Updated (links): 17 June 2022
It took a herculean effort in exercising my will power to continue our chat on a normal plane. That is why this part has taken so long to come to you…
I was shocked when I read about Dev Anand’s death. He may have been the superstar of my parents’ generation, but he certainly looked like he would outlive me! If I’d ever thought about it, I’d have said that he’d go on making movies forever. Over the years, he’s spent so much time in my living room, bringing so much fun and entertainment with him, that it is impossible not to feel a bit sad that he is no more. I am only "a bit" sad because the Dev Anand I knew is forever young, handsome, and always there in his lovely films. (I refuse to even admit the existence of his post-1960s career!)Updated (links): 26 Nov 2022
Updated (links): 26 Nov 2022
There is nothing like a good ghost song to brighten up a warm and sunny day (or a cold and sunny day, as it often is in Calgary). What would you like - a real live ghost? A funny pretend ghost? A real person mistaken for a ghost? Would you like him/her to be evil or benign? No matter what your choice, Bollywood can supply a ghost for every mood. I personally prefer pretend ghosts - of the benign kind - but I am not so picky when it comes to ghostly melodies. Ghosts, it turns out, know their melodies and how to haunt hauntingly. They’ve sung some of my favourite filmi songs. So without further ado, here are ten of my favourite filmi ghosts singing their haunting melodies (or "hunting melodies" as one of my audio cassettes called them!):
Readers we have such a treat for you during Rekhatober! The reclusive star has graciously agreed to do a question and answer column during this month-long blog-wide celebration of her awesomeness. You may not know, but Rekha-ji has been instrumental in guiding several of her younger colleagues and has often given great advice to her co-stars. Here are some examples (check out Beth Loves Bollywood for part II):
For a singer without any formal musical training, she had an amazing vocal range and command over her voice. I love her folksy songs best, but there is no denying that she shone at every genre she handled – from the "Western" Meri jaan sunday ke sunday, to the haunting Dharti ko aakash pukare and the numerous peppy numbers that have been remixed ad infinitum in more recent times. Her biggest hits were from the 40s, most of which I’m not very familiar with. But even limiting myself to her 50s songs, I still had lots of great songs to choose from! The only way I could limit myself to “ten favorites” was by listing the first ten songs that came to mind – though even then it was a tough job since I did want to include some of her 40s songs and some of her lesser known numbers. And here is my list, in all its freshly edited glory (the songs are included in this youtube playlist):
When Dustedoff kicked off a Rafi moods fest in blogland, I knew I had to do a Rafi post, too – not just because I love Rafi, but also because there is so much of lovely Rafi around that a post on his songs is possibly the most challenging thing one can attempt! While his most popular songs may be classified as either romantic or sad songs, it isn’t that easy to classify his expressions in them. He was a superb vocal actor and could bring a range of emotions into the limited time (usually about 3 minutes, back then) a song allowed him. From romantic to sensual, angry to soothing, loving to despairing, or outright joy and laughter, there isn’t a single emotion that his wonderfully fluid voice did not express, and express beautifully. Which begs the question – how does one go about classifying the moods and emotions his voice brought to the screen?
Kishore Kumar, the singer, is more often identified with the 70s and 80s when he ruled supreme in Hindi film music. Most of us, myself included, tend to forget that he was singing much before that and had tons of great songs in the 50s and 60s. It was Dustedoff’s awesome post on SD Burman songs that reminded me of how many lovely songs Kishore Kumar sang under SD’s direction in the B/W era. And it wasnt just SD Burman, Kishore sang for a lot of other music directors too, and also composed some beautiful music of his own. As I mused on my favorite Kishore numbers, I couldnt resist drawing up a list of them.
“When you forget your own religion, you also forget hatred against other religions. If only everybody in this country had amnesia – it would solve all our communal conflicts.” Thus spoke our amnesiac hero, whilst I valiantly tried to imagine a gigantic operation mounted by the army to bop every one of India's 1.2 billion people over their individual heads to solve India’s caste/religious problems! Though my imagination isnt built on the scale required to accommodate such ideas, I do recognise good intentions when I see them, and this film is chockful of them. More importantly (for me at least), it is also brimming over with some of my favorite beautiful people (Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Naaz, Helen) and some nice songs. Here’s one that I’ve been humming ever since I saw it!
A Very Happy 2009, everyone!
I had a great two weeks in Vilaayat and cant figure out where all the time went! There wasnt time enough to sample all the delights UK had to offer and I definitely need to go back there – preferably for a few years. Right now though, I am still jet-lagged and distinctly unhappy at being back at work. So, I have spent some productive time on youtube (Psstt… dont tell my boss!) and guess what I found – a time machine that takes us back to 1969. You can see Bollywood’s beautiful and hopeful, all gathered for the premiere of B. R. Chopra’s thriller Ittefaq. The premiere seems to be a rather simple event by today’s standards when even a music launch has more pomp attached to it! In terms of eye-candy and star-gazing though, nothing has changed. Enjoy the stars and Ameen Sayani’s distinctive voice introducing them in his own inimitable style:
