The Classical Music Giants contribute to Hindi Cinema – III

I welcome all the readers to the third and final part of the series. We are discussing the contribution of classical vocalist and musicians to Hindi cinema. So far we took an overview about their contribution as composers and singers. I've covered some of the singers in the last part. This part will continue to …

The Classical Music Giants contribute to Hindi Cinema – II

I’m late to come with the second part of the series. I was busy with other work and couldn’t really manage to look at this part for a week or so. It has been nearly more than two weeks, from my last post. But, better late than never! Here I'm with the second part of …

The Classical Music Giants contribute to Hindi Cinema – I

Today, I'm in a mood for celebration. Firstly because this is 75th post on my blog, and secondly, the post was suggested to me by a blog reader, Dr Ravindra Shrikhande. He was kind enough to meet me in February, when he happened to visit my town for a conference. We had a short discussion …

Remembering a Forgotten Singer!

Today I will present a forgotten voice, who was among the most popular voices in late 1940s. She had a short career in Hindi Film industry, but nevertheless her name would always be remembered for her hit songs, including some wonderful solos and her duets with Rafi. Singing was neither her passion nor her hobby. …

The Unrivaled Poet Kaifi Azmi – II

Last week, we had a look at Kaifi's songs with three of the composers, those could be said to have a long and successful association with him. But he has worked with nearly all the composers, right from S D Burman, with whom he started the Hindi film career, to Ghulam Mohammad, to Laxmikant Pyarelal. …

The Unrivaled Poet Kaifi Azmi – I

This year, we have a number of birth centenaries, Shamshad Begum was one, the other one is Kaifi Azmi. And as with Shamshad, his exact date of birth is also not known. But we find mention of 14th January 1919. So it was difficult to celebrate birth centenary, but I thought, at least we have …

Remembering Kedar Sharma

(A tribute to Kedar Sharma, on his 20th Death Anniversary) Kedar Sharma or Kidar Sharma (as he was popularly known) was a well known film producer and director, who has a number of films to his credit. He was the one, who gave break to famous names of Hindi cinema. The names include Raj Kapoor, …

Shamshad sings with Mangeshkar sisters

When the month of April started this year, I was a little uncomfortable! I had planned a post about Shamshad Begum, but wasn't sure about the theme. I mean, you just can't have a single post on Shamshad's songs. She was so versatile and has sung a wide variety of songs with nearly all the …