Music And Movies

  The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links In the last part, we saw the partnership between Lata and C.Ramachandra and the many hits they gave together. Another important music director (duo) who established Lata as the numero uno of Hindi film music singing was the Shankar-Jaikishen duo. Shankar-Jaikishen broke into the Hindi film music world through the movie 'Barsaat.' They then went on to rule the Hindi film music world for over two decades, churning out super hit numbers for many films. They formed successful partnerships with major heroes like Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, and Rajendra Kumar, to name a few. They were the court musicians of RK Films. They withstood competition from music directors like Naushad, C.Ramachandra, O.P.Nayyar, and S.D.Burman to remain in the top slot.  Their association with Lata started from their first film itself. 'Barsaat' was not a major milestone in their career, but the songs of that film became a major milest...

The link to all parts of this series is given here: Series Links In the last episode , we had a look at the milieu of the 1940s Hindi film music and got an idea of who were the major singers of those times. We also got a good idea of the singing style of the 40s. In this part, we look at some of Lata's songs in the 1940s and the partnerships she started building with music directors. In the last part, we saw that Lata got her major breakthrough in Hindi film music in the film 'Majboor'. Ghulam Haider was the music director. This film was released in 1948. Other music directors also started showing interest in her singing that same year. In 1948 and 1949, Lata managed to sing some memorable songs and started a partnership with some legendary music directors. We saw that Kemchand Prakash's 'ayega ayega' from 'Mahal' was Lata's breakthrough song. The song that launched her stardom. This is in the year 1949. In the year, 1948 itself, Kemchand Prakash ma...

(Shankar Jaikishan) Given the A/C room bound lives that many of us lead, we have forgotten that every day has its own seasons. The winter of the mornings, the summer of the afternoon, the spring of the dusk. Of these, it is dusk which I miss nowadays, either being stuck in my job or in traffic!! I still remember fondly the evenings my friend Bala used to walk  from Boiguda via Secunderabad Railway Station all the way to Paradise to have a burger at Universal Bakery. The walk inevitably happened during the time when the day started preparing itself to meet the night. The sound of the birds in tree lined road leading to station, the dim light on the horizon and the vehicles slowly switching on their headlights. A strange feeling comes over you at that time. A feeling that cannot be described in words. For lovers, it is that time of the day to be with their beloved. If your beloved isn't around, the pain of the separation hits them hard during this hour. I have read man...