Yeh Gul(zar)istan Hamara, Films of Gulzar Options

[swarapriya]

Songs from "Rudaali (1993)"...

Gulzarji wrote the screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for all the songs in the film. The song “Samay O Dheere Chalo” sung by Lata was not in the film even though the other two versions, one sung by Asha and the other by Hazarika, are in the film. There is a song sung by Hazarika, “Maula O Maula”, that is in the CD. But it is not in the DVD (presumably not in the film). The titles of the movie mention one Akbar Khan (Jaislamer) as a singer. His song or songs are not in the CD and also not in the DVD.

I am uploading these songs in three back-to-back posts. The first two posts contain the songs from the film. The third post contains various music clips.

Here is a description of the songs in the first post and the songs themselves…

[swarapriya]

Continuing Songs from "Rudaali (1993)"...

Here are rest of the songs from this beautiful Hazarika album...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Rudaali (1993)"...

Following are some of the music clips from the film, all except for one as noted, from an original soundtrack album...

[swarapriya]

Mammo (1994)

Some movie makers have this incredible knack of taking a serious subject and presenting it in simplistic heartwarming manner. I have seen most of Satyajit Ray’s movies. He had this incredible insight in storytelling. Another one, in my opinion, is Shyam Benegal (see the attached picture below). Ever since he made his sensational directorial debut with “Ankur” in 1974, he never looked back. He has made series of movies dealing with varied human and humane subjects. Along the way he earned various accolades and earned admiration from discerning cinegoers.

This is another movie to Benegal’s credit that has all the ingredients mentioned. It starred Farida Jalal in the title role and the story revolves around her, her sister, and a little boy finely played by Amit Phalke. Ms Jalal has been in movies for a long time. But this movie was once in a lifetime opportunity for her. She made use of it magnificently. She gave a splendid performance that was unexpected but very appealing.

The movie won several awards. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Surekha Sikri, who played Jalal’s sister, won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. Farida Jalal won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance.

Benegal made a series of socials with Muslims as prominent central characters. “Mammo” was the first one. He followed this with “Sardari Begum” in 1996. In 2001, he made a movie named “Zubeidaa”. Most recently, in 2010, he came up with another winner in “Well Done Abba”. Incidentally, most of these movies were done in such a way that one can identify familiarities of their own lives irrespective of their faith or religion.

There are only two songs in the movie. I ripped these from a DVD. Jagjit Singh’s beautiful song “Hazaar Baar Ruke Hum” is repeated four times in the film. It is played during the titles and part of it in the end. In between portions of the song are played a couple more times. The second song is “Aa Choom Loon”. I am not certain who the singers are. If someone can help identify who the singers are, I will be thankful. I am also including in this post few short music clips from the film.

Here are these songs and music clips…

[swarapriya]

Maachis (1996)

Gulzarji made several beautiful movies in his career. In "Maachis" he tackles the subject of how restless youth become rebels against the society. He treats the subject with great care and the result is an instant classic. On the top of it, he wrote heart pounding lyrics for most of its songs. With one of his favorite music directors, R.D. Burman gone, Gulzarji brought Vishal Bhardwaj to direct the music for the film. Bhardwaj rose to the occasion by providing probably some of the best compositions of his career.

I am uploading these songs from an original soundtrack album in two back-to-back posts. Here are the songs in the first post...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Maachis (1996)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this beautiful album...

[swarapriya]

Aastha (1997)

Here are songs from this movie in which Rekha sizzles in a sensuous role that only she knows how to play...

[swarapriya]

Daayra (1997)

Anand & Milind gave music to several fine movies. It is difficult to understand why they fell out of favor. Rhythm was their forte and many accused them of duplicating Ilaiyaraja. May be. If so, what is wrong with it? Ilaiyaraja composed music for over 900 films and was a highly popular music director. Taking cue from him shouldn't have been such a bad idea. Anyway, here is an album to prove my case. This movie, highly acclaimed and directed by Amol Palekar, has several good songs. I am uploading these songs, most of them thanks to the courtesy of our fellow member anjvajay. Thank you anjvajay and others who contributed these songs.

Now for the songs...

[Debopriyo]

Maya Memsaab (1993)

This movie is based on the classic French novel, "Madame Bovary". It was the first novel of Gustavo Flaubert in 1856. Because of the nature of the subject, adultery was its core which revolved around Bovary's character; it raised a storm and was banned for some time. In a court battle that lasted nearly two years, the writer was acquitted of any wrong doing. Because of notoriety gained the novel became an instant best seller and today is considered to be one of the most influential books written in 18th century. Up and coming Shah Rukh Khan, the future star, had a major role in the film.

Here are the songs from this film from an original soundtrack album...

Swarapriya ji ..you had mentioned ..! Chhaaya Jaagi - asha - hridaynath mangeshkar ! but in song it ws mentioned lata - hridaynath mangeshkar !

[abhayp]

Swarapriya ji ..you had mentioned ..! Chhaaya Jaagi - asha - hridaynath mangeshkar ! but in song it ws mentioned lata - hridaynath mangeshkar !

The female voice in this song is Asha, not Lata. At some point, someone wrongly credited the song to Lata, and the error has been repeated ad nauseam across many forums!

