Mehfil completes 4 years!

Today I'm ecstatic as my blog turns four. I can't believe it's been four years and this is my 165th post. Quite an achievement for me. Before I begin today's post, let me extend my gratitude to my family, including my eight year old daughter and my sister, Anagha. All of them help me directly …

Triad of Singers

Let me first explain my idea behind the title Triad of Singers. Usually a single playback singer sings all the songs for a particular character in a movie. There are instances where a couple of singers lent their voices for a single actor or actress. This is relatively common and usually doesn't evoke an interest …

(Part 1) Female Dance Duets

(Dances in the Royal Court) I am sure I am not alone when I say one of the interesting aspects of Hindi film music is female dance duets. The segment seems very fascinating. In the 1950s - 60s, it was at the peak. Historical films, B grade action movies, and fantasy films almost always featured …

Bharat Vyas – The Prolific Lyricist – III

We have reached the third & the final part of the series (Did I hear a sigh of relief?) It was a wonderful experience going through the career of legendary lyricist, Pandit Bharat Vyas. It was very unfortunate and total injustice to remember him or label him for mythological or historical films only. He has …

Hindi songs with Sapera (Been) Dhun

Whenever I think of the movie Nagin, the Been dhun starts playing automatically in my mind. It's like a reflex action. The tune and the film are indeed inseparable. The film, Nagin was released in 1954 and was a huge musical hit of the year. 'Man Dole Mera Tan Dole' is an iconic song. It …

‘Twinkling Stars’ in Hindi Film Songs

Oh! I'm not posting nursery rhymes this time. Last week while I was strolling in the evening, my four year old daughter pointed towards the sky and said 'Look at that!' We looked up in surprise, to find a bright little shining star emerging out of the clouds. My daughter was delighted to find something …

Songs in the praise of Nature

Mother Nature is an integral part of our day to day life. We can not survive without it. The rains, the cool breeze, colourful and fragrant flowers, beautiful butterflies, the moon, the twinkling stars, the twilight and so on........................................ Kalidas and other Sanskrit poets were heavily influenced by nature. Kalidas,in his epic 'Meghdoot' portrays heavenly …

Suman Kalyanpur – Duets

In my last post about Suman Kalyanpur, I talked about her solos. Today I'm planning to overview her duets and trios. Actually she has sung duets with all the male and female singers of the Golden Era. So her duets actually need special posts,such as her duets with Rafi,so is her duets with other male …