Manna Dey and bollywood films

Manna Dey and bollywood films

Manna Dey is probably the only legend who is alive along with Lata Mangeshkar. He had been an indispensable figure in the world of playback singing in bollywood films in the 50s, 60s and 70s. He had sung every type of song that had been composed by legendary composers during that period ranging from Qawallies to Rock and Roll compositions to bhajans and romantic songs.

The songs that stand out in his illustrious career include “kaun aya mere man ked ware” composed by Madanmohan in the film Dekh Kabira Roya, “sur na saje kya gayun mai” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Basant Bahar, “pucho na kaise maine rain bitayi” composed by SD Burman in the film Meri Surat Teri Ankhen, “laga chunari me daag chupayun kaise” composed by Roshan in the film Dil Hi To Hai, to name a few.


Although Manna Dey had not sung songs for many bollywood stars other than Raj Kapoor, Mehmood and Pran, whenever there was requirement of singing any classical songs the composers had the choice of engaging either Rafi or Manna Dey. His songs had created history over a period of time and classical singers of the later generation follow Manna Dey as a model singer.

His romantic songs during the golden age include “pyar hua ikraar hua hai”, “mur murk e na dekh”, “dil ka haal sune dilwala” from Raj Kapoor’s film Shree 420, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “aaja sanam madhur chandni mai hum”, “jahan bhi jate ho” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Chori Chori in the 50s. He also sang pure classical songs like “o mere naina” in the film Talaash, afghani songs like “ai mere pyare watan” composed by Salil Choudhury in the film Kabuliwala, chorus song “zindagi kaisi hai peheli hai” composed by Salil Choudhury in the film Anand.

In the 70s also Manna Dey had a huge demand with RD Burman using him for singing songs having South- Indian classical style in the film Seeta Aur Geeta including the song “zindagi hai khel, koi pass koi fail”, romantic song “yeh dosti hum nahi torenge” in the film Sholay. Manna Dey’s qawalli “yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi” composed by Kalyanji Anandji and picturised on Pran stands out as one of the most notable qawallies sung in the history of bollywood songs. The landmark qawalli sung by Manna Dey titled “na to karwaki talaash hai” composed by Roshan in the film Barsaat Ki Raat is considered as a grammer for singing qawallies.

Even his songs on sobre mood like “kasme wade” in the film Upkaar, “hey bahi zara dekhke chalo” in Mera Naam Joker, folk song like “chalet musafir” in Teesri Kasam, shows his range and sweetness of voice. His songs in the film Seema like “tu pyar ka sagar hai”, and other songs like “muskura ladle” had become immortal over the years.

The songs and the films should be preserved because classical singers like Manna Dey are born once in a life time and if Indians can feel proud about the contribution of Rafi and Lata in bollywood films they should also feel proud for the contribution of Manna Dey both in bollywood films and songs in different regional languages.

Salman Khan Katrina Kaif in Zee TV Saregamapa

Salman Katrina in Zee TV Saregamapa.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif appeared in Saregamapa music competition held in Zee TV on 8.11.08. Salman Khan had appeared in Saregama competitions before also. The panel of judges in the competition include most of the leading composers of bollywood films like Shankar Mahadevan, Pritam, Adesh Srivastav, Himesh Reshamiya, etc.

The main purpose was the promotion of the film Yuvvraaj where Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif had acted. The participants sang most of the songs of Salman Khan and Katirna Kaif, including “dil kho gaya” composed by Pritam in the film Singh is Kinng, “chunari chanari” composed by Anu Malik in the film Biwi No. 1, “no no no no no no no no no entry” composed by Anu Malik in No Entry, “mujhse shaadi karogi” from the film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, etc.

Some of the leading singers of bollywood industry are the products of Saregama competition like Shreya Ghoshal and Kunal Gunjawala. Salman Khan asked Aditya Narayan, the son of successful singer Udit Narayan, about the fate of champions of Saregama Competitions in the past like Aneek or Raja. Aditya Narayan said that some of them had sung in films, others are making private albums. Salman Khan had a very good record of promoting new singers, actors, etc. in the bollywood industry and he showed his interest in the upcoming singers and wished them best of luck.

