Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. Born into a family where her parents, Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, and elder sister Pooja Bhatt were actors and filmmakers,
Asha Bhosle, the younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar was born on 8th September, 1933 in a Gomantak Marathi Brahmin family in Sangli, Maharashtra. She was the third among five siblings. Her father, Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar was a renowned classical singer and stage actor.Her first foray into Hindi film playback happened with the song �Saawan Aaya� from the film �Chunariya� with composer Hansraj Behl in 1948. When she was 16, This talented singer can sing a ghazal and a peppy cabaret number with amazing levels of energy and style. Be it the romantic "Oh Mere Sona Re" or the sensuous "Aaiye Meherban" or the peppy "Kambakth Ishq", Asha Bhonsle can add life to any song. she has sung in almost all genres including film music, pop, bhajans, ghazals, traditional Indian classical music, qawwalis, folk songs, and Rabindra Sangeets. Initially her songs were basically meant for the sidelined roles like vamps, cabaret numbers or C-grade movies but it was O P Nayyar who gave her real break with C I D in 1956.With O. P Nayyar, Asha gave out hits after hits like �Aaiye Meherban�, �Deewana Hua Badal�, �Isharon Isharon Mein�, �Aao Huzur Tumko�, �Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri�, etc. S D Burman was the other Music Director who understood her versatility.She and S.D Burman created many hit soundtracks for movies like Kaala Pani, Kaala Bazaar, Insaan Jaag Utha, Lajwanti, Sujata and Teen Deviyaan. Her collaboration with R.D Burman took her the peak of her career.The duo of Asha and R.D Burman produced hits after hits starting from Teesri Manzil in 1966.A popular song �Jaane Jaa� from the movie Jawaani Diwaani (1972) required her to switch from high pitch to low almost simultaneously which she did with utmost ease and perfection. The song, �Dum Maro Dum� from the movie �Hare Rama Hare Krishna� showed an entirely new side of her talent. The romantic �Chura Liya Hai Tumne� from the movie Yaadon Ki Baarat is hummed even today and is considered to be one of the most romantic songs of this century. In the 90's, she experimented with peppy numbers and produced hits like �Tanha Tanha�, �Yaire�, �Kambakth Ishq�, �Chori Pe Chori�, with much younger music directors like A.R. Rahman, Anu Malik, and Sandeep Chowta. She received the Dada SahebPhalke award in 2000. She was honoured with the Padma Vibushan Award by the Government of India in 2008. She won 8 Filmfare awards in the best Female Playback Singer Category in the years 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1979. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Filmfare in 2001. She has won 2 national Awards, in 1981 for the song �Dil Cheez Kya hai� from Umrao Jaan and in 1986 for �Mera Kuchh Saman� from the film Ijaazat. In this Blog I am posting her Award Winning Songs
Remembering SHAILENDRA(30th Aug 1923) the Lyricist on his 94th Birth Anniversary. Poetry was his first love but family situation forced him to take up a job of a railway mechanic.His job in Indian Railways brought him to the city of Bombay.Here in a Kavi Sammelan Raj Kapoor heard him reciting his poems,Raj Kapoor got impressed with his poetry and offered him to write songs for him.Which he initially refused but due tosome domestic reasons and responsibilities, need of money he aproached Raj Kapoor after 6 months and agreed to his terms. His first project was 'Barsaat'. Shailendra wrote his first song 'Barsat Mein Tum Se Mile Hum Sajan..' for Raj Kapoor.His poetic genius was in his ability to convey deepest of thoughts in simplest of words. Eventually, Barsat was also the first film for the emerging music director duo Shankar-Jaikishan. The film proved very successful and after the success of Barsaat Raj Kapoor, Shankar-Jaikishan and Shailendra always worked together. No doubt, Shailendra gave his best with Shankar-Jaikishan, but he shared equally pleasant rapport with musical giants of those days, like Salil Chowdhary, S. N. Tripathi and S.D. Burman. Here are my favorite songs of Shailendra
On the 41st Death Anniversary of Mukesh I look back at the Magical Combination of this legendary singer with SJ and Raj Kapoor. Mukesh debuted as (actor-)singer in 1941 with Nirdosh,his association with Raj Kapoor took place in 1949 when he sang for RK in Aag,the song was �Zinda Huwe, Is Tarah Ke Hamen� composed by Ram Ganguli.Raj Kapoor realized that now he found his soul in the voice of Mukesh. In the very next film Barsaat 1950,Shankar Jaikishan made their debut as music director,from this film the trio of Mukesh,SJ and Raj Kapoor formed.After that they gave many immortal songs to Bollywood . Barsaat�s musicwas dominated by Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh getting two duets with her. But their next venture, Awara (1951), had the title track which became a global sensation making Raj Kapoor-Nargis one of the most recognizable faces abroad, and India�s cultural ambassador. In the same year, in a non-RK film Baadal, too, SJ created an outstanding solo, Main raahi bhatakane wala hun, and an equally good duet with Lata Mangeshkar, Ae dil na mujhse chhupa. RK-SJ�s next film Aah (1953) didn�t fire up the box-office, but what great songs Mukesh sang! The two solos, Raat andheri door kinara, Chhoti si ye zindagani, and the two duets with Lata Mangeshkar, Jaane na jigar pahchaane nazar, Aa ja re ab mera dil pukara are among the most loved songs for Mukesh fans. With Mukesh becoming identified as Raj Kapoor�s voice, in almost all the films of Raj Kapoor whether under RK banner or outside, if SJ were the music director Mukesh was almost invariably the voice for him. And every film had great songs remembered till today:Here are some of the immortal songs of this Trio.
