Hasrat Jaipuri‘s playful lyrics for Woh Chand Khila Woh Taare Hanse are an enduring legacy of the 1959 Hindi film Anari, this in addition to the classic nature of the movie and the star power of Nutan and Raj Kapoor. Lata Mangeshkar‘s bright singing, supported by a single line from Mukesh really bring Shankar-Jaikishan‘s classic…
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The old Hindi song Laaga chunari mein daag had its lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi for the 1963 romantic film Dil hi to hai. With Roshan‘s music and Manna Dey‘s magical voice bringing the words to life, it was always going to be a classic. Laaga Chunari Mein Daag song details Song Title Laaga chunari…
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The lyrics of Falak tak chal saath mere were written by then first-time song-writer Kausar Munir for the Yash Raj Films extravaganza which was Tashan in 2008. The music composed by the dependable duo Vishal-Shekar is melodic and grand with the words sung very heartfully by Udit Narayan and Mahalaxmi Iyer. Falak Tak Chal Saath…
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In 2008, when the creative flair of the early 2000s Hindi cinema had all but died down, Farhan Akhtar once again brought us an unexpected film in Rock On!!. Only this time he was not directing, but acting on screen and singing and it was all quite enjoyable. True to its name, the film had…
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When the film Tashan was released in early 2008, it had everything going for it. Produced by Yash Raj Films, who had been on a roll for quite a while at the time; Some of the biggest, most dependable stars available, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan; An interesting plot; Music by Vishal-Shekhar,…
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In 2001, the film Dil Chahta Hai was at least a minor revelation. Made with a technical skill and a disregard for many common Hindi film wisdoms, it set the bar for the many youthful movies in the following decade and beyond. At the time, one of the major reasons it caught the attention of…
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Dil Chahta Hai will remain a landmark film in the world of Hind cinema for many reasons. While it didn’t have the sheer bravado of something like Lagaan from earlier that year, this 2001 film included a change in what was possible within the old tropes, it introduced some important players, and it re-introduced some…
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Raj Kapoor is most often remembered for working on and in his sometimes lavish, opus-like home productions, but he did plenty of other films in his time, like any other star at the prime of their career. Laga chunari mein daag is a song from Dil hi to hai, one such movie, released in 1963.…
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By the time the 1959 film Anari came along, Raj Kapoor was a well established presence in the Hindi film world, as was his his slightly-awkward and naive Chaplinesque on-screen persona, made famous by such films as Awaara (1951). So perhaps in some ways he was playing to type in this mix of romance and…
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While my family is originally from South India, besides speaking a language and seeing my grandmother’s Kannada books and newsletters lying around on occasion, I didn’t have a lot of regular exposure to strictly South India culture as a kid. I might have casually watched the odd film shown on Doordarshan, but only casually, since…
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In the early 2000s, there was a rash of films that were either made by film-makers of India origin living in other parts of the world, or by Indian film-makers about the Indian diaspora, and clearly targeted at that audience. Even if they were in Hindi, they were not quite Bollywood films, and in fact…
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Songs stick in our memory and become important to us for various reasons, often coloured by our associations with them, rather than the songs themselves. In my case, there are a whole range of old Hindi songs that have childhood memories for me, to do with when I first heard them or how. Ajeeb dastan…
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