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)
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
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)
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
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…
There was a delightful post in one of the blogs I follow (Conversations over Chai) which talks about songs that never got filmed or got deleted from the final movie. A song that falls into the same category of “never filmed/ deleted songs” is that rare Geeta Dutt solo from Paying Guest (1957) – Gaye Ghabra ke Mil … More Gaye Ghabra ke Mil Do Dhadakte Se Dil (Paying Guest, 1957) – Deleted song
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