Shankar Jaikishan composed maximum duet songs of Rafisahab with Suman Kalyanpurji.

The listeners of film songs wish happy birthday to legendary singer Suman Kalyanpur on 28th January, 2017. Suman Kalyanpur glorified Indian music of the 50s and 60s, with her romantic rendition of landmark songs. She had sung songs in many languages. She had sung almost 200 duet songs with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi. Shankar Jaikishan in the 60s made immense number of experiments in bollywood film music. Right from westernized compositions to Indian classical songs to folk tunes, the compositions had a wide variety. Rafi was the automatic choice of the legendary musical duo, with his tremendous range and romantic appeal. Suman Kalyanpur sang landmark duet song with Rafi under the composition of giant composers during the 60s, including Naushad “dil-e-betaab ko sinese lagana hoga”, in Palki, Madanmohan “baad muddat ke yeh ghari aye”, Jahanara, Roshan “rahe na rahe hum”, in Mamta, Khayyam “parbaton ke pero par sham ka basera hai”, in Shagun, to name a few. Suman Kalyanpur sang many immortal duet songs with Rafi in the 60s and 70s under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan. In Dil Ek Mandir, the title song “dil ek mandir hai” was sung by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur with utmost elegance in 1963. The song was sung after the death of Rajender Kumar in the film and therefore the singers displayed the tragic andaz in the song. Rafi had his own solo songs in the film like “jahan koi nahi” and “yaad na jaye” which immortal over a period of time. Suman Kalyanpur’s solo song “juhi ki kali meri ladli” also had a soothing appeal. In Saanjh Aur Sawera, in 1964, the classical song “ajahuna aye balma, sawan bita jaye” was probably one the most immortal duet sung by Suman Kalyanpur with Rafi composed by SJ. In 1964, Biswajeet’s April Fool had a number of romantic songs of SJ sung by Rafi. Rafi was unparallel in the song “aa gale lag ja”. Suman Kalyanpur accompanied Rafi very well in the songs “tujhe pyar karte karte” and “kehdo kehdo jahan se kehdo”. In Sunil Dutt’s film Beti Bete, the song “agar terii jalwa numai na hoti” showed the melodious impact of duet of Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan. The duet “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye” sung by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur composed by SJ in Shammi Kapoor’s Rajkumar again stormed box-office in 1964. In 1966, Rafi and Suman’s duet “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe mere raazdaar” in Rajender Kumar’s super hit film Suraj stands out as the most romantic song of the film. Rafi sang for Rajender Kumar while Suman Kalyanpur sang for Vyjayantimala. In the late 60s, Shankar Jaikishan’s rock and roll composition for Shammi Kapoor in the film Brahmchari had probably the most entertaining duets of Rafi with Suman Kalyanpur titled “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawanpar”. The brilliant orchestration was loud but rhythm –oriented as well. The film ended up being blockbuster and the music of the film played a very important role in the success of the film. Shankar Jaikishan composed a very romantic duet in Uttam Kumar’s film Choti Si Mulakat, titled “tumhe dekha, tumhe chaha” Rafi and Suman. Rafi sang Uttam Kumar’s portion while Suman Kalyanpur had sung Vaijayantimala’s portion. The list of Rafi Suman duets under Shankar Jaikishan was too long. In the early 70s, SJ’s composition for Suman Kalyanpur in Shammi Kapoor’s film Andaz was well received by the audience. The song “hai na bolo bolo” was sung by Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur, Sushma Shreshta and Pratibha. After the death of Jaikishan in 1971, many producers and directors who were involved with Shankar Jaikishan shifted towards RD Burman and Laxmikant Pyarellal. So Suman Kalyanpur’s scope of singing duets with Rafi reduced down inspite of Shankar providing good tunes to both Suman Kalyanpur and Rafi. Shankar Jaikishan composed hit song of Suman in Dharmender’s film Resham Ki Dori, “behnane bhai ki kalayi se” in the mid -70s. Rafi’s duets with Suman Kalyanpur under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan require both restoration and publicity.

Happy birthday to Mala Sinha.

