Shailedra : A Creative Genius with Awaken Conscience

It had been almost a decade of India being independent of the British rule. Those who dreamt of creating the golden land and nurtured the dream of great country were witnessing the struggle of an infant trying to stand on its feet. The destination was still very far. While the socio-economic landscape of India was settling, there was a group of artists who were trying to invoke the movement against …

Jaikishan : The Charm of Music

He was always a man of warmth. A prince in appearance and a king by heart. Dressed in shining Shark skin fabric trousers, crisp shirts and pointed shining leather shoes with his carefree strands of hair running around the forehead, whenever he entered the studio or a party, all the eyes always used to be on him. Jaikishan was really a charmer. His music has always reflected his persona. Music …

Tum Meri Zindagi Ho, Tum Meri Bandagi Ho….

What are songs without words? What are words without HASRAT ? It was a fanboy moment for me when I got opportunity to write for Hasrat Jaipuri. I was extremely elated and grabbed it with both hands. Afterall, we are celebrating a legend’s life and work. Hasrat sahab is often tagged as “King of Romance” and undoubtedly there is no one  who has portrayed love so beautifully as him. He …

Remembering Shamshad Begum : A Singing Star of Yore

Na Kahu Sang Dosti, Na Kahu Sang Bair…. as Kabir said was the motto she followed all her life. Otherwise how could it happen that a singer who worked with the top composers of 30’s and 40’s like Pt. Amarnath, Ghulam Haidar, Husnalal Bhagatram, Naushad, S.D.Burman etc and who was a top playback singer of her time, stayed almost out of limelight in her career. Had Shamshad Begum followed the …

Lucila Pacheco and Zarin Daruwala : The Lone Stars of the Galaxy of Hindi Film Music

“A girl should be two things: Who and what she wants.” Said Coco Chanel. Perhaps the very basic need of any human is its identity and for a woman in the field dominated by men is nothing but her identity. Film Music is also one such domain wherein conventionally there have been mostly men who worked as musicians. Though there were many playback singers right from Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum …

Kersi Lord Playlist

Kersi Lord (14 February 1935 – 16 October 2016) was an ace musician, music arranger and composer. He learnt music under the tutelage of legendary Anthony Gonsalves. He was also a great enthusiast of electronic music gadgets. Credit of introducing synthesizers in music arrangement in Hindi Films goes to him. This is a curated playlist of the songs wherein either he had played or he arranged the music of the song. …

Majaaz Lucknowi : Aye Gham-E-Dil Kya Karoon

It was only after I stepped into Mumbai city that I truly understood the poem ‘Awara’ by Majaaz. I used to stay in Hotel Majestic which was located opposite Regal Cinema. And often during those early days in Mumbai I used to step out for long walks in the evenings. And at every step, I remembered Majaaz. Especially, when I strolled from Nariman Point and went along the lights on …

Sebastian D’Souza : The Man Behind Immortal Harmonies

One of the most significant contributions of the Portuguese in India was compulsory music learning in Church Schools. They would not have imagined that this policy will be immensely helpful to composers of Hindi Film Music. How could this happen ? To know the answer, lets go 115 years back. On 29th January 1906, a baby was born in Reis-Megos village in North Goa. His parents named him Sebastian. From …

Rhythm Innovations of O.P.Nayyar

“It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed.” Said Albert Einstein once and that proved true for maverick composers like O.P.Nayyar too. He never changed his rules for any one nor confirmed to contemporary trends of composing music for any of his producers. Having been stubborn, he did create his niche. Today, the same is considered a genre, a type. His niche …

O.P.Nayyar : A Phenomenal Composer

I remember we used to have four hour shift and then over time but he never used to take more than two and half to three hours for recording. Three hours and song is packed up. One day I asked him, “Nayyar Saab, You never have second take. If you do more takes you can have better song recording” He replied “Yes I can have but the freshness which I …

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