My top ten...Gender Reversal in songs

The second issue of  My Top Ten is here...

In the last edition , sometime in June this year, the topic was the tweaking of lyrics by the creator himself to give a new song. Actually, it was a double whammy since for each lyricist there were two songs.

This time the focus is on the aspect of creation of a song: lyrically, musically and visually !

Solo songs have been a part and parcel of Hindi film music. There have been tandem songs ( two different singers singing the same/similar solos), playback songs ( actor on screen lip-syncing the singer, who is off-screen)  and background songs ( singer sings to a visual of actor, who is not lip-syncing).

This week we take stock of songs in which the innovative combination in a background song is attempted: the gender of the actor and singer is different !

One of the earliest songs in this super-genre must be the Talat Mehmood song sung for Bahar 1949, exhorting the heroine to fight the difficult circumstances. An inspirational song , sung in his velvet voice and soft style, the song is as soothing as it is melodious. On second thoughts, I feel that it was easy then, since the movie-watching audiences were discerning and such sensitive portrayal must have appealed to them, rather than appearing odd.

                                       

One of the most endearing films to have been made was Bandini by Bimal Roy. Each song in the score was a gem and the picturisation of all the songs was breath-taking. This song   is sung by Mukesh and  features Nutan on the screen.   Her yearning is so well expressed by the male voice, that  one does not miss the vocals of  Lata or Asha.
S.D.Burman and Bimal Roy were masters of their fields and therefore this song is plausible even when there is a gender reversal.

Next in line is a beautiful Hemant Kumar song  on Waheeda Rehman.
 The 1969 film Khamoshi is considered a classic and so are its songs. There was  the mesmerising Kishore solo.  Then there was the  song which had   Lata's ethereal rendition and  Gulzar's out-of-the-world lyrics ( "aankhon ki mehakti khushboo").

Topping the score is  the composer's background song   ( in a class by itself), which shows  Waheeda Rehman  getting emotionally torn, which is  being  aptly expressed in the lyrics.   Hemant Kumar's voice does the rest !

The next song is again picturised on Waheeda Rehman, but the male singer is Kishore Kumar. Kishore, in the early 70s , was rising phenomenally and reaching one peak after the other. He had started to sing for heroes other than himself and Dev sahab, once he had sung for Rajesh Khanna.

Such was his demand that most  composers and almost all heroes wanted him to be their playback voice. His mentor S.D.Burman considered him competent for this background song in the film Zindagi Zindagi ( 1970), while Waheeda Rehman goes through trials and tribulations. 

R.D.Burman, it appears, took off from where his father left, as far as background songs are concerned.  He got the support of his directors, too. In Amar Prem ( 1972) , Lata Mangeshkar's background song on a young Vinod Mehra , which was the slower version of the popular songs.

This gender reversal was where the female voice conveyed the feeling of  déjà vu by the protagonist. The rare occurrence of a female singer and male actor combination ! 

In a unique instance of its kind, father S.D.Burman sang under the baton of son R.D.Burman in Amar Prem . Interestingly, in the same year, the son sang under the direction of father in Ye Gulistan Hamara.

The Amar Prem song, with credits being rolled and a displaced Sharmila Tagore commencing
 her tale of woe. The audience were primed through the song, which is a gem, of course.
No one can do it, like Dada Burman. 

In 1974, Kishore Kumar again conveyed the loneliness and futility of protagonist Jaya Bhaduri's life in the title song of Kora Kagaz. The song was a liked by both classes and masses and it was the most popular song that year, going by Binaca Geetmala Annual hit parade, the only such programme those days. These days, however, the Youtube views and like/dislike is a better barometer !
Going by the internet,  views of the title song of  Kora Kagaz are  half   of Jai Jai Shiv Shankar ( Aap Ki Kasam)  , the song which had to be content with second spot !

Coming back to Kora Kagaz, the song is immortal, for which M.G.Hashmat, its lyricist will be remembered always, if not for any other song. The gender reversal, of course, is perfect.

Hema Malini, we all know, is a great dancer, apart from being a competent actress. It is therefore, surprising when we hear a male voice giving the background supplement to the visual treat on the screen. This happened in the film Mrig Trishna 1975, when Mohammed Rafi's vocals  complemented Hema Malini's " mudras" , making this one of a kind.

The 80s were more action-oriented and therefore, emotional songs ( that too, of the background variety)were difficult to come by. The quality of music was also on the decline and one really did not expect the directors to take up an experimental song.
 Kudos , therefore, to director B.S. Thapa to have allowed this Mahendra Kapoor song on Reena Roy. The allusion to Seeta indicates the life and times of the protagonist

The last song in this anthology is from a film of the 90s. The voice of Jagjit Singh on the hapless, but  expressive Kajol,  says it all. The loss of a loved one is emoted by both the male singer and female actor , making it an unforgettable song.

And a good one to end the episode with. 

 

My top ten.... a new series !

After a rather long sabbatical , it is now time to resume the Random Thinking,  to come up with compilations and anthologies to entertain, enlighten and enthuse the lovers of hindi film music.

In 2017, I had started off a series of blogs, once a week to be exact, based on the news highlight of the week and connecting it to hindi film songs down the years. The series was posted for 50 weeks, a reminder of Golden Jubilees of those years.

I had intended to start a new series in 2018, but events got into the way and it took me quite some time to get back to writing.

So, this week I am kicking off with a new series

MY TOP TEN

The songs will be on a theme and I have selected my favourites, in no particular order . So, don't mind if your choice is missing. But, do mention it in the feedback to enrich the anthology.
Who knows, it may lead me to change my mind, too !


Here is the first instalment of the MY TOP TEN series, designed to be infrequent, as are all research-based works.

Lyricists using similar words for two songs
___________________________________

I was doing some research on the lyrics of great lyricists. During the study, I came across an interesting instance where a lyricist used the same song in two films.

Surprisingly, the lyricist is none other than Sahir Ludhianvi who repeated his lyrics again...

The team of Sahir Ludhianvi , S.D.Burman and Guru Dutt in the film Pyasa ( 1957)   gave some very beautiful songs. In this film, the song Jaane kya tu ne kahi is one of the highlights of the score. However, the prelude to the song is a couplet recited by Geeta Dutt in "tarannum". This triggers Guru Dutt into interacting with her and then she breaks into the song. The lines sung by were "Phir na keeje meri gustaakh-nigaahi ka gila".

Interestingly , Sahir expanded these lines into a full-fledged ghazal in the film Phir Subah Hogi
 ( 1958), converting it into a popular duet.

   

I found out later that there are many lyricists who re-worked or adapted or used similar lyrics in more than one films. We take a look at another  song by another lyricist whose mukhda was used many years later.

This is a Lata Mangeshkar song from the Shammi Kapoor-Shyama film Mirza Sahiban ( 1957). The composer is Shardul Kwatra and the lyricist is Varma Malik. Shammi Kapoor, before becoming the incarnation of alpha male had portrayed soft roles of forlorn lover as in this film and Laila Majnu. The song of separation appears to be a routine song of this genre.

The song would have been one of the many such songs, had the lyrics not been used 17 years later by  Varma Malik, who  used the lyrics of this song, "Tabiyat theek thi aur dil bhi beqarar na tha "  in Manoj Kumar's Roti Kapda Aur makaan ( 1974) in the chartbuster "Mehangayi Maar gayi" as a lyrical interlude ( from 2.02 onwards).

                                       

 Majrooh Sultanpuri had been a lyricist who worked with more than two generations of composers, right from Keemat in 1946  to Ek se badh kar ek in 2004, if you are not counting Yaar meri zindagi
( 2008), which was released many years after being made. .

In the year 1965, amongst the many films he worked on, two films had songs with similar lines !
 Both songs started off with the same words ( and meaning)  , so the mukhda, "Aise to na dekho "  appears to be the same. Of course, the development of the songs was different suiting the situation.The Dev Anand song was a solo, wooing Nanda. The Pradeep Kumar- Meena Kumari song is a duet. The composers were also different. Both songs are equally delightful to listen, however.

 Rajinder Krishan was a prolific song writer, having written songs for varying situations and scenarios. His first film as a lyricist was Zanjeer ( 1947) and his swan song was Ulfat Ki nayi manzilein ( 1994), a film which was released some 30 years after it was made.

Let us check up  two of his songs, which are very similar in words and meter.

In Baarish ( 1957), Rajinder Krishan wrote a duet, sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Chitalkar, "Phir wohi, chand, wohi hum , wohi tanhayi hai" . Hindi film music lovers will immediately note the similarity between this song with the celebrated Talat Mehmood song in Jahan Ara , 7 years later.

That song was also written by Rajinder Krishan, which was an adaptation of the less popular earlier song. The composer of the earlier song was C.Ramchandra and that of the latter, Madan Mohan .
CR's tune is a tad lively and Madan Mohan's composition is melancholic. Probably that is the reason it became more popular.
The Baarish songs starts at 00:56

 In 1961, Prem Dhawan wrote a beautiful duet for the film Zabak. The song, composed by Chitragupt and sung by Rafi and Lata was Teri duniya se door, chale hoke majboor, hamein yaad rakhna. The song was a hit and is remembered to this day.

In 1970, Prem Dhawan re-worded the mukhda to give another beautiful song, this time a solo. The film was Pavitra Paapi and the song, sung by Kishore Kumar was Teri duniya se , hoke majboor chala, main bahut door, bahut door, bahut door chala. This song, composed by Prem Dhawan himself , is also etched in our memory.

Javed Akhtar, who turned a lyricist with Silsila, wrote a song in 1985 and then tweaked it to give another song with similar mukhda in 1998 

The song in Arjun was Bhoori aankhon wala ek ladka , sung for Sunny Deol by Dimple Kapadia.

In 1998 , in the film Duplicate, Shahrukh woos Juhi Chawla with Javed's words ( written for Shabana, probably), Katthai aankhon wali ek ladki, similar to song of Arjun ( slight change of colour).

                                        

And now it is the turn of one of the most prolific lyricist of all times : Anand Bakshi. The interesting thing about the song is that the catch- phrase of this song got popular when he used a full 20 years later !

In Jigri Dost ( 1969) , Anand Bakshi wrote a song which had a great hook-phrase but it was shadowed by more melodious songs of the film.Twenty years later, Bakshi Sahab used the same phrase " Tirchhi Topi Wale" in the film Tridev ( 1989) , which was an instant hit coupled with the cries of Oye oye !

                                       

Indeevar is one lyricist who has seen the good and bad times of Hindi film music. Associated with composers of old generation as well as young crowd, he has been consistently writing songs. 

His song with mukhda "Pyar Kabhi kam na karna sanam" for Ek Mutthi Aasmaan (1973) was a peppy duet, composed by madan Mohan and very popular on Vividh Bharti.
Years later he wrote a song with almost same lyrics for a Bappi Lahiri film Prem Pratiggya 1989

                                         

Just as music directors re-work, adapt or repeat their tunes for different films, lyricists also re-word their lyrics sometimes for similar situations.
Let us  listen to a song by Hasrat Jaipuri about the aspirations of the young generation and note that similar sentiments were expressed 11 years later in a similar situation.

Shararat (1959) had this delightful song by Kishore Kumar , which gave hope that the young generation is out to do great things, if left unfettered.

Hum matwale naujawan, manzilon ke ujaale/
log karein badnaami, kaise ye duniyawale//

11 years after Shararat, in Umang (1970) Hasrat Jaipuri again wrote a song about the youth of this country , who were at the cross-roads , with the colleges and campuses erupting with discontent. Hasrat sahab, gave vent to their expressions with this song, sung again by Kishore Kumar and also composed by Shankar Jaikishan again.

Hum log hain aise deewane, duniya ko jhuka kar maanenge/
manzil ki dhun mein aaye hain, manzil ko paa kar maanenge//

                           

                                                                             

Shailendra is one lyricist, from whom we expect least repetition. However, the Jaagte Raho ( 1956) phrase "Zindagi khwab hai", on which the immensely popular classic song , sung by Mukesh ( composed by Salil Chaudhary ) was created, was used by Shailendra again.

The second time the phrase was employed by Shailendra was for the 1965 film Chhoti Chhoti Baatein, for which the song was a more serious and melancholic one, different from the philosophical sense of the first song. This was also sung by Mukesh under the baton of Anil Biswas, this time.This was intentional on the part of Shailendra as he was asked to pen a Tribute to Recently Deceased Motilal---so he chose one of his own good songs picturized on Motilal !

                      There are many other instances of lyricists re-wording their lyrics for a different film. In fact there have been instances of  the complete songs being used in more than one film.
Wo kahani, phir sahi....                                                            

आओ कर दें, ख़तम कहानी !

The year is about  to end. And this is the 50th consecutive edition of Random Thinking, your weekly musiblog.  During  the year, the randomness of the highlights of the week was linked to Bollywood for posting songs, anecdotes, trivia and my own thoughts , sewing up all of these in a single write-up.

Though I had been fond of writing and disseminating information about Hindi films, it was my daughter Snigdha  who, in late 2016,  prompted me to publish my written material on Facebook through a blog.

As 2017 draws to a close ( getting into the second half of December signifies that the end is near !), let us walk through the main events of the year 2017, which shaped this blog, as did the feedback from many friends and connoisseurs, enriching the experience.

I have also included a few songs of 2017 relevant to the themes, so that musically too, we travel down memory lane !

I started off hesitantly  in January by expanding a piece written earlier  on elections, just when as the announcement of polls in five states was made.
Then, next week,  Khaadi Board removed Bapu from their calendar , triggering the essay on songs which mentioned Mahatma Gandhi. This effort was very well received, emboldening me further and in the next week, the two judgements,first  one  on Salman Khan and the second on Jallikattu paved the way for songs involving legal issues. 
I wrapped up the month of January by writing about recycled songs ( as Raees and Kaabil, the releases that week had such songs) and recycled artistes.

Here is the latest song on Gandhi , the  2017 patriotic song Gaandheeyam

The Budget was the first highlight of February, giving me an idea to write about songs on inflation. Tamil Nadu and its leaders came into focus the next week, shouting their own praises warranted an episode on the change in culture from self-effacing to chest-thumping.
The very next week, the wannabe-CM of Tamil Nadu Sasikala was jailed, prompting me to enumerate  "Songs in captivity" !
February ended with political leaders making abbreviations like SCAM and KASAB, which meant that an episode on Alphabets in songs of Hindi films was imperative.

In 2017, the  film Lucknow Central, based on Jail and its musical band,  was released and had  remarkable music.

March started with ruckus in colleges, reminding us of better times through the episode on college songs.
Then , there were multiple cases of Indian getting the wrong end of stick in foreign lands, which was a trigger for songs which mentioned foreign lands, titled "hum to hain pardes mein".
The results of elections came out in March and we had the article on songs about elected leaders.
Following this,  came the story of formation of Romeo Squads in UP by the new government, which gave birth to the episode "In the name of love", which is by far the most read and liked episode of all. Love conquers , as always !

Let's listen to the latest romantic song, from across the border !

In the first week of April , Supreme Court banned automobiles without proper emission standards, which led to the  piece of automobiles seen in Hindi songs.
In April, too we lost Kishori Amonkar and as a tribute to her, I had rolled out an episode on Classical singers in Hindi films, which was very well received. Similarly, in the last week in April , Vinod Khanna breathed his last and as a tribute, "Singing and Dancing Villains" was posted.
 Also, in  April, UP government announced that English will be taught right from the class I in vernacular schools, so I found out the songs which were wholly in English , as part of Hindi films. The Supreme Court verdict on the long- winded saga of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi issue was  used as a ploy to write about films which took the longest to get made !

A delightful film on education was released this year called Hindi Medium

                                       

The month of May brought into focus the meek four-legged animal Cow ( whom Hindus also revere as gau mata ) through demonstrations , which resulted in an episode about Animals in Hindi film songs.
The next week, release of  a blockbuster Bahubali: The Conclusion grabbed all the headlines. A film made in two parts ( something the Showman had dreamt of, years ago, but his Mera Naam Joker's failure put paid to his ambitions) necessitated a waiting time. The blog that week mentioned the films which took too long in the making.
The digital kidnapping of data by Ransomware made it to the front page, next week and I was able to link Stockholm Syndrome in Bollywood, which got many eyeballs.
The last week of May was that of Cannes Film Festival and we explored the Indian films who have got favourable mentions in International film festivals.

This year's entry to Oscar was Newton 

June brought the news of imminent disinvestment of Air India and I followed the story by posting on my blog a recollections of Songs sung air-borne.
Despite the Indo-Pak relations being what they are, a cricket match garners huge patronage , as we saw in the second week of June. Indian artistes who have gone to Pakistan for performing ( not settling down there) was the obvious choice of that week's blog. Cricket continued to remain on centre-stage and therefore, one could not avoid the topic of Cricketers in Bollywood for long, which was named Howzzat.
The very next week, the milestone of 25th Episode was reached, as the half the year was already gone. For this event , I chose songs from Hindi films which were mathematically oriented, displaying my love for maths !

In 2017, the cricket film was Sachin: a million dreams 

In July, we remembered R.D.Burman on his  birth anniversary by retrieving his songs from his most creative period, i.e. the 60s.
The next week PM's trip to Israel made me curious to find out if any Jews contributed to Hindi films, which I documented.
On my birthday ( July 12), I listed my favourite non-films songs which I shared the following weekend.
The red flag of Nepotism in films meant that an episode on Star Kids was spot on , as was the one on Unsung Songs, as Nitish Kumar terminated his attachment to one party and hitched on to another, shelving the people's verdict like an unsung song.

 In 2017, about 40 years later, remakes of R.D.Burman's songs are being made.

The Blue Whale game of suicide, being played by young kids was suddenly the talk of the day in August, so it was practical to have an essay on film artistes whose death was suicide...or close to it. The unceremonious exit of Chairman of CBFC was an indication to talk about the banned films and the very next week another Hindu-Muslim controversy erupted:Love Jihad. Exploring the inter-faith marriages in Bollywood was my way of countering a phenomenon, centred on faiths.
The last week of August was all about Triple Talaq, giving me my subject on a platter: Muslim Socials !
The Hindu-Mulim  controversy, in form of Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi is back in news, coinciding with the recent release of a film called The Game of Ayodhya.

