If you have read any of my older posts, you would know about my fondness for Shammi Kapoor (well, you do not even have to read any post; the image in the banner is probably enough!) And then October is such a special month – Shammi Kapoor’s birthday would have turned 86 today (October 21). […]
I spend a couple of hours in a car daily as I commute from Gurgaon to my work place in New Delhi. Last week, as I was on my way, I started thinking about how so many songs have been picturised in modes of transport – cars, cycles, jeeps, boats, trucks, lorries, trains, bullock carts, horse carts […]
I must have been around 12 years old when I got hooked to old Hindi songs. I had begun to recognise different voices and started forming distinct preferences during this discovery phase. Asha Bhosle was and is my favourite female playback singer. Among the male voices, while Rafi was and is my favourite, I was also fond of Manna Dey […]
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. […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
The post the other day on Sanjeev Kumar made me want to watch a couple of his movies – preferably ones I had not watched before. So the search began. Gustakhi Maaf and Charitraheen were ones that were on my list. Both are difficult to find – I had looked for them in the usual places […]
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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
by arunava sinha [arunava@gmail.com]
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