Some years back, the vibrant city of Amsterdam with winding canals and narrow houses and steep staircases was the place I used to call home. A singular aspect of life in Amsterdam is cycling. The entire city has a cycling path of nearly 400 kms. It is the preferred mode of travel for most residents. You aren’t … More My Favourite Cycle songs
I have a thing for whodunits – both books and movies. When I first found out about this 1957 movie (thanks to its lovely songs), I was a little hesitant to watch it. For one, it has a lesser-known cast and was not very popular. So I was not too sure about whether I wanted to watch it or … More Apradhi Kaun (1957)
It is an irony that one of the finest music composers in Hindi cinema is known today more for the one thing he did not do, rather than what he did! Omkar Prasad Nayyar is the only composer from the golden age of Hindi film music who did not record a song with Lata Mangeshkar. … More My favourite O.P. Nayyar songs
Mahendra Kapoor is one of Hindi cinema’s most underrated singers. Known to be a poor man’s Rafi, Mahendra Kapoor drew varied critical reaction despite singing approximately 25,000 songs (in languages as varied as Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and even English) in his career. While growing up, I did not like him much, simply because I am a … More My favourite Mahendra Kapoor songs
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)
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!
I felt rather incomplete after my earlier post in the day. Yes, one list of 10 songs does not do her any justice. So another list it shall be – of ten of my favourite duets. 1) Kya Ho Jo Phir Din Rangeela Ho (1957, Nau Do Gyarah, SDB, Co-singer: Asha Bhosle) : Geeta Dutt sang … More Unforgettable Geeta Dutt – Part 2
Two posts in the span of couple of hours was certainly not intended. But, today is the 91st birth anniversary of one of the finest music composers of Indian cinema – Salil Choudhary. What can one say about this immensely talented genius! He was a dramatist, writer, scriptwriter, lyricist and musician – composer and arranger … More A tribute to a master – Salil Choudhary
Nov 5th marked the thirtieth death anniversary of one of the most impressive actors of the fifties and sixties, the regal, suave Rehman. His family traced its roots to King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan and two of his grand-nephews are actors in Pakistan. Born in 1921 in Lahore, Rehman grew up in Jabalpur. After his graduation … More Remembering Rehman…
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 … More Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se – Gumrah (1963)
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