Subhash K Jha lists the inimitable Mohammad Rafi's most endearing romantic songs.
Beyond the boundaries drawn on maps, beyond the noise of rivalry, beyond wins and losses, friendship has found a way to endure, to grow, and to quietly prove that some connections are stronger than borders.
Mohammad Rafi had a powerful range that could accommodate anything from the sublime O duniya ke rakhwale for Bharat Bhushan in Baiju Bawra to the eccentric Badan pe sitare lapete huye for Shammi Kapoor in Prince.
S D Burman enjoyed a productive partnership with Dev Anand's production house Navketan for two decades, but their collaboration reached its apogee with Guide.
S D Burman is that unique composer who remained successful right up to his death with his creative engines never running on empty.
Rafi's daughter-in-law Yasmin has showcased his life in words, in her book titled Mohammad Rafi, My Abba- A Memoir, which was launched on November 25.
In 1973, several major leading ladies like Mumtaz, Raakhee, Jaya Bhaduri, Dimple Kapadia, Tanuja, had married and retired from films. Producers wanted a new heroine as a replacement. Many thought Sulakshana was a Mumtaz lookalike and was soon persuaded to sign on multiple films as a leading lady.
The six songs were recorded way back in 1980 under the baton of ace music director Chitragupta for the film Sorry Madam.
Sonu Niigaam pays tribute to the legend by belting out some of Rafi's hits.
According to the victim's family, she was stabbed over two dozen times with the screwdriver, with several wounds in her private parts.
'Guru Dutt taught me that pitying oneself can be beautiful, and that heartbreak is cinematic.'
'Panchamda created an exclusive theme music for Gabbar Singh, which is used throughout the film every time the dacoit makes an appearance, and in both concept and sound, is so eerie and evil.'
Manoj Kumar's musical imprints are as deep as his cinematic ones.
'He had wanted to present me in the likes of the heroines of the 60s whose churidar-kurta look with winged eyeliner and bouffant had captivated fashionistas at the time.'
'He used to do his homework before singing a song.' 'He used to find out who the hero of the movie would be or the situation in which the song would play in the film.' 'Accordingly, he moulded his voice.' 'For example, he sang Tel Maalish and Main Bambai Ka Babu for Johnny Walker in Johnny Walker style.' 'He would sing in different tones for Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Guru Dutt.'
'The core group from Pune, which bought arms, trained people, carried out intelligence gathering and participated in all the stages of the battle, consisted of RSS volunteers.' 'The Pune group raised resources with the help of three stalwarts from the film industry.' 'The stalwarts were Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and C Ramchandra.'
Dadra and Nagar Haveli, now a Union Territory, were occupied by the Portuguese in 1783 and 1785, respectively. They continued to be ruled by the Portuguese till an armed revolution liberated them, and the Tricolour was unfurled at Silvassa on 2 August 1954.
Sukanya Verma remembers some of his greatest solo numbers in our fondly curated playlist.
Subhash K Jha celebrates the Ram Mandir pran pratishtha ceremony by picking some memorable Ram bhajans from movies you may not have heard of.
Sukanya Verma lists 25 unforgettable Dilip Kumar melodies to love and listen to.
'It was not a love affair, it was much more.'
'I came into politics to bring a smile on people's faces.'
With the monsoon sweeping across many parts of India, Subhash K Jha picks 5 of his favourite romantic rain songs.
The police personnel have been deployed around the mosque area where a massive clash had erupted between two groups on February 15 over the installation of 'toran dwar' (entry gate) on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
'Rafi Saab was such a skilled singer he could create any mood through his voice.'
The famous song, sung by Mohammad Rafi, from the movie 'Shaheed', released in 1965, has gone viral on social media.
Hrishida's Abhimaan captured the real life pair Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan's dazzling chemistry in the many stages of the husband-wife relationship, observes Sukanya Verma.
'It's amazing how many different kinds of patriotic songs we have in our country.'
Subhash K Jha lists the inimitable Mohammad Rafi's five most enduring romantic songs.
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday asked the Kejriwal government to rename 40 villages with "Mughal era names" after freedom-fighters, artistes, and "martyrs" including Ankit Sharma and Ratan Lal who were killed in communal riots in the city in February 2020.
Subhash K Jha salutes the evergreen, effervescent, Jaggu Dada.
Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan had brief roles, almost guest appearances, which they did for Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee's sake, reveals Subhash K Jha.
Much, much, much before Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani fussed over What Jhumka, Asha Bhosle trilled in her alluring voice and teased us with tantalising details about the events leading to her precious Jhumka's loss. Sukanya Verma celebrates the singing legend who turns 90 on September 8.
In 1991, The Guinness Book of Records listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artist in the world with not less than '30,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs' recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987.
Over the years she directed the country's collective mood so masterfully -- and so often -- that it remains impossible to overestimate her impact on our perception of Hindi cinema as a whole, notes Raja Sen.
Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Bimal Roy, feels Manna Dey never received the popularity Kishore Kumar or Mohammad Rafi had, as he was too humble for the glamorous world of Bollywood.
In this excerpt from his memoir Memories Come Alive: An Autobiography, Dey pays tribute to the musicians who accompanied him on the musical journey of the good old days.
We will continue to be enthralled by your golden oldies we grew up with, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
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