30th December, 2014 marks the 27th death anniversary of the unfairly under-rated and lesser known composer, Datta Naik, also credited as N. Dutta. (The above pic has him at the harmonium in a rehearsal with Rafi.) Datta Naik was born in a small village, Oroba, in the then Portuguese colony of Goa in 1930. At … More Remembering N. Dutta (Datta Naik)
As I was surfing looking for pictures of Mohd Rafi, I was struck by the fact that he is smiling in all the pictures. Not one, where that kind smile has not lit his face and sparkled through his eyes. There is something gentle and loveable about the man. Thirty four years after his death, … More A Tribute to Mohd Rafi – Part 2
Today (24th December 2014) will mark the 90th birth anniversary of one of Hindi cinema’s finest singers and my personal favourite, Mohd Rafi. When I planned to make a list of my favourite Rafi numbers as a tribute, it struck me that I would just not be able to come up with a list of 10 … More A Tribute to Mohd Rafi – Part 1
Most people associate a song with the actor or the actress on whom it is picturised. And if one is a bit more interested then perhaps they can identify the singer and music director. The person behind the words is by and large forgotten. Even though, the lyrics are what help us connect to a song. … More My favourite Shailendra songs
A couple of years back while sauntering through an old used bookstore in Chicago, I stumbled upon an author I had never heard of – Lucinda Riley. And the book was The Orchid House. I enjoyed it and over the past few years, have tried to read as many of her works. She writes in a genre I … More The Italian Girl – Lucinda Riley (Review)
There is a time and place for everything…. And so it is even for picking up forgotten books lying on huge ignored piles. After lying on my bookshelf for two years (and moving two homes in between!), Kusum Choppra’s Mastani finally got my attention enough for me to read it. It was an interesting article that got me … More Mastani – Kusum Choppra : A review
Dilip Kumar turns 92 years old today. Also comes the good news that he has been discharged from the hospital today, which is where he has been the past few days, due to an infection. I admit, I have not been a fan of Dilip Kumar – maybe because he was too much of the … More Happy Birthday, Dilip Saab
8th December, 2014 marks the 70th birthday of the lovely Sharmila Tagore and the 79th birthday of the hunky Dharmendra: both artistes I am fond of (especially in their earlier roles). So here is wishing them both many happy returns of the day – with a song list. Instead of making two separate posts, this is … More Happy Birthday, Sharmila Tagore and Dharmendra!
There are some movies that can be watched again and again – not necessarily because they are classics, but just because they are light, breezy, sweet and great fun. Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, 1963 Navketan production directed by Vijay Anand, falls under this category. I remember watching it way back, the year Nutan passed away, when … More Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963)
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