sang first few lines of "Uden Jab Jab Zulfen." I am not sure who the male singer with her is. Could it be Rafi Saab?

Now for details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jun 27 2008, 09:37 AM

[swarapriya]

Songs of Naya Daur (1957) Continued ...

Here are rest of the songs of "Naya daur (1957)" ....

[Pratul]

Swaraprija ji, Excellent uploads again. Thanks.

Just a little correction, Ude Jab Jab Zulfen teri is Asha-Rafi duet, its marked as Asha solo by mistake.

[gop]

Thanks Swarapriya for one more O.P. Nayyar Classic album.

gop

This post has been edited by gop: Jun 26 2008, 11:56 AM

[swarapriya]

Swaraprija ji, Excellent uploads again. Thanks.

Just a little correction, Ude Jab Jab Zulfen teri is Asha-Rafi duet, its marked as Asha solo by mistake.

Thanks a bunch Pratul ji for finding the error. I made the correction and the modified table reflects this.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

[swarapriya]

Thanks Swarapriya for one more O.P. Nayyar Classic album.

gop

Great. Good music is bonding, isn't it?

Cheers,
Swarapriya

[swarapriya]

Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

This movie had several firsts. This was the first directorial venture for Nasir Hussain who hitherto was a writer. He worked for Filmistan's earlier hits like "Munimji" and "paying Guest". Nasir Hussain also wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues apart from directing the movie.

Another first was that it was Ameeta's turn to be a heroine. Before this she only appeared in smaller or supporting roles. The studio owner Tolaram Jalan was convinced that she has bright future. Ameeta became his protegee. He decided to give her the break with this movie. The director knew this and the emphasis was on to show her on the screen in nice makeup with extra lighting. The publicity of the movie was carefully planned around her. When the movie was released and became a huge hit, it was not Ameeta but it was Shammi Kapoor who ran away with all the laurels. This was a breakthrough movie for Shammi.

Shammi who came into the movies in early 50's had an opportunity to act with top leading ladies. Unfortunately for him, most of these flopped. One of these was a movie called "Coffee House". His costar in this movie was the versatile Geeta Bali. During the shooting of this movie they fell in love and married against the wishes of Kapoor clan. It was Geeta Bali who pursuaded and then encouraged her husband to change his persona and transform into someone like Elvis Presley or James Dean. Taking this cue, he took the assignment on for "Tumsa Nahin Dekha". He shaved his mustache for the movie and promoted himself as a "Rebel Star". (Remember James Dean's classic movie called "Rebel Without A Cause"? Shammi even combed his hair to look like Jimmy Dean.) On the top of this, OP provided the exact music he was looking for. After this movie, for the new Shammi Kapoor, there was no turning back.

Incidentally, Ameeta was offered by Mehboob Khan to play the role opposite Rajendra Kumar in "Mother India". Ameeta was convinced that she will be obscured by Nargis's enigmatic presence in the movie and decided that it was time for her not to play second fiddle any more. She declined the role. She did get an opportunity to play the lead in "Tumsa Nahin Dekha". She acted in few other notable movies including "Goonj Uthi Shehnai" and "Mere Mehboob". But she never got the recognition she thought she was due and decided to retire early from films.

Sahir Ludhianvi was originally hired to write songs for this movie. However, he developed some differences with Nasir Hussain. He decided not to write the songs. He already wrote one song, the title song. That remained in the movie. Then Nasir Hussain hired Majrooh Sultanpuri. Their association lasted several decades where R.D. Burman, O.P. Nayyar, and other music directors had the benefit of providing many hits to the lyrics of Majrooh Saab for Nasir Hussain movies.

All songs of this movie are from CD except the exteded version of "Sar Par Topi". This was ripped from DVD. There is a small click some 44 seconds into this song, otherwise it is fine. The extended version contains in the end OP trademark "clapping" music compared with the regular version. That is the only difference.

Now for details of the songs and songs themselves ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jun 29 2008, 04:37 AM