The beginning of September saw Kamal Hassan turn a politician. It was natural to have a take on actors-turned-politicians in Hindi film industry, through their songs.
Next week, murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh  was reason enough to explore the instances of journalists played by lead actors in Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar.
Two incidents: mention of dynastic politics by Rahul Gandhi and equating of  Mughal rulers with  bandits by a politician led to that week's episode on portrayal of Mughal Dynasty in Hindi films.
In the last week of September, the media blitzkrieg on Honey Preet and her absence made me look for actresses who generally played negative roles.

Here is a song from Noor, a 2017 film based on journalist's life.

Being a railwayman, the October news of Alstom and Siemens, two giants in railway technology coming together caught my eye and I explored the phenomenon of music director duos in Hindi film, an episode very well received.
The next week, the release of Judwaa-2 , an umpteenth instance of sequel saw me documenting the sequel effect ( and its variants) in Hindi films.
 In October, the telecom wars were also intensifying with Airtel taking on Jio head on. I seized the opportunity to enumerate the phone songs in Hindi films ( apart from jalte hain jiske liye , which is the best known song in this sub-genre).
Then, next week,  Taj Mahal shot into headlines for the wrong reasons. I cashed the opportunity to bring forth the songs, many rare ones, mentioning the monument.
 In the final week of October, the laughable comments made by Shivraj Chauhan, the CM of MP, that the roads of his states were better than those of US called for the listing of Road Movies of Bollywood.
Before the year is out, another film has its sequel released: Fukrey Returns !

Come November and Kashmir was again in news ( it has been that way the whole year, though) and so I thought it fit to find out which Hindi films had Kashmir as a central theme.
 If your memory is correct ( and you have suffered enough) ,  you will recall that the anniversary of Notebandi or Demonetisation fell on November 8 and so , the next episode was on Birthday Songs in Bollywood.
The dream-sequence-that-is-not-there in the upcoming ( will it see the light of the day? ) film Padmavati shook the nation like little else does. The next edition was, naturally, on Dream Sequences in Bollywood.
 In the last week of November, the crowning of Manushi Chhillar as Miss World was trigger enough to delve into the history of Bollywood to find out beauty queens, who have been actors, too.

Let's take a look at a great song, composed this year for J & K Tourism by Vibha Saraf.

So, we enter December, the current month when the local elections in UP made Lucknow the cynosure of all media and it was appropriate to pen a tribute to my city in its own language: the Hindi-Urdu hybrid.
The demise of Shashi Kapoor was saddening and his collaborative efforts with his own family members was a matter of research and the product was a tribute to the great actor and producer. This was the penultimate, 49th episode.

And this one, just ended was the final one.
Before I sign off, for a short time at least, I want to assure that I shall be back, in a new, more interactive  format.

Leaving you with another song of 2017, aptly titled "khatam kahani" from the film Qareeb Qareeb Singlle

Shashi Kapoor: all in the family !

The demise of Shashi Kapoor brings to an end an era. He was part of the first family of Bollywood, which are still ruling the roost, thanks to charismatic stars of the current generation. Each member of the clan had his own  USP and as far as Shashi is concerned, it was his strikingly handsome appearance. 

There have been so many incidents and anecdotes about  Shashi Kapoor in the last week and mere repetition will not serve any purpose. So, I have decided to pay him a tribute by enumerating the films in which he acted alongside his family members ! 

The first such film was , Aag ( 1948)  in which he played the younger Raj. Aag was the first of 17 films produced by Raj Kapoor, the last being Prem Rog ( 1982). 

In the next RK Film, Awara ( 1951), Shashi again played the young Raj. Incidentally this was the first film to have  three generations of Kapoors ( Kal Aaj aur Kal was the second one !). Awara , in its credits has not only Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor, but also the father of Prithviraj, Diwan Basesarnath Kapoor. Though Shashi did not have any scenes with Raj ( not possible due to script !) and was not credited , it is a fact that he did play a role in the film. 

Shashi Kapoor actually got a chance to work with Raj Kapoor in 1983, in the film Vakeel Babu. Paired with Zeenat Aman, the film was one of the many forgettable films, except for the siblings coming together for one and only time. Raj had directed Shashi earlier in Satyam Shivam Sundaram ( 1978) , bowing to the wishes of his family and against his better judgenment. Raj had promised the role to Rajesh Khanna and had to apologise to the Superstar, saying" Kaka, main apne bachchon se haar gaya " 

In fact, for most of the period, Raj Kapoor had been a big supporting brother to Shashi. In the days when Shashi was having lots of work and was shattling to studios, working in three shifts to catch up with the workload, Raj cautioned him to take it easy. He evn told someone, "Shashi is like a taxi, keeps shuttling "

Even with Shammi , Raj was critical when he found the an advertisement on TV ( for Pan Parag_  had Shammi in the frame with Ashok Kumar. When questioned, Shammi said that he never had any film with the great actor, so when the advertisement wa offered, he grabbed it. raj was not amused.

With brother Shammi Kapoor, the " mere paas maa hai" actor collaborated in the film Jabse Tumhein Dekha hai ( 1963) , in which the two had a great qawwali together. It was an "item number" of sorts, the lead pair being Pradeep Kumar and Geeta Bali ( who was actually Shashi's bhabhi !). Incidentally, the two could not act together in many films. In Salaakhein ( 1976), a Shashi kapoor-Sulakshana Pandit starrer had Shammi playing a cameo as a truck driver. Ahsaas ( 1979) had both of them in Special Appearances, but not in a frame. The film Vivekananda ( 1994) also had both of them in brief roles. 

Shashi kapoor was paired with to-be- daughter-in-law Babita ( already dating nephew Randhir)  in to films : Haseena maan Jaayegi and Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati. Both had popular songs and it was not long before babita and Dabboo tied the knot ( early 70s) which put paid to the lead pair's future alliances. 

With the other prospective daughter-in-law Neetu Singh , Shashi acted in many films .However, in only two films did they play  romantically linked characters: Deewaar ( 1975) and Shankar Dada ( 1976). While the Deewar songs were popular ( though the film signalled the death-knell of music, as the LP had dialogues more prominently exhibited), it was the film Shankar Dada in which Shashi kapoor played a drag, in a mujra !