Could you believe that the Musical Journey of Kishore Kumar started with an injury.Today(4th Aug) on his 88th Birth Anniversary I will take you on the Musical Journey of Kishore Kumar. Dadamoni Ashok Kumar the eldest brother of Kishore Da once revealed that a young Kishore had a terrible voice. But once he cut his big toe at home and the injury made him cry all the time. He would wail all day and night and, as Dadamoni put it, uska gala khul gaya. Kishore Kumar was ecentric or unusual start from his childhood,when he was studying in a boarding school of Indore,in his hostel room's wall he scribbled Kishore's name, in his own handwriting, in his favourite style, in reverse: Ramaku Rashoki.For several years, one of the walls of his hostel room stood witness to his eccentricity. By the time Kishore became a teenager, Dadamoni had established himself as a doyen of Hindi cinema. So, when he heard of Kishore's exploits in the college, Ashok Kumar summoned him to Bombay.Here he got an audience with Kundan Lal Sehgal,he became a big fan of Sehgal.He also started to show interest in music and often mimicked the great K.L. Saigal. Though he did not have any formal training in music, he decided to pursue it.It became his dream to become a famous playback singer and be counted among legends. He would often go to the studios and ask producers if he could sing on the movie's soundtrack. In Ashok kumar's house where he was staying he started singing K L Sehgal's songs which were popular those days,he perfectly imitated K.L. Saigal.There is a story that the the great music composer S.D Burman had come to Ashok Kumar's house to meet up when he heard Kishore singing. He actually thought it was K.L. Saigal singing and inquired if he was there too! When he came to know that it was Kishore singing, he truly appreciated and encouraged the young lad to continue refining his voice but at the same time make his own style. Kishore kept this advice in mind and went on develop his own signature style. He wanted to do some thing different.His elder brother Anoop Kumar gave him the records of Austrian music collections.In that collection there were records of Tex Morton and Jimmie Rodgers who were the king of Yodeling.He perfected yodeling, a unique style he heard amongst the Austrian music collections of his brother Anoop. In Hindi film industry, his yodeling turned out to be widely popular and became a trademark of Kishore Kumar. Ashok Kumar wanted him to be an actor because singing wasn't as lucrative but Kishore Kumar wanted to be a singer.He started his cinema career as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkiesunder the direction of Saraswati Devi and his singing soon attracted the attention of composer Khemchand Prakash. In 1948, he was chosen by Khemchand Prakash to sing "Marne ki Duayen Kyon Mangu" in the film Ziddi starring Dev Anand. Prakash later provided Kishore Kumar his first hit with "Jagmag Jagmag Karta Nikla Chand Poonam Ka Pyara.", After this, Kumar was offered many other assignments, but he was not very serious about a film career. In 1949, he settled in Mumbai..Kishore Kishore played the hero in the Bombay Talkies film Andolan (1951), directed by Phani Majumdar. Although he got some acting assignments with the help of his brother, he was more interested in becoming a singer. It was S D Burman who exploited the potential of Kishore Kumar,He gave him a chance in 1950 film Pyar the song was Kachchee pakkee sadkon pe meree tumtum (from Pyar) also took him in his upcoming films Baazi and Bahar both released in 1951 in both the films he sang one song each. Salil Chaudhary was a hit music composer those days,he refused to give Kishore Kumar chance in his films because he felt that Kishore is not a trained singer.There was a film Naukri 1954 in which Kishore was the hero Salil Da was on the point of summoning Hemant Kumar to sing Chhota sa ghar hoga in place of our already unemployed hero of Naukri: Kishore Kumar.It was only after Kishore Kumar virtually begged Salil Chowdhury to hear him out.That song was "Chhota Sa Ghar Hoga Taron Ki Chaon Mein"which became hit. HS Rawail, who directed Kumar in Lehren, was convinced that the musicality bred into Kumar's very marrow bestowed a fantastic flair for gesture and that helped him transform from a singer who could act to a star in his own right. The success of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) revealed the ease with which Kumar could don the hats of