April 29, 2012 at 9:42 pm (Great Qawwalis)
Tags: Amir Khusro, Ashok Kumar, Bahu Begum, harmonium, Manna Dey, Meena Kumari, Mohd Rafi, Nizamuddin Auliya, Pradeep Kumar, qawwali, Roshan, Sahir, Sahir Ludhianvi
Qawwali is a form of devotional music that expresses the mystical Sufi practice of Islam in South Asia, mainly in areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The term qawwali comes from the Arabic word “qaul,” meaning “to speak” or “to say,” thus emphasizing the importance of words of these songs. Its main function is to make the listeners understand the words or message of the songs.
The modern qawwali owes its existance to the legendary Amir Khusro, who fused the Persian and Hindustani elements to give shape to the formal format of the qawwali. His guru Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who was a Sufi Saint, imparted great knowledge to Amir Khusro.
Amir Khusro and Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
April 15, 2012 at 2:49 pm (Colours of the raga)
Tags: Al-Hilal, Bindabani Sarang, Brindavani Sarang, Bulo.C.Rani, Chandralekha, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Hindustani music, Lata Mangeshkar, Lekin, Nagin, Naushad, O.P.Nayyar, Rani Roopmati, S.N.tripathi, Tuntun, Uma Devi
This is the first of my few posts which will focus on one raga, while explaining the technical details of the raga. I will try and make it simple and hopefully can help people identify songs in this raga.
I am starting off with Brindabani Sarang, which is a celebrated traditional melody of the Hindustani music system.
February 19, 2012 at 1:37 am (Classical Music)
Tags: Adana, Amanat Ali Khan, Baat Chalat, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Bagesree, Bageswari, Baiju Bawra, Barsat Ki Raat, Bhairav, Bhairavi, Bhatiyar, Bismillah Khan, Chandrakauns, classical music, Darbari, Darbari Kanada, Desi Todi, Din Ke Preher, Farida Khanum, Gaud Malhar, Hindi cinema, Jaijaiwanti, Kaise Kahoon, Kamal Barot, Madhur Madhura, Man Mohana, Manna Dey, Megh Malhar, mian tansen, Milan Rut aayi, Miyan Ki Malhar, Mughal-E-Azam, Multani, Naushad, Nutan, Pakhwaj, Pandarinath Kolhapure, Prem Jogan Ban Ke, Puriya Dhanashree, Ramkali, Rani Roopmati, Riyaaz, Roshan, S.N.tripathi, Seema, Shankar Jaikishen, shehnai, Shudh Sarang, Sohini, Suman Kalyanpur, Tabla, Taleem, Tanpura, Tansen, Tori Jai Jai Kartar, Ustad Amir Khan, Vasant Desai
The importance of “riyaaz“ while acquiring “taleem“, cannot be stressed enough while learning classical music, and this is the central theme of this post.
Several interesting sequences of different kinds, have been picturized in Hindi movies, of the student of music performing riyaaz or acquiring ‘taleem’. Needless to say, these make up some memorable songs, and the musical talents of the composers are on display. I have chosen songs where the artiste is performing riyaaz with a tanpura or learning from his/her Guru.
Mian Tansen performing riyaaz
January 22, 2012 at 1:53 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: Aashiq, Adana, Anil Biswas, Anjali Devi, Asaveri, Basant, Bhimpalasi, Brindabani Sarang, Chitragupta, classical music, Darbari, Dekh Kabira Roya, Ek Raaz, Hindi cinema, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Jhankaar, Jogkauns, Joy Mukherjee, Kaun Aya Mere, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Manna Dey, MaruBehag, Marwa, Nausahd, Nirupa Roy, Paisi Hi Paisa, Pakhwaj, Patdeep, Payal, Payaliya, Payalwali, Ragesri, Rama Hanuman Yudh, Rani Roopmati, Roopkumari, S.N.tripathi, Saaz Aur Awaz, Saira Bano, Santoor, Sarod, Shankar Jaikishen, Shanmukh Babu, Tabla, Vasant Desai
Payal, or the anklet, has been a favourite theme in Indian classical music and many lovely compositions abound based on this theme. It has been used extensively in Hindi cinema, especially in compositions based on classical music, and this post focuses on the same.
