Monday, September 5, 2011

Bollywood Bindas: 1930s to 60s


 The article below was originally written as a radio documentary for CityFM89 - as a three part series on the music of Bollywood - Bollywood Bindas. This is part one: 



March 14th 1931: The Imperial Film Company’s Alam Ara was released. The Indian film song was born – the first Indian talkie - didn’t just talk it sang. The plot was just a tool to string together a dozen songs The centuries of song, dance and music in Indian theatre found its way to the silver screen……


Alam Ara opened the flood gates for the Indian musical and there has been no looking back since then. We follow the evolution of the mega industry through song. Indian cinema has always been about the song. When there is overwhelming emotion – love, hatred, heartbreak or desire – spoken word is not enough. It has to be sung….


Kundan Lal Saigal sang for and starred in P C Barua’s original Devdas. Possibly, India’s first superstar -  Saigal - worked exclusively for New Theatres Studio. Early Bollywood was much like present day Hollywood – with each studio employing its own directors, stars and music directors. Early film songs were very simple in terms of music, lyrics and orchestration. Artists sang their own songs – picturized in a single shot, live. A harmonium and tabla were used out of the camera with a cleverly hidden microphone…….Timeless melodies were still created….


 Sometime during the 40s - the studio system collapsed  and freelancers took over. Music production became more specialized. The industry opened its doors to professional musicians and singers. We saw the rise of truly great singers like  Noor Jehan, Talat Mehmood and Shamshad Begum. Possibly the greatest movie of the 40s was Andaz – produced by Mehboob Khan, starring Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis…..and music by Naushad….was the first of many dark, super star studded,  love triangles to follow in the story of Indian film…


During the 1950s, the number of film makers increased while the number of cinema houses remained the same. The days when exhibitors worried about not having enough films to show were now gone. Power shifted from the producer to the distributor and exhibitor and they knew exactly what they wanted – star power… stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nargis achieved demi-god status. It was at this time that we saw the rise of the nightingale of India  – Lata Mangeshkar - often pairing up with soulful men like Hemant Kumar, Manna Dey and Mukesh – singing the tunes of SD Burman, OP Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishen. Movies were now bigger than ever – beautiful leading men and women, sensational singers and magical music directors. 1952’s swashbuckling epic Aan featured a dashing Dilip Kumar taming an unruly princess…in fact Mehboob Khan’s Aan was the first movie to make it to international cinemas


Peshawar born Raj Kapoor continued to charm audiences across the world with his tramp like image – (start with ‘awara hoon’) film historians speak of him as the Charlie Chaplin of the East – with endearingly memorable roles in Shree 420, Chori Chori and Awara…


On the other hand, Dilip Kumar – born Yusuf Khan in Peshawar – was crowned the ‘tragedy king.’ He is considered to be one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema – with his performances being the epitome of emotion. When talking about the Indian tragedy Dilip Kumar’s Devdas and Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa cannot be ignored. Pyaasa is the only Indian film to be featured on the Time magazine’s list of 100 greatest movies of all time.

Indian cinema continued to create waves with  critically acclaimed masterpiece by Satyajit Ray and Mehboob Khan’s Mother India. It is rumored that the then Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kassim made his way to the cinema the day the movie was released in Baghdad. It was truly the Golden Age of Indian cinema and it was  truly endearing – with coy romances, soulful tragedies and stirring patriotism – which are the mainstay of Indian cinema to date.


 The 60s changed the sound of Indian cinema. The greatest male playback singers to date – Kishore Kumar and Rafi ruled supreme – as did Lata and Asha. Rahul Dev Burman was unstoppable – producing hit after hit. The 60s literally exploded on to the screen with brightly colored romances ­– with funky tunes and some crazy moves….by the likes of Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Asha Parekh and Mumtaz…


During the 60s, Bollywood concentrated on light entertainment using powerhouse actors and singers to bring to fill up the cinema halls. In 1964, film maker and actor Raj Kapoor visited Switzerland for the first time to film Sangam – while the movie was not a novel idea – the trend of shooting in exotic locales had now begun…and it was here to stay....


It was an age when people were truly in love with the silver screen – it was everything we wanted to be – beautiful, in love and dancing.  The logical conclusion to this devotion was a love affair of many young girls with the one and only Rajesh Khanna….


Rajesh Khanna formed a playback partnership with none other than the great Kishore Kumar. Many of the biggest hits of 60s and 70s were sung by Kishore and picturised on Rajesh Khanna. Kishore remains unmatched in his range and style. He is possibly the greatest male voice of India. (sound clip where he says he knows nothing about the ragas) It is unimaginable to think of Indian film music without Kishore – he created timeless moments for many of us – and continues to do so. 







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