Today's offering is Lootera, a
1965 soundtrack from Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics by Anand Bakshi (except for
Raat Se Kaho Ruke Zara' which is by Asad Bhopali). This is a request from
Gabrujat.
I have to admit I cannot remember
listening to any of these songs as a child and the only reason I have this record
is because it was on a list of freebies to choose from my record purchases. But
having said this, I really do not mind the songs and they do keep in the
tradition of the songs during the arly and mid 60s. I guess one has to hear
them a few times to truly appreciate the songs. I let you be the judge of it. I
give this soundtrack 3.5 stars.
Note: Notice that there are no
male songs in this soundtrack? Interesting.
Welcome to the first simultaneous posting of soundtrack and movie review by yours truly and my friend Bollywood Deewana for this year. And to kick off, it is Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke (Winter Comes A-Waltzing) which stars the undisputed "Action King" of Hindi cinema Dharmendra, along with the beautiful Asha Parekh, Balraj Sahni, Nazima, Bindu, Aruna Irani, and Rajindernath. The music is by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyrics by Anand Bakshi. Both film and music were box office hits in same year that saw other great movies such as Aradhana, Do Raaste, Khanyadaan, Jahan Pyar Mile and Aadmi aur Insaan to name a few. It made the seventh top grossing film at the Indian Box Office in 1969 (see list below).
Top Ten Indian Box Office Hits of 1969
1. Aradhana: Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore
2. Do Raaste: Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz
3. Ek Phool Do Mali: Sanjay, Sadhana and Balraj Sahni
4. Prince: Shammi Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala
5. Inteqaam: Sanjay and Sadhana
6. Jeene Ki Raah: Jeetendra and Tanuja
7. Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke: Dharmendra and Asha Parekh
8. Bandhan: Feroz Khan and Mumtaz
9. Jigri Dost: Jeetendra and Mumtaz
10. Sajan: Manoj Kumar and Asha Parekh
The film boast some memorable songs, still well know to this day. The title track is a zippy number and in my opinion one of Rafi-Lata best fun duets and Saathiya Nahin Jaana as one of their better love duet. I must say I really do like Main Ek Haseena (hey, who doesn’t like Asha in the cabaret type songs?) especially for its movie clip. Ah, gone are the days when a bit of meat was revered and considered sexy. I wonder how many Bollywood actresses would be caught dead doing that same clip these days? I can just imagine the bad press :O
Anyway, I enjoy all the songs in this OST, my favourites being Saathiya Nahin Jaana, Majhi Chal, Bura Mat Suno, Yeh Shama To Jali and the title track. I give this 4.5 only because I am comparing it to other music from that year.
Another gem from the 1970’s and music director Rahul Dev Burman. It’s been an album that been eluding me and viola, one day I get an email from a friend in the UK …. “Veen, do I have an LP for you!” Well, did he ever. Thank you Shafiq….I have been wearing out the needle of my player listening to this (and another MP3 album actually, Abhinetri, from my friend Babu....thank you Babu!).
Raja Rani (King and Queen) the movie is directed by Sachin Bhowmick and stars Hindi screen legend Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. For an insight to the movie, check out my friend Greta’s review at MEMSAAB STORY.
In my opinion, this is one of RD great albums, although it is not as well known as his others such as Caravan, Yaadon Ki Baraat and Sholay. However, this album would differ from RD’s other albums as most of the songs here are in the mujhra or court dancing music style and classic Hindi movie genre…except for “Jab Andhere Hota Hai” which is in the typical RD cabaret style music and the start of “Na Tum Se Hui Na Hum Se Hui” … great insert of psychedelic music here.
For me all the songs are great in their own rights but if I had to pick favourites, I am going for “Jab Andhere Hota Hai” and “Lal Chunariya Odhke”. Asha Bhosle was nominated Best Female Playback Singer for "Jab Andhera Hota Hai", the only Filmfare nomination for Raja Rani. It does not surprise me, as both the song and Asha sizzle! BTW, Anand Bakshi is the lyricist for this album.
Lakhon Me Ek (literally translated = “one in a hundred thousand” but actually means “One In A Million”) the album is just as it name suggests….a rare gem that has gotten lost in music obsecurity, in my opinion, only because the film did not boast the superstars of the era. It did however star the Bollywood comic of all time, Mehmood. I know I saw this movie as a kid but I have to admit I can’t remember much, if any actually, about it. Another DVD to add to my want list, that’s for sure.