Warm regards,
Abhay

[swarapriya]

Chachi 420 (1997)

This movie was based on the English hit film "Mrs. Doubtfire" made in 1994 that starred Sally Field and Robin Williams. Kamal Haasan, who produced, acted, directed, and sang a song in the film adopted the story for this film. Gulzarji wrote dialogues and lyrics. He also appeared during the end credits along with the music director Vishal Bhardwaj. By the way, Rekha Bhardwaj, I believe she is the wife of Vishalji, sang a song ("Ek Woh Din Bhi The") in this movie which is a thing of sheer beauty.

I am uploading these songs, all taken from a DVD, below...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Sep 6 2011, 09:53 AM

[Debopriyo]

Chachi 420 (1997)

This movie was based on the English hit film "Mrs. Doubtfire" made in 1994 that starred Sally Field and Robin Williams. Kamal Haasan, who produced, acted, directed, and sang a song in the film adopted the story for this film. Gulzarji wrote dialogues and lyrics. He also appeared during the end credits along with the music director Vishal Bhardwaj. By the way, Rekha Bhardwaj, I believe she is the wife of Vishalji, sang a song ("Ek Woh Din Bhi The") in this movie which is a thing of sheer beauty.

I am uploading these songs, all taken from a DVD, below...

Thanks swarapriya ji ..can you upload the Makarina track
By hariharan - asha bhosle ?

[swarapriya]

Chachi 420 (1997)

This movie was based on the English hit film "Mrs. Doubtfire" made in 1994 that starred Sally Field and Robin Williams. Kamal Haasan, who produced, acted, directed, and sang a song in the film adopted the story for this film. Gulzarji wrote dialogues and lyrics. He also appeared during the end credits along with the music director Vishal Bhardwaj. By the way, Rekha Bhardwaj, I believe she is the wife of Vishalji, sang a song ("Ek Woh Din Bhi The") in this movie which is a thing of sheer beauty.

I am uploading these songs, all taken from a DVD, below...

Thanks swarapriya ji ..can you upload the Makarina track
By hariharan - asha bhosle ?

Debo, the only "Makarina" song I saw on the DVD I have uploaded. Did I make a mistake in assigning the name of the male singer? Can anyone help please? Thanks. -S

[swarapriya]

Dil Se.. (1998)

The brilliant movie maker Mani Ratnam (see the photo attached) was born in a family that worked in the film industry. His father and two of his brothers were in the film business. His wife Suhasini is also a respected character actress.

Ratnam made his directorial debut with a Kannada film “Pallavi Anu Pallavi” in 1983. That movie starred Hindi film actor Anil Kapoor in the lead. But it was “Mouna Ragam”, a 1986 film that won him critical acclaim and also became a huge hit. It earned the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film. Since then Ratnam worked in all Southern languages and Hindi.

Ratnam won many National Awards, Filmfare Awards, and several International Awards. He is noted for taking topical themes or controversial subjects and presenting them in a gripping fashion. The trilogy on terrorism, “Roja” in 1992, “Bombay” in 1995, and “Dil Se..” in 1998 are excellent example of this.

Mani Ratnam introduced A.R. Rahman in his film “Roja” in 1992. TIME magazine selected the soundtrack of “Roja” as the “10 Best Soundtracks” of all time. In a BBC poll the song “Rakkamma” from “Thalapathi (1991)” (music by Ilaiyaraja) was selected as the fourth most popular songs of all time. Ratnam’s “Nayakan” (later made in Hindi by Feroz Khan as “Dayavan (1988)”) was selected as one of the All-Time 100 Greatest Movies.

Even though Mani Ratnam has shown consistent brilliancy, his last effort “Raavan” released in 2010 was a major disappointment. (However the Tamil version of the film apparently clicked.) Let us hope Ratnam can go back to his usual ways.


A.R. Rahman (see the attached picture) is credited with bringing Indian film music close to many other countries throughout the world. His genius includes integrating eastern classical music with digital electronic sounds, sprinkled generously with different world music genres and mixing with outstanding arrangements of traditional orchestra. He was introduced by Mani Ratnam in his history making “Roja” in 1992. The music for the film became a rage and won the debutant his first National Film Award as the Best Music Director.

He sold over 400 million records in a short span of less than 20 years, mostly through 100 plus movies for which he composed music for. He garnered an unprecedented number of awards including two Oscars, two Grammies, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award, four National Film Award, 14 Filmfare Awards, 13 Filmfare Awards South, and many others.

He earned praise and recognition throughout the world. Time magazine called him “Mozart of Madras” and went on to list him as one of World’s Most Influential People. UK magazines branded him as “Tomorrow’s World Music Icon”.

He is considered a composer, music director, instrumentalist, arranger, singer, and record producer. He has his own company and is the highest paid music directors in India. He is also a noted philanthropist raising money for charities and beneficial causes.

Rahman has slipped a few scales since he won multiple Oscars for the film “Slum Dog Millionaire”. His work since then shows the lack of energy or intensity. This may be because of his fame he may be spreading his time too thin into too many things that are moving away from creating music. Let us hope he regains his old form.

The score of "Dil Se.." by Rahman is simply put brilliant. There is so much energy in each song. They just sway you away. I am uploading these songs from an original soundtrack album in two back-to-posts. Here are the songs in the first post...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Dil Se.. (1998)"...

Here are the rest of the songs from this brilliant musical...