Sholay and more: A musical tribute to 20 Bollywood movies turning 40 this year

Apart from Sholay and Deewar, there are several other movies that turn 40 this year! Let's go retro and rewind to 1975. That was when we had jubilee hits with stories, songs, actors, actresses, directors, music composers, lyricists, back stage artists coming together to create magic on silver screen. Unlike today’s race for fastest 100 crores or 500 crores in multiplexes and single screens, back then, the commercial aspects of box office must have been a different story altogether. Today, I can only imagine how terrific it must've been to be a movie buff in that age, it must've been like a canvas filled with different colours - romance, crime thrillers, comedy, social drama, devotional stories and so on! 5 releases of Amitabh Bachchan, 3 of Gulzar... In fact, the emotional side of these movies seem to complement each other, than competing!

Collage made with pictures from the Web

It was a golden year for the trio RD Burman-Gulzar-Kishore Kumar (and Asha Bhosle) with Shailendra Singh and Bhupinder finding their niche with unique renditions! The year also had some soul stirring lyrics, beautifully woven into the screenplay. The Salil Chaudhury song Na jaane kyon hota hai zindagi ke saath and Aaye tum yaad mujhe gaane lagi har dhadkan by S D Burman and Ek din bik jaayega mati ke mol by R D Burman are iconic of the times. Apart from Sholay other movies that were hits (huge and moderate hits, may be) were: Chupke Chupke, Deewar, Aandhi, Dharam Karam, Julie, Sanyasi, Mili,  Amanush, Jai Santoshi Maa, Choti si baat, Khushboo, Rafoo Chakkar, Mausam, Khel kel mein, Nishant, Kala sona, Geet Gata Chal, Faraar, Zameer. Let's reconstruct the year and go back in time to feel how it must have been!

Sholay, a landmark movie with so many legendary things about it. This multi starrer is ever green for its story, characters, screenplay and dialogues serving as a school for aspiring film makers. The song I like most from this movie:


Deewar by Yash Chopra had story and dialogues that will be remembered for ever. The dramatic clash between two brothers is epitomized in the immortal dialogues like tum sign karoge ya nahin... It was another hit from Salim-Javed that brought the best out of Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor. I love the song maine tujhe maanga tujhe paaya hai

Chupke Chupke, a multi starrer, gave us a classic comedy, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Some of the most memorable scenes from this movie were between Dharmendra and Om Prakash. Though the title song is always refreshing to listen to, enjoy ab ke sajan sawan mein for the way it was picturized on Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore.

Aandhi, the political drama had the best of Gulzar, Sanjeev Kumar, RD Burman and Kishore Kumar. This combo might have done several other movie but nothing can beat the soulful duets with Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. Here's Tere bina zindagi se shikva...

Mausam by Gulzar, had Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore (in double role). This dramatic love story was aptly complemented with incomparable music. The magical voice of Bhupinder made Dil dhoondta hai an all time classic.

Mili by Hrishi Da had Big B, Jaya Bachchan and Ashok Kumar. Music was exceptional as it captured the angst of the character and conveyed some eternal things about life and living balanced with a delicate romantic angle. I can listen to this song for ever: Aaye tum yaad mujhe gaane lagi har dhadkan

Rafoo Chakkar and Khel Kehl Mein had Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh in lead roles. The young and peppy songs from these movies are landmarks in the singing career of Shailendra Singh. Tumko mere dil ne pukara hai

Humne tum ko dekha from Khel Khel mein

Julie starring Lakshmi and Vikram with award winning music by Rajesh Roshan, Other than evergreen numbers like Bhool gaya sab kuch, Dil kya kare jab kisise kisi ko pyaar ho jaaye  it had one of the first songs in English. Here’s My heart is beating by Preeti Sagar.

Choti Si Baat by Basu Chatterjee had most memorable music with golden hits like Jaaneman jaaneman...  Music by Salil Da was as refreshing as his lasting melodies in earlier movie Rajnigandha. This social comedy starred Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Ashok Kumar. My favorite song from the movie is Na jaane kyon hota hai yeh zindagi ke saath

Geet Gaata Chal, from Rajshri Productions, another blockbuster musical with songs rooted in social realities, written and composed by Ravindra Jain. It had Sachin, Sarika in lead roles. Who can forget the beautiful Shyam teri bansi pukaare Radha naam.

Nishant, based on sexual exploitation of women, with a story based in feudal India had all the big names: Vijay Tendulkar, Satyadev Dubey, Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah. Directed by Shyam Benegal, this was won several national and international awards and had lilting music by Vanraj Bhatia. My favourite song is by Preeti Sagar:

Amanush, a Shakti Samanta movie had Sharmila Tagore and Uttam Kumar in lead roles. Originally in Bengali, the film was made in many other languages. Listen to the beautiful lyrics ....Saagar kitna mere paas hai, mere jeevan men phir bhi pyaas hai.