singer, producer, and star but this is also one of the first films that display the rare ability which separated Kumar from all other playback singers. In the 50s Kishore Kumar sang for Dev Anand and himself and he gave many hit songs.Some of the songs were; "Maana Janaab Ne Pukara Nahin" from Paying Guest, "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke" from Nau Do Gyarah (1957), "Ai Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa" from Funtoosh, and "Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si" and "Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka" from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958).Asha Bhosle and Kishore performed duets composed by Burman including "Chhod Do Aanchal" from Paying Guest (1957), "Ankhon Mein Kya Ji" from Nau Do Gyarah (1957), "Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka" and "Paanch Rupaiya Baara Aana" from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) and "Arre Yaar Meri Tum Bhi Ho Gajab" from Teen Deviyan (1965)."Eena Meena Deeka" from Aasha (1957). Kishore Kumar's work includes "Nakhrewaali" from New Delhi (1956) by Shankar Jaikishan, "C.A.T. Cat Maane Billi" and "Hum To Mohabbat Karega" from Dilli Ka Thug (1958) by Ravi, and "Chhedo Na Meri Zulfein" from Ganga Ki Lahren (1964) by Chitragupta. !950s and 1960s was the period in which Mohammad Rafi was on his peak,there were Mukesh ,Manna De and Talat Mehmood in the scene,Kishore was not being offered many songs.but he was giving hits in that period.Then came Aradhna in 1969 that changed the fate of Kishore Kumar.Indeed, by getting the two songs that were recorded for the film, Baaghon mein bahaar hai (with Lata Mangeshkar) and Gunguna rahe hain bhanwre (with Asha Bhosle), to be by Rafi, Dada Burman had already indicated his choice of voice for Aradhana.But this was the point at which S D Burman fell critically ill.he wanted to record the game changing song"Roop tera mastaana pyaar mera deewaana; Mere sapnon kee raanee kab aayegee too; immediately Mohammad Rafi was out On a Musical Tour outside the country and was to return after a month So Dada called Kishore to record these songs for him even that Raag Pahadi duet of Kishore with Lata, Kora kaagaz thha yeh man meraa, weren't these tunes initially envisioned, by Dada Burman, to go in the voice of Mohammed Rafi on a still-to-arrive Rajesh Khanna?Rest is history. By the time Aradhana unfolded as S D Burman's 'second coming', Pancham was already on the verge of an individual breakthrough via Kati Patang -- via Kishore's Yeh shaam mastaanee madhosh kiye jaaye; Yeh jo mohabbat hai yeh unka hai kaam; and Pyaar deewaana hota hai mastaana hota hai -- songs released well before that Asha Parekh-Rajesh Khanna starrer hit the screen.Pancham now was clearly the coming Kishore force. The trio of Rajesh Khanna,kishore and R D Burman were out to conquer the Bollywood music.Most of the Heroes of that time 70s now asking for Kishore Kumar to sing their songs,music directors also now taking Kishore instead of Rafi,Kishore was giving hit after hit and he was at his peak,first he became the voice of Rajesh Khanna and later became the voice of Amitabh Bachchan. 1986 was a critical year for Kishore Kumar. He suffered from a heart attack. He recovered from this, but it caused him to greatly reduce his recording schedule. He planed to go into retirement and return to his birthplace of Khandwa; but this just does not seem to happen. Kishore's last recording was a playback song for Mithun Chakraborty. This was a duet with Asha Bhosle for the film "Waqt Ki Aawaz" (1988).In1987he suffered another massive heart attack in Bombay. He died on October 13, 1987, at the age of 58. Here are Kishore Kumar's 20 Hit Songs of Golden Era Of Bollywood
Remembering Mukesh on his 94th Birth Anniversary,his unique singing style would make his songs popular soon after their release.His forte were both sad and jolly songs such as �Yeh mera diwana pan hai� (Yahudi), �Suhani chandni raaten� (Mukti), �Aa laut ke aaja mere meet� (Rani Roopmati), �Awara hoon� (Awara) and �Dum dum diga diga� (Chalia)�. He sang romantic songs with equal ease: �Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein� (Kabhi Kabhi) and �Naina hain jadoo bhare� (Bedard Zamana). In this blog I have selected his Jolly and Happy songs only. Mukesh was born on 22nd July 1923.At the age of 18 he was offered a role as an actor-singer in a Hindi film, Nirdosh (1941). The real break as a