The album is by Rahul Dev Burman and lyrics are by Anand Bakshi. The most famous and popular song from this album is “Chanda O Chanda” and one of my favourites. Check out the youtube clip included in this post. Next on my list would be “Main Tera Naam”, a very ‘cabaret’ sounding tune but unfortunately, I could not find any clippings for it. Would have really loved to see the dance scene….so if anyone out that has a clipping, please do share! And then there’s “Jogi O Jogi”, a real hoppity tune that had me imagining Jeetendra and Leena Chandravakar, doing their crazy dance scenes in beat with this tune. And if you like parody tunes, “Mere Samne Wale” will surely get you going! So sit back and enjoy this one in a million soundtrack.
Unlike the other notable Hindi movies of 1967 such as Upkar, Ram Aur Shyam, An Evening In Paris, Farz and Hamraaz, Night In London seems to be buried in obscurity in the movie and music vaults. I really can’t understand why because I think it is one of the best soundtracks of that year.
I may not have seen this movie which stars Biswajeet, Mala Sinha, Helen and Anwar Hussain (to be honest, I can’t remember actually) but I definitely grew up listening to the songs! And what awesome songs they are. Especially Mera Naam Hai Jameela. I just love it – The opening music with the folk guitar and bass electric guitar, followed by the violins….the bongos during the verses….and the great use of trumpets, trombone and the electric guitar in between the verses….spectacular! And brought to life in the movie by the alluring Helen. Check it out in this YouTube clip.
Now, am I imagining it, or do I hear snippets of the music that will be used nearly 25 years later by the composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal in their hit song “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” from the Subhash Ghai movie, Khalnayak? Do you hear it? Well, please correct me if I am wrong.
And then, there is the jazzy Nazar Na Lag Jaye and the beautiful love song Ba Hosh-O-Hawas, both by Mohd Rafi and another of my favourite, Sun Ai Bahar-E-Husn sung by my favourite singer, Mahendra Kapoor .
So, four years on, the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo just kept getting better and better, their popularity strengthened by their partnership with lyricist Anand Bakshi. My verdict? 5 star bliss.
Night In London 1967: The Original Soundtrack
Side One
1. Night In London – Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
2. Mera Naam Hai Jameela – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
3. Baagh Men Phool – Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd Rafi
Side Two
1. Nazar Na Lag Jaye – Mohd Rafi
2. Ba Hosh-O-Hawas – Mohd Rafi
3. Sun Ai Bahar-E-Husn – Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor
4. Mere Yaar Tomi – Mohd Rafi
Dedication: This posting and album is dedicated to my friend SE. Hope you enjoy the album friend. It is one I will definitely bring along to that deserted island ;-)
One of my favourite Hindi movies and soundtracks from the mid 60’s with my favourite actor Shashi Kapoor and Nanda in the lead roles. The music is composed by Kalyanji-Anandji and lyrics by Anand Bakshi. BTW, "Jab Jab Phool Khile" translates to "When The Flowers Bloom".
I am not going to give a lenghty review here or try to dissect the music in this OST, only because I love all the songs…actually only 7 of the 8 songs, so 87.5 per cent of this album…the one song that I am not that partial to is Affo Khudaya.
My rating: 5 stars.
Jab Jab Phool Khile 1965: The Original Soundtrack
Side One
1. Pardesiyon Se Na Akhiyan Milana – Lata Mangeskar
2. Ek Tha Gul Aur Ek Thi Bulbul – Mohd Rafi and Nanda
3. Affo Khudaya – Mohd Rafi
4. Pardesiyon Se Na Akhiyan Milana (Sad) – Mohd Rafi
Side Two
1. Yeh Samaan Samaan Hai Pyar Ka – Lata Mangeshkar
2. Yahaan Main Ajnabi Hoon – Mohd Rafi
3. Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhi Se – Mohd Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur
4. Pardesiyon Se Na Akhiyan Milana (Happy) – Mohd Rafi
PS: I am told by my friend Babu that Laxmikant-Pyarelal assisted in the making of the OST!