Salman Khan allowed lot of actors of bollywood industry including Amir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar and others to promote their films released this year like Jane Tu Yaa Jane Na, Love Story 2050, Bacchna Ay Haseeno, Singh is Kingg, in his show Dus Ka Dum shown in Sony Television Channel in the past.

So when he came for the promotion of his film Yuvvraaj, the participants, the audience and the judges were extremely happy. Salman Khan had been one of the personalities of bollywood who had shown his presence both in the big screen and the small screen in the recent times.

He has been a personality who even got reference in TV shows where other actors are invited to give interviews. Sajid Khan interviewed Anil Kapoor few days back in his program Sajjid’s Superstars, and Anil Kapoor mentioned that it was Salman Khan who introduced the taking of remuneration for performing in award functions. Although the undaunted spirit of Salman Khan had been adversely looked upon by a section of the audience, his admirers feel that there is no other bollywood personality who tells the truth in the same way in which Salman Khan says even without fearing the consequences.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif had a number of releases this year and the viewers expect that their film Yuvvraaj is going to be a greater hit than the other films with the combination of Subhash Ghai, Gulzar, AR Rehman, Anil Kapoor and other noted stalwarts in the industry who had worked together in the film.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Kamal Hassan had his birthday on 7th November. All the readers of Station Hollywood and the associated people wish him happy birthday. He had been one of the most gifted actors of South Indian films who had impressed bollywood viewers during the 80s.

In the early 80s, his film Ek Duje Ke Liye stormed bollywood with the innovative story and powerful music. He entered into an affair with a hindi speaking girl whose language he could not understand at the beginning. The parents of both the family were against the marriage of Kamal Hassan with Rati Agnihotri. So they committed suicide and died together. The music of LP with Lata’s song “hum bane tum bane” stormed bollywood in the early 80s and film became superhit inspite of negative ending.


Kamal Hassan did even a greater job in the film Sagar with Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. He sacrificed his weakness towards Dimple Kapadia as she was attached with Rishi Kapoor who was also his friend. He died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor. In a film full of power-filled performances, his part superseded the romantic performance of Rishi Kapoor. Dimple Kapadia later became an indispensable figure in parallel films like Rudaali.

With hit films one after the other like Greftaar Kamal Hassan created a steady box-office in bollywood films. His own production in Chachi 420, not only showed his acting capability but more than that he had shown his choice of casting in the film which had almost all the stalwarts of bollywood films like Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Amrish Puri, Tabu, to name a few. The comedy displayed in the film was of very high standard and the script in the film had intellectual dimension. Johnny Walker at his old age was given a very impressive role.

Kamal Hassan was even excellent in films like Nayakan, and other South Indian films, where the language was also under his command. Even considering the success of Kamal Hassan in films like Sadma (opposite Sri Devi), it is sometimes felt that the bollywood directors did not utilize the talent of Kamal Hassan to the fullest extent.


Not only that he was exceptional in understanding the characters he played he was an exceptional dancer and amazed the viewers in action sequences too. May be that he had appeared in films too late, not at the time when Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and other renowned directors made classic films like Akrosh, Bhumika, etc.

The viewers of Indian films expect Kamal Hassan to contribute more in bollywood films in character roles where he can show his range and capability. He had been an institution by himself and is an inspiration for the new generation of actors.

Robin Chatterji - the romantic composer of classic films

Robin Chatterji – the romantic composer of classic films.

Robin Chatterji had modernized the listeners of Bengali songs in classic films with his westernized tunes over a period of 25 years. He helped the pair of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar with melodious songs in the early part of the career. In Sabar Upare, released in 1955, his compositions for Sandhya Mukherjee including “ghum ghum chand” picturised on Suchitra Sen became superhit. There was blank verse song for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya titled “kataro aghate” in the same film. The film was remade in hindi with the title Kala Pani.

