Details

Published: 26 August 2017

Last Updated: 26 August 2017

I will be posting songs from the collection of Dr Kapur and Narsingh almost daily now.

I had posted song 2 of Ilzaam (1954) earlier. The Manna Dey song is picturized on Jagdish Sethi, a rare treat. He started from the very first talkie and usually appeared in the films of K L Saigal. Also seen in the 50s films, Aar Paar and Phir Subah Hogi. Songs are here

Narsingh Collection 677

Details

Published: 25 August 2017

Last Updated: 03 November 2017

A Very Hard Worker, True to His Word

N S Vishwanath, a fellow RMIMer came to see me and I gave him copies of all my Hindi films on a hard disk. He gave them to one of hiss friends Sheo Khetan. One fine day, Sheo informed me that he has copies of all my movies and he would like to do a project based on them. I ignored his request becuase my projects are very labor-intensive. He did not give up, so I requested him to capture photos of all the named actors, and the ones that had a speaking part and even animals. Our hope is to publish a massive album of all the actors who ever worked in Hindi films, to 1960 at least for now.

He started doing it and has finished about 30 films. Here is a sample of his work. Enjoy!

Now you know! 

Details

Published: 24 August 2017

Last Updated: 03 November 2017

Song structure

In the songs of the 50s to 80s a very similar structure is heard. It may begin with an intro line, e.g. in the aayegaa aane walaa, one hears Khaamosh hai zamaana ... Then there is intro music. Then the sthaaee or the refrain. More intro music, the first antaraa or stanza, followed by more interludes and stanzas.

But if one listens to songs from the 30s or early 40s, in most songs, there is hardly any interlude music. The singers start singing, keep singing and singing till the end. The music is in the background playing almost a secondary part.

The sthaaee-antaraa form became standard some time during the late 40s. Many people believe that it was Anil Biswas who did that. But it is a matter of ongoing research.

Now you know!