An enchanting musical journey..revisiting the golden age of hindi film music!

For once I am dead sure that almost anyone who has grown up over the years listening to Hindi music on reading this will be in accord with me when I say that Hindi cinema had its golden era of music between the 1950's through the 80's and the standard of music and lyrics has steadily come down ever since with a few exceptions. I wanted to write a piece on the golden era of hindi film music which has really been a great source of joy for me for years..By providing the video links I am just making an effort to make reading this blog a little more useful rather truly a more melody filled journey!..

I made a pretty late entry to the world of old hindi songs in say about 1996-97 when I was about 14. Now I just cant imagine a day without listening to a few classics or humming them incessantly..I just felt like writing about the phase in Hindi cinema which brought the greatest joy to the audience be it in terms of quality cinema and more so for its extraordinary music which has left an indelible mark....

The 1940's i.e before independence had a few good songs and set the tone for what was to follow..some of the greats who sang and composed in this phase included the genius K.L Saigal who sang the immortal classic Soja Rajkumari in the movie Zindagi (1940) and the great composer Pankaj Mullick. These greats turned out to be the inspiration for a host of great singers who followed...

Post independence years saw the greatest playback singers in the Mohammed Rafi who had a voice like velvet and the nightingale of Indian cinema Lata Mangeshkar. The other dazzling performers included the versatile genius Kishore Kumar, the evergreen Asha Bhonsle, Manna Dey who made classical singing seem a stroll, Mukesh whose melancholic numbers are unforgettable and many more wonderful talents..The best songs between 1948-1950 include the evergreen and amazing Aaiye meherbaan from the movie Howrah Bridge sung by Asha Bhonsle and the haunting Aayega Aanewala from the movie Mahal sung by Lata Mangeshkar which immortalized Madhubala..

The 1950's had some glorious music composed by the great S.D Burman, Naushad and O.P Nayyar. 1952 saw the movie Baiju Bawra released which had the classic combination of Mohd Rafi(singer), Naushad (music) and Shakeel Badayuni (lyrics). One of the most popular songs from the movie was O Duniya ke Rakhwale sung quite wonderfully by Mohd Rafi..

Other great songs from the early 1950's included the legendary number
Yeh Zindagi Usiki hai from the movie Anarkali, Chandni raatein sung by Lata and Hemant Kumar from the movie Jaal..

By the mid 1950's Lata and Rafi were the leading singers and almost every movie had them doing playback..some of my personal favorites from this phase include the smooth as silk voice of Talat Mahmood crooning Jalte hain Jiske liye from the movie Sujata set to tune beautifully by the legend S.D Burman and the quite extraordinary classical duet Ketaki Gulab Juhi sung by the inimitable doyen of Hindustani music Bhimsen Joshi and the master of classical tunes Manna Dey from the movie Basant Bahar..

Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar had some fantastic movies in this phase and needless to say they had great songs. Raj Kapoor's Shree 420 released in 1955 and Chori Chori in 1956 had two classic melodies by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar i.e. the evergreen romantic number Pyar hua Ikraar hua and the pleasant Aaja Sanam respectively..



Dilip Kumar starred in the huge hit Madhumathi opposite Vyjayanthi Mala and this movie which had music by Salil Chowdhary raised the level of music to dizzy heights..of the many classic songs from this movie Mukesh's Suhana Safar and Lata's immortal Aaja Re Pardesi stand out..Meanwhile Dev Anand was also becoming a hugely popular star and perhaps his most famous number in the 1950's was the still popular Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle duet Chod do Aanchal from the movie Paying Guest.






The 1950's set the stage for what I believe was simply the greatest two decades of Hindi film music i.e. the 60's and 70's. Innumerable classics graced Bollywood then and the songs from this time are without a shadow of doubt still the most popular be it for remixes or in the casual Antakshari..


In 1960, three classic movies released including K Asif's magnum opus Mughal E Azam which had the immortal love song Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya picturized on the breathtaking beauty Madhubala and rendered by the one and only Lata. Also another great song from the same movie was Mohe Panghat sung by Lata Mangeshkar and set to tune by the great Naushad Ali.