His composition for Sandhay Mukherjee “dheere bondhu dheere” in the film Saheb Bibi Gholum was equally melodious. He was probably at his best in his compositions for the film Lalu Bhulu, which was remade in hindi with the title Dosti. The songs of Lalu Bhulu which were written by Sailen Ray and sung by Manobendra Mukherjee including “ei pranjharona jaglo”, “dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “dukher pothe namli jodi”, “jar hiya akasher”, “surjo tomar prothom toron” were landmarks in Bengali film history which inspired Majrooh Sultanpuri and Laxmikant Pyarellal for the immortal compositions made in the film Dosti where the songs were sung by Rafi.

While the romantic songs of Robin Chatterji sung by Sandhya Mukherjee and picturised on Suchitra Sen like “e shudhu ganer din”, “tumi na hoy rohite kache”, “ami sapne tomay dekhechi”, “monero madhuri mishaye”, etc., amazed the viewers, his experiments in off-best films astonished the musical pandits. He experimented with Portuguese folk music in the film Deeper Naam Tiya Rong. The two songs he had given to Shyamal Mitra titled “o amar saat rajari dhan” and “phiriti basakar kure giya dishe” was unique in their orchestration, form and lyrics.

Robin Chatterji was versatile in his compositions which fulfilled the requirements of the directors of different films. His songs for Shyamal Mitra “amar sapne dekha rajkonya” in Uttam Kumar’s film Sagarika were totally different from the Baisnov-angik bhajan in the film Kamal Lata titled “o mon kokhon shuru” where the devotion towards God was at issue.

He was sublime in all the songs given in the film Pathey Holo Deri, Bipasha, Uttar Falguni, Sriti Tuku Thak, Sagarika, which became immortal over the period of years. The Bengali film industry is highly indebted to the legendary composer who was indispensable during the 50s and 60s and his use of piano had brought revolution in Bengali modern songs along with Salil Choudhury and Sudhin Dasgupta.

His notable compositions for Bengali modern songs include “gan sonanor jalsaghare” sung by Ila Bose, “ei nodi tire” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee, “amar andhar gharer pradip” and “mor premo gaan” sung by Robin Mojumdar, “brindabano pothojatri” sung by Siddheswar Mukherjee (the uncle of Manobendra Mukherjee), “alote chayate” and “chander eto alo” sung by Talat Mehmood, to mention a few.

The death of the legendary composer in 1969 had ended the legacy of the piano during the age of romantic songs over 25 years, because none of the later composers could use the piano the way it was used by Robin Chatterji. Article after articles can be devoted to the legend and it is not possible to mention the respect he commanded from the leading singers of Bengal in the golden age. His creations should be preserved and the modern composers can learn a lot from the legend.

BR Chopra passed away on 5th November, 2008

BR Chopra passed away on 5th November, 2008.

Baldev Raj Chopra, better known as BR Chopra died today, at the age of 94 years. Born on April 22nd, 1914, BR Chopra started his career as film journalist, and then in 1955, created his own production house BR films.

His first under own production was Naya Daur in 1957. Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala did extremely well in the film. The music of OP Nayyar and songs of Rafi and Asha like “ure jab jab zulfen teri”, “maang ke saath tumhara”, “saathi haath barana” mesmerized the viewers and the film became super hit.

In early 60s he experimented with non-musical black & white film titled Kanoon. His message was related to abolition of death sentence in India. Ashok Kumar and Rajender Kumar acted extremely well in the film and BR Chopra’s effort was well appreciated by the audience. The case that was shown in the film was supposed to be proved by circumstantial evidence and whatever had been seen by people and heard by the witnesses most of them were misleading. At the end it was shown that another person who had identical looks like that of Ashok Kumar was the actual murderer. BR Chopra received best director award for the film Kanoon.

