Raj Kapoor, The Master Showman Options

[hildebrand]

I have uploaded the Zalzala song i mentioned for reference here:
http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?show...mp;#entry552226

Hope somebody will clear the confusion soon. I am very curious to know the real singer.

[Exon]

Parag is right.
Its definitely not Geeta ji.
I downloaded and listened to the song. My first thought was it maybe Utpala sen (who also sang Aaj sahi inkaar in Zalzala in 52 which also some people think is sung by Geeta ji). The singer's voices in both songs sound similar but I can't be sure. Can some of the stalwarts listen and confirm?

Of course somebody having the geet kosh maybe able to give the right answer too.

Thanks SP for uploading the album. I am totally out of sync with your thread since some days. once i get time i'll come back to it. Keep up the good job.

Parag and Hildebrand,

Thank you both for confirming my doubt. Your responses encouraged me to search the net for info about this song. I could not find any posts on the net that cast doubt on the singer of this song. Finally, I found one post in our own forum about the song. Here is the link to it.
http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?s=&a...st&p=150566

Exon

[swarapriya]

Thanks SP for uploading the album. I am totally out of sync with your thread since some days. once i get time i'll come back to it. Keep up the good job.

You're very welcome Hildebrand. Appreciate it very much. Cheers. -S

[hildebrand]

Parag is right.
Its definitely not Geeta ji.
I downloaded and listened to the song. My first thought was it maybe Utpala sen (who also sang Aaj sahi inkaar in Zalzala in 52 which also some people think is sung by Geeta ji). The singer's voices in both songs sound similar but I can't be sure. Can some of the stalwarts listen and confirm?

Of course somebody having the geet kosh maybe able to give the right answer too.

Thanks SP for uploading the album. I am totally out of sync with your thread since some days. once i get time i'll come back to it. Keep up the good job.

Parag and Hildebrand,

Thank you both for confirming my doubt. Your responses encouraged me to search the net for info about this song. I could not find any posts on the net that cast doubt on the singer of this song. Finally, I found one post in our own forum about the song. Here is the link to it.
http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?s=&a...st&p=150566

Exon

exon appa
looks like mystery has deepened. Now we have two bengali singers who we think as candidates. That post says it maybe Sandhya Mukherjee. Request somebody having the geet kosh to have a look at it and solve the mystery.

[Exon]

I have listened and compared this song (aa jaao mere dilrubaa) with songs from Zalzala, Jagte Raho and Sazaa. IMO, the voice in this song is much more closer to Sadhya Mukherjee voice than Utpala Sen voice.

Exon

This post has been edited by Exon: Nov 28 2008, 09:16 PM

[hildebrand]

I have listened and compared this song (aa jaao mere dilrubaa) with songs from Zalzala, Jagte Raho and Sazaa. IMO, the voice in this song is much more closer to Sadhya Mukherjee voice than Utpala Sen voice.

Exon

I don't have the jagte raho song but I happened to have a hemant-sandhya duet from sazaa. I agree her voice sounds even more closer to this one.
Maybe we only need a confirmation from an hfgk holder.

[swarapriya]

Aah (1953)

This was the first movie Raj produced but did not direct that was a commercial failure. At least his "Aag" was an artistic triumph even though it did not pan out financially. After garnering unprecedented successes he enjoyed with his earlier movies ("Barsaat" and "Awaara"), the failure of "Aah" was a big downer for Raj. Bunny Reuben, who was a close friend of Raj, writes in Raj’s biography how Raj recalled his "Aah" experience. Raj went and saw the movie on the first day in the Opera House in Bombay and could tell from the way the audience reacted that this movie was going to be a flop. Based on this he decided to revise its ending from tragedy to a somewhat neutral ending where the hero's life is "spared" and is reunited with his sweetheart for eventuality they were to face together. The DVDs that are available out today have this revised version.

If one examines Raj's own home production movies until this point, one key trend stands out. In all these movies one of the key characters either dies or suffers a traumatic experience. In "Aag" this is shown as the dsfigurement of the hero. In "Barsaat" there is a death (Nimmi's). In "Awaara" the hero is imprisoned for life. In the original version of "Aah" the hero dies. Later on this also manifests in several of his other movies.

The story of "Aah" was written by Inder Raj Anand. But nearly final 30 minutes of the movie of the original version was a direct lift from Barua's Devdas (with K.L. Saigal), made in 1935. Here we see the hero traveling in a train with his servant, then using a horse carriage to go to the bride’s place on her wedding night, and eventual death right in front of her bungalow as the wedding procession passes by unaware of his dead body. By the way the horse carriage driver was played by Mukesh singing that famous song “Chhoti Si Zindagani”.

