Today is the 50th death anniversary of the legendary Guru Dutt Padukone. A choreographer, actor and director par excellence, Guru Dutt left behind a legacy of some unforgettable movies in the 1950s and 1960s. Pyaasa, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mr & Mrs 55, Aar Paar, CID – each of […]
One of the self-imposed rules of this blog, which I have just now recognised, is that – Thou shalt write a long post on at least one Sahir Ludhianvi song per week. This realisation came about as I heard an old favourite play on the radio a short while ago. I try not to listen to the […]
One of my favourite stories (or collection of tales) is the ancient Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata. Like most Indians growing up in the 80s and 90s, my introduction to Mahabharata was largely through family and then the amazing Amar Chitra Katha comic series. To add to this, was the epic B.R. Chopra TV series which aired sometime […]
As I rummaged through my old cassette collection some months ago, I heard this romantic Mohd Rafi song that I used to like very much but had forgotten over the years. The song was: Sabhi Kuch Luta Kar Huye Hum Tumhare, Ki Hai Jeet Uski Jo Dil Aaj Haare. My pre-recorded cassette had no details about […]
October is a big month. The festive season in India has started. The Navratris are on in full swing. The east is celebrating Ashtami today while the South celebrates Saraswati Pooja. Tomorrow is Vijayadashami (Dussehra/ Dasara) – the Hindu festival of the triumph of good over evil. It is the day when according to Hindu […]
Today is the 108th birth anniversary of the legendary Sachin Dev Burman and the 95th birth anniversary of the very talented Majrooh Sultanpuri. This was meant to be a list post – my top 10 songs written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by Sachin Dev Burman. But as I shuffled my memory and started jotting […]
Sansaar ki har shai kaa itnaa hi fasaanaa hai ek dhundh se aanaa hai ek dhundh mein jaanaa hai… This beautiful, philosophical song sung by Mahendra Kapoor from the film Dhund (1973) is another of my favourite MK songs. I thought of this yesterday as I was writing about Chalo Ek Baar Phir se. Dhund is […]
When I recently decided to revive this blog, I was not sure what I wanted to write about. Hindi movie songs – especially the ones between 1950 – 1970 are a passion. But there are so many wonderful blogs existing in the blogosphere on this topic. All these are amazing reads and have contributed a lot to […]
Some months back, I decided to digitise all my old cassettes (Cassettes – remember – from those gone-by days?) I have a massive collection of old cassettes – some that belong to my parents and some that I collected over the years. Well, the project of digitising them got stuck – come to think of it, it […]
Okay, I am not really that much of a Lata Mangeshkar fan – yes I belong to the other camp! However, having said that, since I do love old Hindi film songs and her contribution to that genre can’t be ignored either. And to be honest, despite loving Asha Bhosle to the core, there are […]
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From the Author of Abhaya
Great film music and great music directors
Find a book to delight a child.
From academic history to historical fiction virtual conference
A Brief History of the saree blouse and Indian fashion before 1960 with an occasional excursion after. All images are credited but if they are here by accident please do let me know and I will take it down. All posts also on vintageindianclothing.tumblr.com
translations of contemporary, modern and classic bengali fiction and poetry by arunava sinha [arunava@gmail.com]
Transitioning into my next 50 years
Songs, Stories, Books and more... 