Happy birthday to Mala Sinha. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mala Singh on 11th November, 2018. She had been a legendary actress of bollywood films and contributed in both bollywood films and Bengali films for more than 40 years. In the 50s, Mala Sinha had acted in classic films like Parvarish, Phir Subah Hogi opposite Raj Kapoor. The music composer of Parvarish was Dattaram, while it was Khayyam for Phir Subah Hogi. These films became immortal for their unforgettable songs like “anshu bhari hai”, “woh subah kabhi to ayegi”, etc. Mala Sinha was sublime opposite Dev Anand in the film Love Marriage. The music of the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan was equally grand. The hit songs included “dheere dheere chal”, “kahan ja rahete”, etc. Mala Sinha contributed well in Guru Dutt’s classic film Pyaasa. The romantic andaz displayed by Mala Sinha was very significant in the film in the songs “hum aapke aankho me”, sung by Rafi and Geeta Dutt. Guru Dutt loved Mala Sinha during college life, but failed to marry her. The realistic film received a lot of public appreciation. Mala Sinha continued her dream run in the 60s by performing in historical films like Jahanara opposite Bharat Bhushan. The film was a musical block buster. The songs “baad muddat key eh ghari aye”, “kisi ki yaad me”, etc., composed by Madan Mohan created history. The biggest achievement of Mala Sinha lies in sustaining in bollywood industry amidst high competition from other leading actresses like Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Vaijayantimala, etc. Mala Sinha was brilliant in the film Gumrah opposite Ashok Kumar and Sunil Dutt. She displayed her personality very well in a triangular love story. The songs of the film composed by Ravi was brilliant including “chalo ek baar phir se” and :in hawawon mai” sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Mala Sinha also acted with the next generation of actors like Rajender Kumar and Dharmender. Her successful films opposite Rajender Kumar included Dhool Ka Phool, Lalkar and Geet. Her successful films opposite Dharmender included Ankhen, Neela Akash, Jab Yaad Kisi Ki Aati Hai, etc. which did great business. She was sublime in her performance opposite Dharmender in the film Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi. She did very well in films opposite Biswajeet like Night in London and Shammi Kapoor in Dil Tera Diwana. Mala Sinha played a very long innings in Bengali films as well. Her successful films opposite Uttam Kumar included Khelaghar, Shaharer Itikatha, Bandhu, Putrabadhu, Saathihara, to name a few. She gave able lips in Geeta Dutt’s songs namely “nishi raat banka chaad”, “baashi bujhi ei sure aar dakbe na”, etc. Her other notable films include Dhuli opposite Prashanto Kumar, Abhaya Srikanto opposite Basanto Choudhury, etc. She even featured in modern films in the 90s like Khel where she had played character roles opposite Madhuri Dixit. The viewers expect her to continue in character roles in films in future.

Dev Sahab was remembered on birth anniversary.

Dev Anand was remembered on his birth anniversary on 26th September. Romantic star Dev Anand died in London on 4th December, 2011, at the age of 88 years. Everyone in India mourned his death right from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to superstar Shahrukh Khan, actress Hema Malini to actor Rishi Kapoor. He was staying in London and died out of cardiac arrest as had been said by his son. Most of his fans all across the world had said that they Dev Anand never looked back at life, but looked forward and for that reason became the inspiration for every optimistic film personality. It was the end of an era, as Dev Anand represented Indian films for more than 60 years, right from 1946, when he started his career. His hit films included CID, Kala Pani, Hum Dono, Guide, Jewel Thief, to mention a few. He received filmfare award for best actor for his performance in the films Kala Pani and Guide. He received Dadasaheb Phalke award for immense contribution to bollywood films. He had also being remembered for his brilliant songs of Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar like “din dhal jaye”, “kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona hoga”, “piya tose naina lage re”and brilliant compositions of Shankar Jaikishan, Sachin Dev Burman, and others. Evergreen star Dev Anand had this year gave an interview to journalist Gautam Bhattacharya which had been published in Anandabazar Patrika on 25th June, 2011. He had said that he had been busy working with his new film Charge Sheet. He had crossed 88 years and still showed the enthusiasm to work on the sequel of the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, which he made in 1971. When he was asked about Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, he said, if Raj Kapoor would have taken care of his health he would have survived for more time and made more films. Dilip Kumar was happy to be an actor and never showed the interest of directing films. Dev Anand missed his team of performers like Vijay Anand, Kishore Kumar, Sachin Dev Burman, but he said that death was also a reality which people should face. He also said that he never looked back at his work, and whenever his hit films like Hum Dono, or Guide are shown in TV Channels, he hardly had seen them. About the new generation of actors, he had stated that he hated body building and opening of shirts to show the body. He said Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar, or he himself never required to open their shirt to show their body. He did not comment about the question why Rajesh Khanna faded out of the industry after ruling bollywood for short time, while Amitabh Bacchan ruled bollywood for a longer time.