                                                            Shashi Kapoor in Shankar Dada

Shashi Kapoor acted with Randhir kapoor in two films Heeralal Pannalal ( 1978) where they played the conning duo. In the film Shashi was paired with Zeenat and randhir with Neetu ( another case of being all in the family, as Neetu was Dabboo's sister-in-law !)

Shashi Kapoor and nephew Rishi Kapoor acted in 6 films and were generally assigned the roles of father and son. 

In the film Doosra Aadmi, Rakhi is reminded of her dead husband( played by Shashi ), when she sees Rishi, making the latter infatuated with her.However, in the film Duniya Meri Jeb Mein ( 1979), the two played brothers ! 

The film in which Shashi acted alongside Rajiv Kapoor, his younger nephew was Hum To Chale Pardes ( 1998). The visuals indicate that he plays the father-in -law , Mandakini being his daughter and Asha Parekh ( in the photo) as his deceased wife.

With wife Jennifer Kendall, Shashi had acted in many plays under the direction of Geoffrey Kendall for the troupe Shakespearana. Based on this troupe, a film Shakespaearewallah was produced by Ivory Merchant, which had Shashi and Jennifer. In fact, Shashi was one of the earliest Hindi film actor to have crossed over, acting in many English films such as The Householder, Bombay Talkies. and Heat and Dust. The couple also acted in the film Junoon ( 1978), which  had daughter Sanjana and sons Karan and Kunal.  

The father-son combination of Shashi and Kunal gave  strong performances in Vijeta ( 1982), which was probably the earliest film in the "coming-of-age" genre. The conflict and its resolution had been portrayed effectively. In a song in Vijeta, both the father and son are in the frame, but at different parts: father in the beginning and son near the end. An artistic manner of showing the conflict.

 Vijeta   reminds us that Shashi kapoor was not only a serious actor, but a great producer , making meaningful films such as Junoon, Kalyug, Vijeta, 36 Chowringee Lane, Utsav and Ajooba. He  said once,"I may be making money from acting in masala films, but I choose to spend it making artistic films" 

Leaving you with the beautiful song from Vijeta.

ये लखनऊ की सरज़मीं

पिछले हफ्ते जब उत्तर प्रदेश में निकाय चुनावों के नतीजे आये तो हर राष्ट्रीय टी वी  चैनल पर उत्तर प्रदेश छा गया। लखनऊ में तो इन चुनावों का ज़ोर बहुत अधिक था। लखनऊ ले लोगों में ज़बरदस्त उत्साह और ऊर्जा थी और ऐसा लग रहा था कि ये चुनाव स्थानीय नहीं राष्ट्रीय हैं !  

  वैसे, लखनऊ में वो  बात तो है , जो और शहरों से भिन्न है।  इस बात का अहसास यहाँ  के बाशिंदों को भी  है,  कि लखनऊ की एक भूमिका  है,  देश के  भविष्य को निखारने में.

तो आज मैंने सोचा कि  क्यों न लखनऊ को हिंदी फिल्मों में कैसे दर्शाया गया है और किन गीतों में लखनऊ का नाम आया है, यही देखा जाए. और इसलिए यह लेख भी हिंदी में ही लिखने का फैसला किया। या यूँ  कहें,  हिंदी -उर्दू में जो बहनें है और यह पहली बार है कि  इस ब्लॉग-लेखन में मैं यह प्रयास कर रहा हूँ।

हिंदी फिल्मों  गीतों में लखनऊ का ज़िक्र सबसे पहले उन फिल्मों में  हुआ जो राम चरितमानस  या राम की कहानी पर बनीं. उस समय के हिसाब से यह क्षेत्र अवध के नाम से  था।  तीस और चालीस के दशक में राम -सीता पर अनेक फिल्में बनीं और लगभग सभी में अवध का उल्लेख है।  1939   संत तुलसीदास में पंडित इंद्र चंद्र का लिखा गीत ' बन चले राम रघुराई ' में उन्होंने लिखा अवधपुरी ने नर-नारी ने , आंसू नदी बहाई !

चालीस के दशक में वी  शांताराम ने एक फिल्म बनाई जो हिन्दू-मुस्लिम सौहार्द पर एक उत्कृष्ट प्रयास था. इस फिल्म में हिन्दू पात्र कलाकार मज़हर खान ने और मुस्लिम पात्र गजानन जागीरदार ने निभाया था. इस फिल्म के दो गीतों में अवधपुरी  की बात है ( शायद राम राज्य की कल्पना को साकार करने के लिए पहले अवध का ज़िक्र ज़रूरी है !)

                                                         अवधपुरी  में प्रेम ही छाया !

1949   फिल्म राम विवाह में भी अवधपुरी के बारे में गीतकार मोती ने कहा :

धन्य धन्य है अवधपुरी ,
धन्य वहाँ की फुलवारी
जहां राम ने जन्म लिया है 
धन्य वहाँ के नर - नारी

पचास के  दशक के प्रारम्भ में , लखनऊ को लेकर एक मज़ाहिया ( हास्य -व्यंग्य ) गीत लिखा गया फिल्म संसार ( 1951 ), जिसे फिर पंडित इंद्र ने लिखा। शायद वे   बम्बई ( जिस नाम से मुंबई को उस समय जाना जाता था ) से आजिज़ आ गए थे और जब कहीं लौटने की मंशा हुई  तो वो शहर था..... जी हाँ, लखनऊ !
जे एम् दुर्रानी और गीता दत्त के गाये हुए इस गीत का मज़ा लीजिये... फिर कुछ और गप -शप   होगी

लखनऊ चलो अब रानी, बम्बई का बिगड़ा पानी !