Also in the year 1960 Mohammed Rafi sang the evergreen classical Madhuban mein Radhika naache for Dilip Kumar in the movie Kohinoor and the one and only Chaudhvin ka chand from the movie by the same name picturized on the legendary actor Gurudutt and the stunning Waheeda Rehman.

Hum Dono, a movie starring Dev Anand and Sadhana was released in 1961 and this movie even if not very famous had the most extraordinary songs. Music was supposed to have been composed by the legend S.D Burman, but he backed out due to some rift and fortunately for music lovers, his student Jaidev agreed to compose. Among the great songs in this movie, Abhi na jao chodkar sung by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhonsle is my personal favorite and according to me, it is probably the best romantic duet of all time. The other fantastic songs in this movie include the divine prayer Allah tero naam, the classic Main Zindagi ka saath nibaatha chala incidentally Sachin Tendulkar's favorite song too..and the wonderful Kabhi Khud pe sung by Rafi.





Other glorious songs from early 1960' include Rafi's superb Ehsan Tera Hoga from Junglee, Lata's wonderful Aapki Nazron ne samjha from the movie Anpadh, Mohd Rafi's superb rendition of Chaahoonga mein tujhe from the movie Dosti which gave Laxmikant Pyarelal their first award on their debut as music directors..My personal favorite during the early 60's is the most moving and melodious Poocho na kaise sung by the great Manna Dey in the movie Meri Surat Teri Aankhen..

1965-66 saw some very different and innovative music coming to the forefront along with the old style classics such as Guide which had among its numerous melodies, the gem Tere mere sapne sung by Mohd Rafi for Dev Anand..

O.P Nayyar, who unbelievably never composed a single song for Lata Mangeshkar despite she being the undisputed queen of the music industry brought out the classic Kashmir Ki Kali which starred the man who changed the face of the hero in movies Shammi Kapoor and the young Sharmila Tagore..This movie was a smash hit and its songs are still extremely popular..The best ones being Yeh Chand sa roshan chehra ,Deewana hua baadal and Isharon Isharon mein.

R.D Burman, who was the son of the legendary S.D Burman revolutionized hindi film music by fusion with Western tunes and with it ushered in a new era and redefined composing..Also known as Pancham, he went on to become arguably the greatest music director in Hindi cinema..The movie Teesri Manzil starring Shammi Kapoor had the superb numbers Aaja Aaja, O hasina zulfon and O mere sona which still get people's feet tapping..

Other fantastic songs in the 1960's include the peppy Kajra Mohabbat wala from Kismat, the haunting Naina Barse
and Lag ja gale from Woh Kaun thi and the mesmerizing Zara Si Aahat from Haqeeqat..

The fantastic 60's set the pace for the simply outstanding 1970's which brought to the forefront great actors and the genius of Kishore Kumar in full swing..

1969-70 saw the release of Shakti Samant's Aaradhana which turned out to be one of the greatest musical hits of all time..This movie brought together Rajesh Khanna who soon became the superstar of Hindi cinema and the beautiful Sharmila Tagore. The songs from that movie have captured the imagination of music lovers for decades and continue to enthrall..Be it the evergreen Mere Sapnon ki Rani and Roop tera Mastana sung for Rajesh Khanna by the inimitable Kishore Kumar, the great duets Gunguna rahe hein and Kora Kaagaz tha or the wonderful Chanda hai tu sung by Lata Mangeshkar, this movie's songs have held a special place in the hindi music lover's heart and will continue to do so..

1970 also saw the release of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anand. A truly fascinating movie set on the last few months of a cancer patient portrayed to perfection by Rajesh Khanna and a performance par excellence by a then not so famous Amitabh Bachchan..This movie had a few beautiful songs including one of my all time favorites Kahin Door jab sung brilliantly by Mukesh..

Mera Naam Joker of Raj Kapoor released about the same time. Though the movie bombed the melancholic songs Jaane kahan gaye woh din and Jeena yahan marna yahan are immortal and their rendition by Mukesh is simple fantastic..

