Film Impressions

LIST: Lata Mangeshkar's Timeless Melodies

SONG IN HER HEART

Between lofty words and platitudes, everything there is to say about Lata Mangeshkar's vocal prowess has already been said ad nauseum. Truth be told, she lost my 'favourite singer' mantle to younger sister Asha Bhosle sometime in the early '80s (and later dropped to third place below the far less prolific but intense Geeta Dutt), when time was tied to the hands of the faithful radio set, and Laxmikant Pyarelal were challenging the limits of her chords with compositions like "Solah baras ki baali umar ko salaam" (Ek Duuje Ke Liye, 1981). It must be clarified that this is merely a matter of preference and not a critical assessment of her oeuvre.

But Hindi cinema is replete with Lata classics that warm the cockles––she is, after all, our most prolific singer and blessed with timbre dipped in divinity––from the time before shrillness of pitch drowned the sweetness of voice, most evident in several of Madan Mohan's best compositions.

LIST: They Danced To Her Tune

ASHA BHOSLE AND THE SIZZLING STARS

Asha Bhosle’s unparalleled vocal range has allowed her to sing evocatively for heroines and vamps alike. Some of Hindi cinema’s finest dance numbers down the decades have been backed by Asha’s supple voice. Apart from singing for Bollywood’s accomplished dancers, she has also delivered hits with actresses who weren’t famous for being nimble footed and immortalised relatively unknown artistes such as Minoo Mumtaz in “Saakiya aaj mujhe neend nahin aayegi” from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.

LIST: Asha Bhosle's Rarest Gems

Asha Bhosle has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most single studio recordings. In a tribute to the versatile songstress, our guest contributor Rajiv Lele list 10 of her lesser-known gems. Each one an exquisite rendition by an artist of unmatched vocal prowess.

1) Naina hain pyase mere | Aavishkar (1973) | Kanu Roy | Kapil Kumar

An absolute stunner. The way Asha glides effortlessly through the intricacies of this song—coiling, twisting and uncoiling like smoke rings from a scented stick—has to be experienced. It just cannot be expressed in words. 

Naina Hain Pyase Mere | Aavishkar

LIST: Those Magnificent Women in the Rain

BARSAAT MEIN

The rains bring out the best in Hindi film lyricists, composers and even choreographers.  And some of the most popular actresses have done memorable dances in the rain. Here's a list of a dozen favourites: 

LIST: Top 10 Romantic Songs

It is virtually impossible to pick out just 10 songs from the entire history of Hindi cinema and put them together in a list. So, to begin with, this is a personal selection, albeit based on certain broad parameters. In the context of Hindi cinema, songs don't just need to be good melodies, but must also augment the narrative and express feelings and thoughts that perhaps cannot be conveyed through dialogue. Hence, the effectiveness of a song and its ultimate value to the film its in, depends not just on the lyric, melody and rendition, but also the situation itself, the performance of the actors involved and the director's vision in terms of picturisation and placement of the song in such a manner that it helps enhance the story and take it forward. Many classic compositions of Hindi cinema, when seen on screen, look like mere 'embellishments' if weighed against these parameters.

I have listed the songs in chronological order to avoid giving them numbers. And it would be futile to write descriptions when you can watch them instead!

Jalte Hain Jiske Liye (SUJATA, Bimal Roy, 1959) / Talat Mahmood / Majrooh Sultanpuri / S D Burman / Sunil Dutt & Nutan

MUSIC: The Lost Thumris of PAKEEZAH

Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah represents one of Indian cinema's shimmering musical milestones. It was the composer Ghulam Mohamed's final score. Playback queen Lata Mangeshkar was the voice of the courtesan Sahib Jaan, played by tragedienne Meena Kumari, who incidentally passed away shortly after the film's release, resulting in scores of film-goers flocking to cinema theatres as if to pay obeisance at her mazaar (as recounted by the late actress Nadira). Naushad has provided this film with a background score that is much less feted but includes some exquisite thumri numbers and ghazals by singers like Rajkumari, Vani Jairam, Begum Parveen Sultana and Naseem Bano Chopra.

In some scenes, like when Sahib Jaan visits her childhood friend Bibban (Vijay Laxmi), Kamal Amrohi weaves in some brilliant thumri and ghazal melodies as some kind of intricate ambient sound... some of which can be heard in the video below. Have a look, and listen hard. There are many riffs that seem to waft in from the neighboring kothas, and maybe a more enterprising viewer can help us identify every lost melody.

MUSIC: Summer Songs

FEELING HOT HOT HOT

Summer in India is hardly a season to celebrate; and certainly not with song and dance, when it’s too hot even to move. So nobody wrote romantic songs to summer, they waited for the rains to gush about the mausam. Still there are some that evoke images of heat and dust, and here’s a selection of garmi songs.

Jaise suraj ki garmi se jalte hue tan ko mil jaaye tarwar ka chhaya

 This Jaidev compostion sung by Sharma Bandhu, from the 1974 film Parinay could be the prayer of summer.