उसी दशक में एक और मज़ेदार गीत बना , फिल्म दिल्ली दरबार ( 1956 ) में, जिसे शैलेन्द्र ने लिखा था. ये था लखनऊ के बांके के बारे में।  शब्दों से स्पष्ट है कि  यह एक इत्र बेचने वाले  की पुकार है.  ज़ाहिर है, लखनऊ के इत्र की खुशबू दूर दूर तक फैली हुई है : देखो लखनऊसे बांका आया रे , ए  जी  ले लो इतर




                                      

सरस्वती कुमार ' दीपक ' ने  1957  में फिल्म 'सती  परीक्षा के लिए "छोड़ अयोध्या का महल, चली राम के साथ "लिखा , जिसमे भारत की नारी का गुणगान किया गया। 


साठ के  दशक   की शुरुआत में गुरु दत्त ने कागज़ के फूल की  आर्थिक असफलता से  जो फिल्म बनाई , वो भी पूरी तरह लखनऊ  पर आधारित थी। लखनऊ के नवाबों के विषय पर बनी ये फिल्म " चौदहवीं का चाँद " सुपर हिट हुई ( इस फिल्म का उल्लेख पहले के एक लेख में भी है जो इसी ब्लॉग में मुस्लिम सामाजिक परिवेश पर बानी फिल्मों के बारे में था )  ,  जबकि इसका निर्देशन मोहम्मद  सादिक़ के ज़िम्मे था. इस फिल्म में लखनऊ की तारीफ़ में एक लाजवाब गीत मोहम्मद रफ़ी द्वारा गाया हुआ था   : शकील बदायूनीं का क़लाम  और रवि का संगीत ... 
                                                       ये लखनऊ की सरज़मीं  !

  सरस्वती कुमार 'दीपक' ने 1960  में फिर अयोध्या छोड़ने पर एक गीत लिखा, इस बार राम पर  (" राम अयोध्या छोड़ चले")  जो कि  फिल्म रामायण में दिखाया गया. 

सन चौंसठ की फिल्म 'दूज के चाँद ' में साहिर लुधयानवी ने एक भजन  लिखा था।  ये भी एक कमाल की बात है कि जब जब गीतकारों और शायरों ने राम भजन   लिखे, अवध का वर्णन बरबस आ ही जाता था।  मन्ना डे ने इस फिल्म में दो गीत गाये , एक कॉमेडी वाला ( फुल गेंदवा न मारो ) और दूसरा , गीता दत्त के साथ   भजन. संगीत था रोशन का 

बिनती सुनो मेरी  , अवधपुर के बसिया 

ऐसे ही भजन साठ के   फिल्मों में शामिल किये  गए :रोये अवधपुर वासी -भरत  मिलाप ( 1965 ) और सरयू के नीरे तीरे अवध नगरिया --लव कुश( 1967 ), पर ये धार्मिक विषयों पर बनी फिल्में थीं , तो यह तो अपेक्षित ही था। 

1967  में एक मुस्लिम परिवेश की फिल्म ( जिन्हें आम बोलचाल की भाषा में मुस्लिम सोशल कहा जाता था : आजकल ये बननी   लगभग बंद हो गयी हैं  ) "पालकी " में फिर एक ग़ज़ल आयी लखनऊ को लेकर और इसे भी लिखा था शकील बदायुनी ने, इस बार नौशाद की तर्ज़ पर।  गुलूकार फिर रफ़ी और ज़िक्र फिर इस शहर का जो अपने में  एक अलग शख्सियत  रखता है जैसे 

ऐ शहर -ऐ -लखनऊ तुझे मेरा सलाम

तो आइये ज़रा चर्चा करें लखनऊ की कुछ ख़ास बातों की ...
तहज़ीब, नफासत-नज़ाक़त तो अब शायद इतनी रही नहीं। एक समय था  कहते थे कि लखनऊ  कोई पान की गिलौरी  लेता है तो मुहं में डालने के पहले  देखता है की आस पास कोई ऐसा तो नहीं है जिसे वो पहले पेश की जा सके ! एक बार अपने दोस्त  पर की लखनऊ की क्या खासियत है, मैंने यही बताया।  मेरे मारवाड़ी मित्र  ने कुछ देर सोचने के बाद उसने पूछा "  वाला पान ले  कर लेता है , तो भी क्या उसका पैसा पेश करने वाला देगा ?

"पहले आप - पहले आप" में गाड़ी  क्या सचमुच छूट गयी थी  नवाब साहब की गाड़ी , ये भी किसी ने पूछा था। जब मैं  छोटा था तो  एक बार एक टीचर ने मुझसे कहा की लखनऊ जा रहे हो , क्या लाओगे मेरे लिए, तो मैंने कहा की लखनऊ दशहरी आमों  के लिए और नवाबों के लिए जाना जाता है, आम का तो सीज़न  नहीं है , किसी नवाब को ही ले आऊंगा   !

दोआबे का क्षेत्र और इसकी  गंगा-जमनी तहज़ीब लखनऊ का अभिन्न अंग रहा है , परन्तु -   वक़्त के थपेड़ों ने इसकी आभा को धूमिल कर दिया है. अब बड़ी बड़ी, क्या कहते हैं 'एस यू वी' और उन पर लगे बड़ी अब्दी पार्टियों के झंडे कुछ और की कहानी कहते नज़र आ रहे हैं.

पान की बात हुई है तो बता दें की पान बनारस का ही नहीं, लखनऊ का  मशहूर है , और अगर गीतकार नक़्श लायलपुरी की मानें तो पनवाड़नें   भी जो पान बेचती हैं ,  1972 की फिल्म बाज़ीगर ( जी हाँ , इस नाम की एक फिल्म पहले भी बन चुकी है ) में उन्होंने लिखा था

पनवाड़न हूँ  मैं लखनऊ की !


                              


सत्तर के दशक में बजरंगबली ( १९७६) फिल्म भी बानी जिसमें दारा  सिंह ने प्रमुख भूमिका निभाई. राम बने थे बिस्वजीत और सीता थीं मौषुमी  चटर्जी।  बड़े अभिनेताओं के साथ बनी इस फिल्म में अवध के राजा के नाम से एक गीत तो होना ही था. हालांकि गीत देख कर लगता है कि ये  गीत इस दशक की की भी फिल्म से लिया जा सकता था



                                    

पहले बम्बई छोड़ कर लखनऊ जाने की बात हुई थी और  फिर 1979  में फिल्म 'सरकारी मेहमान ' में यही बात दिल्ली को लेकर होने लगी।  मसला  है की अगर लखनऊ छोड़ कर  तो ज़रूर लुट जाओगे , जैसे की जनाब हसरत जयपुरी साहब कहते हैं , जो ख़ुद जयपुर छोड़ कर  बम्बई जा बसे  !