Buoyed by Aaradhana's extraordinary success, Shakti Samant brought out Amar Prem again starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore..Kishore Kumar had by then become the voice of Bollywood and his ability to sing fast numbers and yet be the master of the slow/sad songs was exceptional.Rajesh Khanna's success in films was definitely in part attributed to Kishore's mastery while singing for him just like Mohd Rafi brought out his best while singing for Shammi Kapoor in the 1960's..

Amar Prem composed by R.D Burman had the classic Chingari koi bhadke sung by Kishore and the everlasting gem Raina beeti jaye sung quite amazingly by lata Mangeshkar..Andaz, which was another movie released about then had the hugely popular Kishore-Rajesh combination bring out the trendy number Zindagi ek safar ...

By about 1972-73, nearly every film placed a huge emphasis on quality music and songs and this was just what the film goer wanted..fantastic songs kept coming and it was truly the golden age of hindi film music..

Abhimaan, which was another movie directed by the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee starred the then popular Amitabh Bachchan who had risen to stardom following Zanjeer(1972)..and the diminutive Jaya Bhaduri. The movie focused on the subject of music and the songs turned out to be a great treat..Music was composed by S.D Burman and each song was exceptional. The best of the lot were Tere Mere milan sung by Kishore and Lata and the beautifully picturized Teri bindiya sung by Mohd Rafi and Lata..

Some of the other movies around the same time included Raj kapoor's smash hit Bobby in which he introduced his son Rishi Kapoor and a younge Dimple Kapadia..the most popular songs from this movie included Main shayar to nahin and Hum tum ek kamre. Anamika, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri had a couple of great songs in Meri bheegi bheegi and Bahon mein chale aao.

Yaadon ki Baarat had music by R.D Burman and the classic Chura Liya hai is till date possibly the most popular song from that period..

Other personal favorites of mine from the early 1970's include Bole re papihara sung splendidly by Vani Jayaram from Guddi and the best of sad songs Zindagi ka safar from the movie Safar.



The mid to late 70's had the greatest hindi movie of all Sholay which had the ever popular song Yeh Dosti ..Other notable songs from this period include the wonderful and all time favorite Kabhi Kabhie from the movie Kabhi Kabhie, Kya hua tera vada from the movie Hum kisi se kam nahin which marked a memorable return for Mohd Rafi when he bagged the filmfare award for the song..Some of my other personal favorites inlcude Jab Deep jale from chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Dil Kya kare sung quite superbly by Kishore Kumar in the movie Julie..and the exceptional O saathi re by Kishore Kumar from the Amitabh starrer Muqaddar ka sikander..

The 1980's also had some fantastic songs such as Tere mere beech from the Kamal Hassan starrer Ek Duje ke liye, Dil Cheez kya hai portaying the ravishing Rekha in Umrao Jaan..In general though, atleast from a personal point of view, the quality of songs and movies came down slowly but steadily all through the decade..There were some notable songs but great numbers never flowed with the regularity of the previous two decades...Some other great songs like Papa kehte hain were seen again in the Aamir Khan Juhi Chawla starrer Qayamat se Qayamat tak..

1942 a love story starring Anil kapoor had the legendary R.D Burman composing for the final time and it turned out to be a movie filled with a few great songs..the best ones being Ek ladki ko dekha , Kuch na kaho . The 1990s did have a few great numbers till about the middle and ever since there has been a very steady decline in quality which is something rather unfortunate..

I am extremely fortunate that I have had the chance to be able to listen to the glorious years of playback i.e. between 1950-80's and assimilate some knowledge on the great songs, singers and composers of that period..It truly has been a wonderful and enchanting musical journey and I never feel better than the moments when I listen to these classics..!

PS: These songs are mostly the ones that came to my mind at the time of writing this piece..am very sure I have missed many great ones..It certainly is not intentional..I will be more than glad to hear from any of you about some other ones that I may have missed mentioning..



Disclaimer: The images displayed and video links provided are purely used for informational purposes and to enhance the blog's readability.