This movie was dubbed into both Telugu and Tamil. I will upload songs from the Telugu movie following this, right in this thread.

I am uploading all of the songs from this movie. They are from a CD. I am also uploading an extended version of "Jhanan Jhanan". This is by the courtesy of the Forum members.

The songs of "Aah", like most of Shankar-Jaikishan's early movies, made history. Each of the song was a major hit. Even though they all are marvelous, one song is a standout. Lataji's "Yeh Shaam Ki Tanhayian" is one of my alltime favorites. I probably heard this zillion times yet I never get tired of it. The sweetness, the melancholy, and the longing were superbly executed in an unforgettable way by Lataji to Shailendra's rich lyrics. This song stays in your heart for ever.

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

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Dec 3 2008, 11:37 PM

[abhayp]

Thanks for a great album, Swarapriya. I agree completely with your comments about "ye shaam kii tanhaa_iyaa.N" - indeed one of Lata's greatest songs.

Warm regards,
Abhay

[swarapriya]

Prema Lekhalu (1953)
A Telugu Movie

This movie is Raj Kapoor's "Aah" dubbed in Telugu. Like the Hindi version, this Telugu version also didn't work. I believe, the Telugu version was released with the revised ending.

All songs in Telugu were a rage. They were written by up and coming writer named Arudra at that time. Arudra was a nephew of the great Telugu poet and writer Sri Sri. Many wrongfully thought at that time that it was Sri Sri who wrote the songs so that Arudra can gan a foothold in the industry. But subsequent events proved this to be wrong. Arudra became a recognized writer on his own merits. Besides Sri Sri was not much of a romantic writer.

Some say that Raj got this idea to dub this movie into Telugu from Shankar, one of the music directors of the movie. Shankar, born in Punjab, was raised in Hyderabad. He spoke good Telugu. Raj apparently liked the idea and had the movie released in Telugu.

Most of these songs I have acquired are from the interet. All these songs were uploaded earlier this year by Oye-Sonu. Interestingly, all Telugu songs are of shorter duration than their original Hindi counterparts. I have given a description of these songs in the table below. I have also given for each Telugu song the original Hindi song with time durations for reference.

Now for the songs ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Dec 4 2008, 11:00 AM

[swarapriya]

Thanks for a great album, Swarapriya. I agree completely with your comments about "ye shaam kii tanhaa_iyaa.N" - indeed one of Lata's greatest songs.

Warm regards,
Abhay

Appreciate it. Thanks Abhay. Cheers. -S

[abhayp]

Prema Lekhalu (1953)
A Telugu Movie

Another feather in your cap, Swarapriya! Great idea to put up the Telugu versions. A special thank you for taking the trouble to specify the Hindi original under each song.

I love Jikki's singing - am listening to "ekaantamu saayantramu" for the third time in a row. Thanks for introducing me to these songs!

Warm regards,
Abhay

[nandi]

Thank you for a great job. I had not been able to find such a good copy of "Jhanan Jhanan Jhanan." Now I have it!

[swarapriya]

Prema Lekhalu (1953)
A Telugu Movie

Another feather in your cap, Swarapriya! Great idea to put up the Telugu versions. A special thank you for taking the trouble to specify the Hindi original under each song.

I love Jikki's singing - am listening to "ekaantamu saayantramu" for the third time in a row. Thanks for introducing me to these songs!

Warm regards,
Abhay

Abhay, music is a universal medium. Language is definitely not a barrier. I am happy that you are ble to enjoy these Telugu songs.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

[swarapriya]

Thank you for a great job. I had not been able to find such a good copy of "Jhanan Jhanan Jhanan." Now I have it!

You're very welcome, Nandi!

[simplefable]

SP..thanks a lot for the fine notes along with the music of this great film. No doubt, i do consider the song..yeh shaam ki tanhaaiyan as one of the finest of Lata...her voice never sounded sweeter than this..filled with so much melancholy. Wonderful to read about the telugu version...never even happened to glance at a poster of this film, even as the songs became so popular.Good music is never barred by language for sure.
I know that Raj Kapoor said in an interview that he happened to take a vacation in Rajahmundry, AP and fell in love with Paapi kondalu...a picturesque outage on River Godavari. It is said that he used that location for his films too...obviously the influence of Shankar.
Great topic... Thankyou.