                                



इसके बाद लगता है , लखनऊ का जलवा कुछ कम हो गया, फिल्मों में और इसके बावजूद कि
 लखनऊ की पृष्ठभूमि पर उमराव जान और शतरंज के खिलाडी जैसी उम्दा फिल्में बनीं, लखनऊ का नाम हिंदी फिल्मों के गीतों में आने से बचता रहा.
 निर्देशक सुधीर मिश्रा की पहली कृति "ये वो मंज़िल तो नहीं " लखनऊ विश्वविद्यालय की याद ताज़ा करती है और अभी हाल में बनी फिल्म " मैं , मेरी पत्नी और वो " में भी इस संस्थान की और लखनऊ के अन्य स्थानों की झलक देखी  जा सकती है।    अक्सर फिल्मों की शूटिंग लखनऊ में यदा कदा  होती रही है ( जैसे जॉली एल एल  बी २ ) और कई चर्चित गाने लखनऊ में फिल्माए गए , पर वो कहानी फिर सही !

एक और चर्चित फिल्म थी   दावत - ए  - इश्क़ जिसमें  लखनऊ और उसके लज़ीज़ खाने को  मद्दे नज़र रखा गया है।

इसी बात पर मुझे अपने लिखे अशआर याद आ गए , सो पेश हैं 

एक दस्तरख्वान गोया ज़िन्दगी है/
खट्टी-मीठी और कसैली सालनों की//

अब तो ईदी और सिवैयां को भी तरसे /
ये मिला है माह भर रोज़ों के बदले //

आज बू-ऐ- ज़ाफ़रान आई कहाँ से ?
मेरे घर में कोई मेहमां तो नहीं है ?

इतना सारा प्यार और मीठी सी झिडकी /
गोया चूरन दे दिया , दावत खिला कर //

लखनऊ प्रायः  फिल्मकारों की दृष्टि से लुप्त हो गया , ऐसा लगा.
हाँ, अयोध्या और राम जन्म भूमि के मामले ने तूल  पकड़ा तो हिंदी फिल्म के गीतफरोशों ने उस पर भी गाने लिख मारे।  1989 में फिल्म 'बड़े घर की बेटी ' में  अयोध्या जैसा होने की कामना की गयी है। 


                                  


इधर पिछले कुछ वर्षों में एक बार फिर यह नाम लौटा   2003 में फिल्म बाग़बान में "होली खेले रघुबीरा , अवध में" ,  से इस राम की नगरी ने वापसी की. इस फिल्म ने कुछ पुराने मूल्यों की भी वापसी कराई और इसीलिए ये सराही गयी थी


                           

2010 की फिल्म राइट या रॉंग में लखनऊ की एक और खासियत का वर्णन है जो अभी तक छूटा हुआ था : जी हाँ, (टुंडे )कबाब , पर  गीतों के तेज़ी से गिरते हुए स्तर  को देखते हुए,  आश्चर्य नहीं कि  "लखनवी कबाब"  की तुलना "कुड़ी  के शबाब"  से की जा रही है. !


तेज़ी से बदलते समय में तकनीक ने रफ़्तार को और भी बढ़ा दिया. यही कारण है कि  बचपन की 'अमर चित्र काठ आज एनीमेशन फिल्मों के रूप में पेश की जा  रही है।  ऐसी ही एक फिल्म आयी 2012 में , नाम था "सन्ज़  ऑफ़ राम" जिसमें अयोध्या को लेकर एक मनभावन गीत भी था।  ये वास्तव में देखने लायक है !


                                                 

एक फिल्म लखनवी इश्क़ ( 2015 ) भी आयी पर उसके  एक गीत में नवाबों के शहर तक आ कर बात रुक गयी.

अब एक और लखनऊ की ख़ास बात है जो अभी तक नहीं बतायी. और वो है चिकन का कुरता।  पर घबराइए नहीं, हिंदी फिल्म वालों ने उसके लिए भी एक गीत रचा है, फिल्म का नाम है लाल दुपट्टा ( 2016 ) !
तो जाते जाते, आपको इसी गीत "लाल दुपट्टा , कुर्ता  चिकन का "  के साथ छोड़े जा रहा हूँ जिसमें हीरोइन कहती है कि  वो लखनऊ से है और लिफ्ट लेने को तैयार है !

धन्य हो !

 

                                         

And the Beauty Queen is...

The crowning of Manushi Chhillar as Miss World has brought back the memories of 1994, when Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai hit the international scene with Miss World and Miss Universe in the same year. The beautiful ladies inspired a whole generation of young girls to pursue the Beauty Pageant scene seriously.

However, the saga of crowning Beauty Queens internationally dates back to 1951.The oldest such pageant is Miss World which began in that year. It was only in 1966 that an Asian could win the crown and it was Reita Faria, a medical student. She was offered films but declined and pursued her career as a doctor.

There are four major beauty pageants internationally, for women. These are Miss World, Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth.   In the country, too Miss India was being crowned since 1947. Barring a few years , the contest has been held regularly. Traditionally the Miss India Winner was sent to Miss Universe and the runner up was sent to Miss World. However,  since 2013 
 a separate pageant Miss Diva  has been held to send delegates to Miss Universe and the Miss India winner will represent India at Miss World annually. Miss Asia pageant started in 1965 and Indian contestants have won this challenge too, apart from the big two.


Many of these beautiful ladies have acted in Hindi films. it will be worthwhile to recount various  Beauty Queens, who made a mark in Bollywood.

The Forties
Pramila ( Esther Victoria Abraham) was the 1947 Miss India who had a film career from 1935  to 1961.She was last seen, at the age of 89, in the Marathi film Thaang in 2006, just before her death. The song presented is from her film Basant ( 1942), which had, incidentally a nine - year old child artiste who grew up to become Madhubala, the uncrowned Beauty Queen of Hindi cinema !

The Fifties

 In 1952, two contests were held and the winners were  Indrani Rehman and Nutan. 
Indrani participated in Miss World , but could not win it. She devoted herself to dance and did not pursue a film career, Nutan excelled at acting and had a great track record and is known to be one of the most expressive actresses, ever. She won the maximum number of Filmfare awards. Her portrayal of complex characters is  unmatched.  This is a song from one of her early films Shabab.