Nataraja performing cosmic dance
January 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm (Great Music Composers)
Tags: Asha Bhonsle, Chamak Chandni, Hasrat Jaipuri, Jantar Mantar, Lata, Maharani Padmini, Mohd Rafi, Mukesh, Roop Sundari, Sardar Malik, Shakeel Badayuni, Sudha Malhotra, Suman Kalyanpur, Thokar, Usha Timothy
I was meaning to write a series of posts on the contributions of some of the lesser recognised music directors, and the first in the series is Sardar Malik.
He was an extremely gifted music composer, and it is unfortunate that like Madan Mohan, he too composed for a string of B-Grade and C-Grade movies. The movies were not successful at the box office, but the music lives on after half a century. This post will focus upon some of his lesser known compositions.
January 1, 2012 at 8:57 am (Great Lyricists)
Tags: Ashok Kumar, Bees Saal Baad, Begum Akhtar, Benazir, Bhojpuri, Chaudvi Ka Chand, Des Malhar, Do Badan, Gaud Malhar, Gehra Daag, Gharana, Ghulam Mohammed, Hemant Kumar, Husnwale tera jawab, Jan-e-bahar, Kahin Deep Jale, Kedar, Meena Kumari, Mohd Rafi, Noorjehan, Pahadi, Pak Daman, Ravi, Roshan, Roshni saaye-e-zulmaat, SD Burman, Shakeel Badayuni, Shammo Kapoor, Shivaranjani, Talat Mehmood, Tumhe Paake Humne, Urdu, Waheeda Rehman, Yaman
As I was thinking about great music director-lyricists pairs that produced evergreen hits in the 1950′s-60′s, the one that came immediately to mind was Naushad-Shakeel Badayuni.
Shakeel was an excellent Urdu poet in his own right, with a strong sense of aesthetics and polish, and this post attempts to analyse some of his finest collaborations with other music directors.
December 24, 2011 at 8:51 pm (Comedy)
Tags: Agha, Akhiyan Sang, Ashok Kumar, Bageswari, Bhairavi, Chandrashekhar, Chitragupta, Dil hi to hai, Dileep Dholakia, Dooj Ka Chand, Kalyanavasantham, Kedar, Love in Tokyo, Malkauns, Manna Dey, Mehmood, Mohd Rafi, Private Secretary, Raj Kapoor, Rasoolan Bai, Roshan, Saanjh Aur Savera, Sahir, SD Burman, Shankar Jaikishen, Shubha Khote, Shyam Kauns, thumri, Yaman
I had been thinking about an off-beat theme for my next post, and I found one which turned out to be quite interesting.
The 50′s and 60′s saw a lot of black and white movies where comic sequences were picturised on tunes which had their base in pure classical music. The recurring pattern was that of the hero/comedian trying to woo his lady love by disguising himself. Or it would be a dance teacher, music teacher, a music competition- any situation contrived to fit in a classical music based song, What is unclear is, was this something akin to the item numbers that we have today, as a selling point for the movie? I dont know, since I am of a later generation. Perhaps readers of the blog who have lived through that time could shed more light on this.
December 18, 2011 at 10:02 am (Great Lyricists)
Tags: Bharat Vyas, Do Ankhen Barah Haath, Great Lyricists, Navrang, Shantaram, Vasant Desai
Great are the lyricists of yore, who left behind some immortal works, the fragrance of which, lingers after several decades.
Greater are the ones who were poets by heart, with supreme knowledge and mastery of the language in which they wrote, and yet were able to convey forceful ideas in colloquialism. This was the compelling requirement of Bollywood of the yesteryears, and one great man who shone through the memorable golden era was Bharat Vyas.
December 17, 2011 at 6:54 pm (Uncategorized)
I am starting off my blogging journey with a Saraswati Vandana- (a lovely Hamsadhwani by Govindprasad Jaipurwale), and hope Maa Saraswati’s blessings are with me always.
