Since 1999

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Articles on Hindi Films

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On my website I have complete and collected works of the celebrated music dirrector of the sub-continent, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar. In fact, in spite of the fact the material has not chnaged much in more than a decade, this section of my website is always in the top three sections, the other two being the Roberto and the Narsingh collections of rare songs. Many years ago, his autobiography (based on interviews with him, which was published in an Urdu newspaper), was put on my website. Unfortunately, part 11 of the 15-part series was missing. Thanks to the efforts of the MDs son, and my dear friend Irfan Anwar, part 11 has been found. You can download all the parts here or read online.

Khurshid Anwar Main Page

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Misc 138

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Sound and Music of Hindi Talkies: The First Four Years

Surjit Singh

Everybody knows that the talkie era in India was begun by Imperial Movietone, Bombay on March 14, 1931 when the first full-length feature film Alam Ara (called ‘All Living, Breathing 100% Talking’ in a contemporary ad) was released in the Majestic Cinema, Girgaum. Not so well known is the fact that since early 1929, Calcutta’s Madan Theatres have been making and releasing short items consisting of songs, dances, scenes from stage plays and musical audio-visual recordings. The sound reproduction of Alam Ara was ‘patchy’, and the hero Master Vithal did not speak at all. However, the talkie (with its seven songs and some dances) was so successful commercially that it led to a deluge of singing-dancing musicals that still continues 75 years later and has defied movie critics at home and abroad!

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Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’ and I are pleased to announce a website for a Hindi Film and Song Database, based on his legendary compilation work, Hindi Film Geet Kosh. Apart from what is in the printed books, it includes all the information that he and I have collected over the years, to make it an expanded work. That should take care of a constant (and valid) complaint that he has not revised his books for ages. The other common complaint is that the books are only in Hindi.
The website is being presented in Hindi and English and (Google-translated) other Indian languages!
We have been working on data entering, data extending and data correcting since 2018. It is a massive undertaking, which cannot be completed without help from others. So, please help us with data entering, expanding, correcting and website-building.
At this time, we have put Censor Information for 1931-40 and some sample data for filmography and songs. We will add new data as it becomes available. Your comments and suggestions for improvement will be appreciated. Use either link:
  1. Musing 817: Lata on AIR in 1941. New 2
  2. Musing 776: Shailendra List by Nikhil Iyer. Misc 105
  3. Musing 801: Azurie in 1959. Misc 128.
  4. Musing 781: Shantarin. Misc 110
  5. Musing 807: Theater Shows. Misc 132
  6. Musing 808: Bombay Theatres. Misc 133
  7. Musing 786. SP Balasubrahmanyam Songs. Misc 115
  8. Musing 845: My Preface. New 28
  9. Musing 812. Database Website Update. Misc 137
  10. Musing 826: Dr Lata Mangeshkar. New 10
  11. Musing 904. Master Ebrahim book at discount
  12. Musing 802: Bibbo in Zeenat 1945. Misc 129
  13. Musing 775: Geeta Roy. Misc 104.
  14. Musing 834: What about Alamara? New 18.
  15. Musing 792: Bomaby Censor Board. Misc 119