Then in 1953 Peace Kanwal was crowned Miss India , but India's challenge was withdrawn in Miss Universe that year.The very next year Leela Naidu won Miss India, but there was no participation in the international representation. Peace Kanwal acted with talat Mehmood in the film Dil-e-Nadaan , whose songs were very popular.

Fleur Ezekiel was the 1959 winner of Miss India , who was the first one to represent the country in Miss Universe, but could not win. She also did not make hindi films   her career.

The Sixties

 The  contestant representing India in Miss World 1965 was Persis Khambata. Though she was unplaced in the final title, she did win Miss Photogenic.She debuted in K.A.Abbas's Bambai Raat Ki Baahon Mein in 1967 and was featured in the title song.  However, she earned fame in Hollywood as part of the crew in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for which she went bald. She became one of the early artistes to cross over to Hollywood.

The SeventiesThe first ever Femina Miss India title-holder to win an international pageant  was the 70s icon Zeenat Aman. She was crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific and went on to win Miss Asia Pacific 1970 held  in Philippines. She had a resounding film career and was the style icon, a deviation form the usual "sati-savitri"  image of hindi film heroine. 

The organisers of beauty contests are often accused of objectifying women. Probably that's why , they include in their schedule  a segment where the participants answer a question to show that the whole thing is about "beauty with brains". it is difficult to understand how far that is acceptable to discerning audience, but this is the current trend. 

Zeenat Aman proved that she had enough acumen to survive in Hindi films and get popular, acting with big banners for  a long time.

There were other 70s winners, too appearing hindi films, but with far less success than Zeenat Aman. In 1971 Prema Narayan was Miss India and in 1978 Kalpana Iyer won the crown, both getting supporting roles in Hindi films, never to be considered the leading ladies.

The 1976 Miss India, Naina Balsavar did not compete in the Miss World pageant that year due to the presence of South African candidates , in line with the apartheid policy of the country. She acted in a film Raakh, some 13 years later.The runner up Nafisa Ali did act in the films but intermittently.

In 1979, Swaroop Sampat  won the Miss India contest and  was our representative in Miss Universe that year. She subsequently joined hindi films and also did TV serials such as Ye Jo Hai Zindagi on DD. 

The Eighties 

The 80s saw five Miss Indias taking up a film career. Sangeeta Bijlani , in 1980 and Sonu Walia in 1985 had a lukewarm popularity in films ( though she did a lot of films: 20 releases in 1991!) and were known more for off-screen activities. Sangeeta married Azharuddin ( the film-cricket nexus is another theme altogether !).
Sonu Walia won Filmfare Supporting Actress award, too but as a lead heroine , her chances were restricted. Sahila Chaddha , in 1983, was even less successful as an actress.


The 1981 runner up Meenakshi Seshadri, however, had a fairly successful tenure as a mainstream heroine. Her performances have been critically acclaimed, apart from being commercially successfully, too.

The beauty queen to have really hit the jackpot was Juhi Chawla, the Miss India Universe 1984. Though her debut film Sultanat was not remarkable, she made a comeback in the 90s with better roles and made hit pairs with all heroes of 90s. She graduated into supporting roles with ease and is considered an accomplished actress, apart from turning a producer with Shah Rukh Khan.

And so, we come to the Nineties, the happening era of Beauty Queens. Before the duo of Sen & Rai hit the headlines, we had Madhu Sapre ( 1992) and Namrata Shirodhkar ( 1993) being crowned Miss India , but had no  international recognition. Both joined films and had short lived careers, since they were relying solely on the beauty queen charisma but lacking histrionics. Pooja Batra , the 1993 Miss India International also had a brief film career.

Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai were crowned Miss India and first runner up, respectively. That is why Sen went on to Miss Universe and Rai to Miss World. The double whammy of both Indians topping the contest inspired a lot of girls back home to follow the footsteps. Both entered films and Rai was the more popular one, also being chosen for the Pink Panther series in Hollywood.  

The 90s continued to churn out Miss Worlds and Miss Universes who were Indians.

Diana Hayden  won the Femina Miss India contest in 1997 and was crowned Miss World 1997.  

In 1999, India had a double delight again, as Yukta Mookhey won Miss World and Gul Panag was in the top 10 of Miss Universe. Both joined Hindi films and were successful in varying degrees. While Mookhey debuted in Pyaasa ( 2002), Panag had Dhoop ( 2003) as her first film.

The new millennium saw more success for Indians in the beauty pageants. A triple triumph was in store ! 

Lara Dutta got the Miss Universe 2000  tiara becoming only the second woman from India   to be crowned with the title. She has been the last one, too. At the same time Priyanka Chopra was the winner of the Miss World   2000  pageant and Diya Mirza won the Miss Asia -pacific. The only time a country had won all three in the same year was Australia in 1972. Priyanka has been a prolific performer, having acted and sung in films. She has also been part of international series Quantico.

In the last few years there have been fewer beauty queens taking up a film career. Those who took up the challenge found it difficult and had fewer films than earlier aspirants.

Gayatri Joshi, the 2000 Miss India International had a solitary Swades to her name.Miss India 2001 Celina Jaitely was the 4th Runner Up in Miss Universe that year. In 2003, Neha Dhupia was placed in top 10 in Miss Universe. Tanushree Dutta in 2004 was placed top 10 is Miss Universe and Sayali Bhagat, the same year was Miss India World, both getting into films. Puja Gupta, the Miss India in 2007 won Miss Universe that year and Esha Gupta was the Miss India International. Simran Kaur Mundi , the 2008 Miss India also got into films with Jo Hum Chaahein ( 2011).

Interestingly, while the first Indian  to win Miss World was Reita Faria in 1966, the first Indian to win Mister World was  Rohit Khandelwal in 2016, a full 50 years later !

One doesn't know if Manushi Chhillar will become a heroine or not, but if she does, she has a stiff challenge to scale the heights which some of her predecessors have done.

  Leaving you with a song of Urvashi Rautela, the Miss India 2013, from the 2017 film Kaabil, which says it all:

सारा ज़माना , हसीनों का दीवाना  !