In the 60s, BR Chopra created a combination with composer Ravi and singer Mahendra Kapoor and all the romantic films did well under the combination. The film Gumrah had good music with Mahendra Kapoor’s song “chalo ek baar phir se” becoming big hit. In 1965, BR Chopra gave birth to multi-starrer films like Waqt.

He showed the courage of engaging a number of stars like Balraj Sahani, Raj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor in the same film. The story was also unique with all the sons and wife and Balraj Sahani getting separated in an earthquake and getting re-united at the end of the film. Ravi’s music was exceptional with hit songs of Rafi like “waqt ke din aur raat”, Asha’s song “age bhi jane na koi” becoming everlasting hit.

The same team again gave another blockbuster titled Humraaz with Raj Kumar and Sunil Dutt giving lifetime performances. Ravi’s music was exceptional again and Mahendra Kapoor’song “neele gagan ke tale” becoming super hit. After getting response with his film Ittefaq, BR Chopra made a successful film Aadmi Aur Insaan with Dharmender and Firoz Khan. Dharmender was shown to be an engineer who was paid by Firoz Khan for building dams and other projects. But when their affair with Saira Banu created misunderstanding, the friendship broke. The film had good music and did good business.

BR Chopra again took up a great project with the film Burning Train in 1980, where he engaged almost the entire bollywood industry including actors like Vinod Khanna, Dharmender, Jeetender, actresses including Neetu Singh, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, and many other performers. The film was related to a superfast train in the model of Rajdhani Express which caught fire and it was shown how the passengers were rescued at that time. RD Burman composed impressive songs in the film including the qawalli “pal do pal ka” sung by Rafi and Asha.

Even Dilip Kumar’s film Masdoor in the mid-80s and the film Nikaah did good business. In the late 80s, BR Chopra created the greatest epic shown in TV Channels titled Mahabharata. It continued for more than a year and is still considered as one of the most popular TV programs created in the history of television.

BR Chopra’s brother Yash Chopra also served bollywood films for more than 30 years and established himself as producer director. BR Chopra received Dada Saheb Falke award in 1998 and also received Filmfare lifetime achievement award in 2003.

It is not possible to highlight the great works of the legendary producer director in a small article as he had created a legacy for over 50 years. The films should be preserved and new directors and producers can learn a lot from the legendary filmmaker.

Happy birthday to Tabu on 4th November.

Happy birthday to Tabu on 4th November.

All the viewers of bollywood films had wished happy birthday to Tabu on the 4th of November, 2008. Although these days Tabu is not in the news to the extent she used to be few years back, she still enjoys popularity from bollywood audience.

When she entered films, within very short period of time she was recognized by the directors of parallel films and realistic films and experimented with her in dynamic roles. Gulzar gave her a challenging role in the film Machis. It was related to the story on terrorism existing in Punjab in the 90s. Tabu represented a member of a family who was affected by such terrorism. Her performance stand out among other notable performances of Om Puri and Chandrachud Singh in the same film.


She played a challenging role in the film Tarqeeb. The film was related to suspense of her death. She was killed and Nana Patekar did an impressive investigation to unearth the truth as to her killing. The first part of the film showed Tabu’s struggle in maintaining her family and her fight against poverty. The early part her relevance in respect of finding the motive of killing her in the film.

She played the role of a strict police officer in the film Kohram with Nana Patekar. Nana Patekar took the disguise of a journalist to unearth the identity of Big B in the film who was alleged to have been involved with criminal activities. At the end of the film both Big B and Nana Patekar co-operated with each other in their fight against Danny and his men who were really involved with anti-national activities.

Tabu was very impressive in her respective role in the film Hu Tu Tu. She also changed her image by performing in serio-comic performance in the film Bibi No.1, where she played the role of the wife of Anil Kapoor who helped Karishma Kapoor to bring peace in her family after her husband Salman Khan got involved in extra-marital affair with Sushmita Sen.

