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Hindi Film Music - Profiles

Hindi Film Music - Profiles

All Articles ( 22)

  •     Ghulam Ali
    What can I say about Ghulam Ali? The Ghazal Maestro is a magician. His voice – mellifluous yet macho, makes your mind lose track of time, space and person. I can personally vouch for it - it was him singing Chupke Chupke Raat Din on my car cas...
  •     Bandhu Rongila Re- Inimitable
    Reconstructing a personality behind a name is always a challenging task. More so if the person concerned left the world thirty one years back. Those early decades when S.D. Burman was most active as a musician, have only scattered footprints remainin...
  •     Happy Birthday Baba - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
    Baba (Ali Akbar Khan)’s being is all about this other parallel – wordless but for the purest sounds emanating from his sarode, where rhythm equates logic and timing, and melody – philosophy … ...
  •     O.P. Nayyar - The End Of An Era
    On 28 January, 2007 when I first read the error-ridden PTI news-agency dispatch describing the news of O.P. Nayyar’s demise, the first thought coming to mind was quite strange. I just wondered how the great man himself would have reacted to th...
  •     Remembering Vocalist Shamshad Begum
    Strange are the vicissitudes of life, especially the ups and downs in the world of showbiz that those artistes who used to bask in the sunshine of glory, glamour and fame, were forgotten soon after their eclipse from the chart of popularity....
  •     Naushad - Remembering a legend
    It is always painful to watch a legend depart and composer Naushad’s demise was one such poignant moment. His old age and frail health finally accepted defeat and the man - long regarded as an epoch-making composer in the annals of Hindi film ...
  •     Naushad- Memories of a maestro
    When people in many coun­tries around the world will be celebrating the last Christmas of the millenni­um, a man will be completing 80 years of his life. A life that has already occupied the pride of place in the his­tory of Hindi film music...
  •     C. Ramchandra - Remembering The Magic
    “Some make it, others don't. He was in the former category. Unfortunately his success story was cut short by circumstances and the fame and glory slowly faded away. Today his contribution is all but forgotten but the history will never fail to...
  •     Asha Bhosle - The Enchantress
    Cocktail! Yes, that would be an apt description of Asha Bhosle’s voice. ...
  •     S.D.Burman - A composer par excellence
    Remember that delightful Asha - Kishore duet ‘Chhod do aanchal’? During the rehearsal Asha Bhosle wasn't getting into the proper mood. She was sitting quietly with some worries on her mind. Suddenly a man tapped her on the head. Startle...
  •     O.P.Nayyar - The Rhythm King
    Ravages of time have not managed to diminish his charisma. Almost 80, this tall. handsome Punjabi exudes enough grace and grandeur to fill you with awe and admiration. You sense that burning pride deep down inside him - the pride of being a revolutio...
  •     Shailendra - His Life Was A Song
    In an era where the top lyricists pat their backs unashamedly in the full media-glare for writing something as mundane as Ik garam chai ki pyali ho, reviving memories of the times when film music had a dazzling array of great lyricists, has assumed e...
  •     Remembering Shailendra
    Sunsets are beautiful, as long as it is not your own sun that you see sinking slowly over the horizon. December 14 1966 saw one such sunset, for my Baba left us that day, never to return. Today I still wonder at my inability to get over it. ...
  •     Laxmikant - Pyarelal
    K.A., R.D. and L.P. These three sets of initials defined film music for my generation which grew in seventies and eighties. For us, Kalyanji-Anandji, R.D.Burman and Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the only familiar music directors. Any time of the day some r...
  •     Majrooh Sultanpuri
    (Alone I started off towards my destination but then people came along and soon there was a caravan!) Nothing could have summarised the life and career of Majrooh more succinctly than this couplet which he had penned himself. It’s a journey o...
  •     Madan Mohan - The Magical Maestro
    In the forties Anil Biswas was a big name among the film music directors. Much to his chagrin, in all his recording sessions one young boy would just barge in to cheekily suggest, "I think that tune needs some change." Once the veteran composer los...
  •     Noor Jehan- Malika-e-tarannum
    So the Madam is no more. For on 23rd December 2000, Malika-e-Tarannum Noor Jehan took her final bow from world stage. One more star that glittered brightly for years, disappeared behind the curtain of time. After all, men are mortal. But what about t...
  •     Kishore - a genius remembered
    How does one profile a man who had so many talents? Singer, composer, lyricist, story- writer, actor, director, producer – each a full time job by itself but Kishore Kumar handled all those jobs with finesse and then did some more. Today years...
  •     Remembering Rafi
    It's August time now. It must be - since 31st of July has fluttered off the calendar without much ado. Just another year, just another 31st of July. Who cares? Life goes on....
  •     Remembring Talat
    Sometimes class and culture can't take you to the top. In fact they could well spell the doom for you. Talat Mahmood was one such example of this paradox. The likes of him were the casualties of Darwin's theory of natural selection. 'Only the fitt...