Satyam Shivam Sundaram (God is Truth and Beautiful) the movie was directed by Raj Kapoor and starred his brother Shashi Kapoor and the alluring Zeenat Aman. The film caused major controversies in India, particularly with the Indian Film Censor Board for its risqué scenes and sheerness of the lead actress’ attire. Director Raj Kapoor is known throughout Bollywood for ‘exploiting’ the female form in his movies.
As the story depicts the relationship between inner and outer beauty, most of the music from the movie is very spiritual in nature but mixed with aspects of traditional Bollywood music that appealed to the masses then and now. It was no wonder that music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal won the “Filmfare Best Music Director Award” for the OST. Also, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar took the title song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” to the top 10 of the Indian “Geetmala” charts for 1977. The lyrics for the album are by Pandit Narendra Sharma (who was also nominated as Best Lyricist for the song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”), Anand Bakshi and Vitthal Bhai Patel.
My favourite from this soundtrack include “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”, “Chanchal Sheetal Nirmal Komal” and “Bhor Bhaye Panghat Pe”. My verdict: Four stars.
Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Love Sublime 1978: The Original Soundtrack
Side One
1. Satyam Shivam Sundaram I – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
2. Yashomati Maiya Se Bole Nandlala – Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey
3. Bhor Bhaye Panghat Pe – Lata Mangeshkar
4. Who Aurat Hai Too Mehbooba – Lata Mangeshkar and Nitin Mukesh
Side Two
1. Chanchal Sheetal Nirmal Komal – Mukesh and Chorus
2. Suni Jo Unke Aane Ki Aahat – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
3. Yashomati Maiya Se Bole Nandlala – Lata Mangeshkar
4. Saiyan Nikas Gaye – Lata Mangeshkar and Bhupinder
5. Satyam Shivam Sundaram II – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
MUSIC #33: SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM – LOVE SUBLIME 1978 (HINDI OST)
Roti (Bread) was a blockbuster hit OST and movie by director Manmohan Desai, with his super star of choice then, Rajesh Khanna, in the lead role and the lovely Mumtaz playing his heroine. The combination of the charismatic lead actors, tantalising music by duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics by Anand Bakshi all contributed to Roti’s iconic status.
As the movie tells the story of petty criminal (with a moral conscious, of course) Mangal Singh (played by Rajesh Khanna) who steals because of hunger, most of the songs in the movie has a social message and depicts the era in Indian history of rising inflation and severe food rationing.
Singers Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar lent their voices to all the songs in this movie and the song ‘Yeh Public Hai’ and ‘Yaar Humari Baat Suno’ further entrenched Kishore Kumar’s legendary status as a singer. But the song that will always be remembered as THE song from Roti, and a hit in its own right till today is ‘Gore Rang Pe Itna Gumaan Na Kar’ (see YouTube clip below). A must hear album for all Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kishore Kumar fans. My verdict: 4 star plus.
NB: QC (quality control) at the Polydor Studios was definitely having an ‘off’ day as none of the songs and dialogues are labelled correctly, on the record and on the back cover. I have therefore split some of the music and most importantly, the dialogues from the songs, only in instances where there is no sync between the dialogue and song. Where a dialogue follows through in a song, it is correctly synced.
ROTI 1974: The Original Soundtrack
Side One
1. Intro music
2. Yeh Public Hai – Kishore Kumar
3. Gore Rang Pe Itna Gumaan Na Kar – Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar
4. Yaar Humari Baat Suno – Kishore Kumar
5. Interlude Music
Side Two
1. Title Music
2. Dialogue - Mangal in Court
3. Dialogue - Mangal In The Class Room
4. Phoolon Ke Saath – Lata Mangeshkar
5. Dialogue – (Khadak Singh) Drinking Milk
6. Naach Meri Bulbul – Kishore Kumar
7. Dialogue - Mangal Is Dying
One of my favourite movies of the 70’s as it stars my favourite actress Mumtaz (she is so beautiful) and the awesome actor Sanjeev Kumar (see LP cover above).
The music of Khilona (Toy or Play Thing) is by duo Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma, collectively known as Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Between 1963 and 1998, they composed the music for about 500 Hindi movies – what a feat! The lyrics for Khilona are by another Bollywood (the terminology used to describe the Hindi movie industry in India) music legend, Anand Bakshi – he wrote the song lyrics for over 300 films.
The most popular (and known) song of the album would be ‘Khilona Jan Kar’, famous not only for its music and lyrics, but also for its singer, Mohd Rafi (and to some extend, the actor Sanjeev Kumar). It’s my favourite song from the album too. Check out the lyrics and translation of this song at this awesome site: Nasir’s Eclectic Blog. Then there is ‘Main Sharabi Nahin’ followed by ‘Khush Rahe Too Sada’ and ‘Sanam Too Bewafa’.
Most of the songs in this album are sentimental and mujra (Moghul-influenced Kathak music) in nature with only ‘Roz Roz Rozi’ and ‘Main Sharabi Nahin’ breaking the monotony, as in quicker in terms of the tempo.
My verdict: 4 star plus….as I love sentimental and mujra-style music - I can just imagine myself twirling around in an angarkha and chudidaar¹ when I listen to music of this style.
1. An angarkha and chudidaar is a two piece pant suit, with the top consisting of a tight fitting bodice and flared from beneath the bosom to the knees or below, worn with tight fitting trousers, scrunched at the ankles – see picture of Madhuri Dixit from the film Devdas wearing an angarkha below.
Okay, it’s time to up the ante a bit. I have been posting too many soppy songs (and there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?) and I think some upbeat songs are now warranted. And for that, I have chosen Humjoli.
It is so hard to write about songs from Hindi movies without referencing the song clips from the movie. This is definitely the case with Humjoli. The dance scenes are so bizarre and OTT (in a nice way, mind you….but who in their right mind dances that way?!) that Farah Khan, the director of Om Shanti Om, referenced quite a bit of the song scenes and costumes from this movie in Om Shanti Om. For a really good review on the Humjoli movie, costumes and scenes, check out this awesome posting at Bollywood Deewana.
Back to the score. The music is by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics by Anand Bakshi. My favourite song from this movie is ‘Tik Tik Tik Mera Dil’ (and the movie clip is awesome too). However, I am surprised that Lata Mangeshkar is actually singing this song because it is the ‘type’ of song and music (slightly raucous) usually accredited to Asha Bhosle. And then, you have Asha singing the more mellow ‘Dhal Gaya Din’ and once again, Lata with the more upbeat ‘Haye Re Haye’. These songs for me is the trifecta of the album, although I don’t mind ‘Hu Tu Tu Tu’ and ‘Chal Shuru Hoja’. Also, in my opinion, this album belongs to the females. What do you think?
I give this OST 4 stars.
Humjoli 1970: The Original Soundtrack
Side 1
1. Hu Tu Tu Tu – Asha Bhosle, Kamal Barot and Chorus
2. Haye Re Haye – Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
3. Dhal Gaya Din – Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhosle
Side Two
1. Tik Tik Tik Mera Dil – Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
2. Ye Kaisa Aya Zamana – Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Mehmood
If you are feeling rather melancholy, then Mere Humsafar has the music for you. Apart from the first songs on both sides of the LP, the first, a nice Punjabi song sung so beautifully by Mukesh and Balbir Singh, and the second from the queen of Hindi dance songs Asha Bhosle, the rest of the album is filled with sweet love songs. The music in this OST is by the Kalyanji-Anandji duo and the lyrics are by Anand Bakshi.
My favourites from this album? “Kisi Rah Men Kisi Mod Par” and “Tum Hamse Mile”
FYI, most of the songs from this LP come with intro dialogues. You can quite easily cut the dialogues out of the music using music software such as Audacity (available free from the internet HERE), though I personally think it will detract from the authenticity of the album. But each to their own…
Hope you enjoy the album. Let me know what you think.
Mere Humsafar 1970: The Original Soundtrack (EMI: ECLP 5411)
Side 1
1. Mausam Hai Baharon Ki – Mahendra Kapoor, Balbir and Chorus
2. Kisi Rah Men Kisi Mod Par – Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh
3. Title Music – Instrumental
Side 2
1. Mar Gai Mit Gai – Asha Bhosle
2. Mera Pardesi Na Aaya – Lata Mangeshkar
3. Tum Hamse Mile – Lata Mangeshkar
Veen’s rating: 3.5 stars
NB: Track 3 of Side 2 should actually read “Tum Hamse Mila” instead of “Tum Hamse Mile”. Obviously a typo on the album cover. But I have left it as it is.