Tabu had acted in off-beat films like Chandni Bar and received critics acclamation for her performance in those types of films. She also acted in Mira Nair’s Hollywood film Namesake. Last year she played a notable role in the film Cheeni Kum with Big B where she depicted the character of a middle-aged lady who entered into an affair with an old man.


She is probably one of the Hyderabadi actresses, who had done well both in bollywood films as well as South Indian films. Even more than that her performance in the comedy film Hera Pheri, where she acted opposite Sunil Shetty had no similarity with the role of village girl in Virasat where she acted opposite Anil Kapoor. She had showed her range of acting over the last 15 years and other than Dimple Kapadia there are no actresses of contemporary period who has equal potential as that of Tabu. Although she had acted in Telegu films in 2008 like Pandurangadu, she had not played any important role in any bollywood film in this year. Her admirers expect her make a strong comeback in bollywood films and contribute in both commercial and off-beat films.

Songs in the films of Asha Parekh

Songs in the films of Asha Parekh.

Asha Parekh had maintained her popularity over 15 years ranging from late 50s to early 70s. If her outstanding dance performances were the key to her success then the melodious songs that were picturised on her had also contributed for the popularity of the films. The songs “nazni bara rangeen hai wada tera” sung by Asha and Rafi, “zulf ke chaon me chehre ka ujala lekar” sung by Asha and Rafi, composed by OP Nayyar in the film Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon and picturised on Asha Parekh and Joy Mukherjee were also super hits. Similarly the songs “jaiye aap”, sung by Asha Bhosle, “roka kaibaar” sung by Asha and Rafi, composed by OP Nayyar in the film Mere Sanam and picturised on Asha Parekh and Biswajeet became everlasting in mid-60s.

From that time viewers went to watch Asha Parekh’s films with the predetermination of hearing good songs. Shankar Jaikishan mesmerized his audience with outstanding composition of songs in the film Love in Tokyo. Lata’s songs “sayonara, sayonara”, “o mere shahekhuba”, “hume tum mil gaye humdum” picturised on Asha Parekh and Joy Mukherjee created a lasting impression in the minds of the viewers along with Rafi’s hit songs “aja re a zara a”, “Japan, love in Tokyo”, “o mere shahekhuba”, etc. Asha Parekh’s dream run continued with the songs “tum mujhe yun bhula na poyege” sung by Lata and Rafi and picturised separately on Asha Parekh and Shammi Kapoor in the film Pagla Kahin Ka. Shankar Jaikishan’s composition for Asha Parekh and Dev Anand in the film Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, including songs like “sau saal pehle”, “yeh aankhen”, sung by Lata and Rafi became super hit along with the hit songs of Rafi like “teri zulfon ki”, “jiya ho”, etc.

Even the songs in the film Chirag composed by Madan Mohan enchanted the audience. The notable songs included “chirag dil ka jalao”, “teri aankhon ke siva duniya me rakha kya hai” sung separately by Lata and Rafi and picturised on Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh separately. LP’s composition for Asha Parekh in the film Aan Milo Sajna, became super hit including songs like “aan milo sajna” sung by Rafi and Lata and picturised on Asha Parekh and Rajesh Khanna, “accha to hum chalte hai” sung by Lata and Kishore.

With passage of time Asha Parekh had acted with new actors in the early 70s and music again played a notable role in the success of her films. In the film Karwa, the song “kitna pyara wada”, composed by RD Burman became super hit along with other songs sung by Rafi and picturised on Jeetender like “are ho goriyan kahan tera desh re”. LP’s composition for Asha Parekh and Dharmender in the film Aya Sawan Jhumke, including the song “aya sawan jhumke” sung by Rafi and Lata became big hits.

If all the films of Asha Parekh are analysed write from Dil Deke Dekho in 1959, where music was composed by Usha Khanna, to Ziddi where music was composed by SD Burman and Zakhmee in the mid-70s, where music was composed by Bappi Lahiri, the change of directors, producers, music composers, had not affected Asha Parekh’s fortunes of giving lips in successful songs.

The songs and the films are special and require restoration.