Jai Santoshi Maa was one of the blockbusters with devotional songs, based on the story of the goddess of satisfaction. With lyrics by Kavi Pradeep, it has super hit devotional numbers by Usha Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor.

 Zameer from B. R. Chopra films was another box office hit for the Big B. It had Another Kishore Kumar super hit: Tum bhi chalo hum bhi chale chalti rahe zindagi

Khushboo was the third release for Gulzar in the same year with Jeetendra and Hema Malini in lead roles. If it had a peppy song like Bechara dil kya kare, it also had a serious number like O majhi re, apna kinara to nadiya ke dhaara hai, with the magic of RD, Gulzar and Kishore Kumar doing the magic again!

Faraar, another Big B film was a crime drama. It had Sharmila Tagore and Sanjeev Kumar as well. I like the song Main pyaasa tum saavan

Kala Sona was an action thriller with stars like Feroz Khan and Parveen Babi. The song Sun sun kasam se, raha jaaye na hum se by Shailendra Singh was hugely popular, adding another feather to RD Burman’s cap!

Dharam karam was produced by Raj Kapoor. This father-son story had one of the greatest hit songs of RK. The movie might not have been a great hit but the song Ek din bik jaayega maati ke mol, jag me rehe jaayenge pyaare tere bol..will be remembered by generations to come:

Warrant was a Dev Anand starrer with Zeenat Aman and Pran. The movie has a popular number from RD Burman and Kishore Kumar: Ruk jaana o jaana humse do baatein

 

*This blog is based on information from the Internet, particularly Wikipedia. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of information in terms of release date of movies.

Songs on the theme of maajhi - a thing of the past?

Let me admit once again, I'm a diehard fan of old Hindi movie songs and I shall remain so forever - seeking refuge in them in my highs and lows. While the lyrics guide and advise me, the music soothes me and the voice of the singer takes me to a different level! And what if the actor is my favorite - then I transcend into a different world. On one such late evening, I happened to listen to some songs - coincidentally some of them had references to maajhi, the symbolic saviour in most of the Hindi songs. I felt like recollecting all the songs I know with this theme and here they are. I hope you enjoy listening and viewing them as much as I did.

O re maajhi...mere saajan hai us paar... it is one of the classsics from S.D. Burman (from the movie Bandini) that set me thinking about the beautiful compositions on maajhi – the boatsman or yachtsman who sails a boat. The river flows steadily and the tranquil waves add to the mystical quality of this scene. The maajhi is the quintessential bard who sings eternal truths, sends inspirational messages and helps us cross the hurdles. Most maajhi songs are based in Bengali ethos, with remakes of popular Bangla folk songs.

Let’s take the song, Maajhi naiya dhoonde kinara, from the movie Uphaar.

Interestingly, like we see in this song, maajhi is rarely the protagonist in the movie or a participant in the events, he’s usually an objective onlooker, plays a crucial role when the male or female protagonist is caught in some problem. The songs indirectly express the thought processes of the protagonist rather impersonally giving advice, sharing knowledge on the significance of the event or the critical moment in their journey.

The song O maajhi re...apna kinaara nadiya ke dhaara hai from the movie (Khushboo, music R D Burman, lyrics Gulzar) is profoundly reflective in mood. The symbolism is obvious where life is compared to a journey in a boat - we neet to sail through it smoothly, reach the other end and not get caught midstream. Majhi ensures that the boat reaches safely and it is not left midstream or majhdhaar.

In songs like O maajhi chal... (from the movie Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke.. sung by Mohd.Rafi  - lyrics by Anand Bakshi  and music by Lakshmikanth Pyarelal)  and Nadiya chale chale re dhaara  (from the movie Safar) we get to see the motivational aspects of a journey in a boat, the river that flows, the metaphor of waves, the undulating moments of life and so on.

Door hai kinara (from the movie Saudagar sung by Manna Dey, music and lyrics by Ravindra Jain) is about the difficult times in one’s life and how one should face them. How we should have a balanced outlook and carry on or even have a never-say-die attitude.

Though Chingari koi bhadke, to saawan use bujhaaye (from the movie Amar Prem) is not directly addressed to the maajhi the beautiful picturization of this song lends it a distinct identity.  The lyrics bring out several ironies of life as we can see in these lines Majdhaar mein naiyyaa doobe, to majhee paar lagaaye, maajhee jo naaw duboye use kaun bachaaye? And we start questionning on the same lines! The impact of the lyrics is hypnotic when they are sung by Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and Manna Dey.

 In fact, most of the maajhi songs evoke a benign feeling, almost equating the role of the ordinary boatsman to the role of the almighty in guiding, steering, leading and saving us from trouble.