playback singer came for him in 1945 when he sang for Motilal for the film Pehli Nazar.It was the song "Dil Jalta Hai To Jalne De". composed by Anil Biswas and lyrics written by Aah Sitapuri.made him popular.Though the song was in the style of K L Sehgal but it became instant hit.Mukesh created his own singing style with the help of music director Naushad Ali, who helped Mukesh to come out of his Saigal style and create his own style. Naushad gave him songs for the film Andaz.All the songs became hit. Mukesh became the voice of Raj Kapoor with Barsaat.He gave many immortal songs for Raj Kapoor.Mukesh is best known for the songs that he sung for actor Raj Kapoor in Bollywood. The two decades spanning the 1950s to 1970s saw the rise and shine of the man who was to be immortalized in the pages of Bollywood playback singing. On Mukesh�s demise, he said �I have lost my voice.� It wasn�t exaggeration. You try to remember Raj Kapoor, and you�ll end up humming Mukesh. Mukesh recieved 4 Filmfare Awards for Best Playback Singer for films 'Anari', 'Pehchan', 'Beimaan' and 'Kabhie Kabhie'.In 1974 he was bestowed with the National Film Award for the Best Male Playback Singer for his song 'Kain Baar Yoon Bhi Dekhaa Hai' from the film 'Rajnigandha'. Mukesh died on August 27, 1976 at the age of 53. The singer succumbed to a heart attack while on a concert tour to the United States. Here is my tribute to him on his 94th Birth Anniversary today with a compilation of my few of the favourite �Happy� and Romantic songs of Mukesh.
Song from Shree 420 (1955)
Song from Madhumati 1958
Song from Kanhaiya (1959)
Song from Ujala 1959
Song from Chalia 1960
Song from Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hai 1960
Song from Hum Hindustani 1960
Dekho mausam kya bahar hai Song from Opera House 1961
The 50s was the golden period of Geeta Dutt singing career. She sang some of her biggest hits during this period. Aaj sajan mohe ang lagalo, Thandi hawa, kali ghata, Ja Ja bewafa and her popular duets like Ankhon hi ankhon mein, Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji, Aan milo shyam saaware, etc -- all belong to this period.She was equally perfact in Bhajans as well as Jazzy musical songs.My Tribute to Geeta Dutt on her 45th Death Anniversary. She made her debut in his mythological film Bhakta Prahlad.It was in 1947 that Geeta Dutt who was Geeta Roy got to fame with the musical success of Do Bhai, which was also music director SD Burman's first major breakthrough. The song "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya."became very popular,its still remembered today.
In the film Baazi, (starred by Dev Anand and Geeta Bali) Dev Anand employed Guru Dutt as the director of the film production, in which Geeta Roy sang an immortal and emotional number, �Tadbeer se bigadi hui�. Guru Dutt instantly fell in love with her by hearing this song. Geeta Roy and Guru Dutt got married in 1953, though both the households had reservations of this union.Guru Dutt produced some classic films around this time and the female voice for his films was always Geeta Dutt. All her songs were massive hits. They had a happy married life initially and three children were born in quick succession (Tarun, Arun and Nina).
By 1957, their marriage had run into rough weather due to Guru Dutt�s alleged love affair with his leading actress Waheeda Rehman. Guru Dutt broke with Geeta Dutt for the sake of Waheeda Rehman. Waheeda never reciprocated her love to Guru Dutt since he was a married man with children. Moreover, she respected him as a Great artist and nothing else. At this juncture, it is hard to imagine Guru Dutt�s state of mind. He was caught between two situations. Breaking up with his wife and not getting attention from Waheeda. Finally, Guru Dutt found the easy way out. He apparently committed suicide on October 10th 1964 After Guru Dutt�s death, Geeta�s life was a mess. Geeta was a broken woman. She tried to resume her singing career. But Asha Bhonsle had already overtaken her.Geeta Dutt started drowning her woes in alcohol. Her health kept failing as she drank more and more alcoholic drinks..ultimately she died on July 20th 1972 due to cirrhosis of lever at a tender age of 42. Geeta Dutt was a brilliant playback singer of Hindi films, strikingly beautiful with dreamy almond eyes, who left us nearly 45 years ago. Despite possessing a rich voice, her career was heavily marred by bad luck and an unhappy marriage. Mera Sundar Sapna Bit Gaya
