As a couplet in one of his song goes, “Bik gaya joh woh kharidar nahin ho sakta’ (You have nothing left to buy when you sell yourself), Khayyam would not put his soul on sale even when he was down for the count. In turn, he became the last great custodian of musical fidelity.
To the best of my knowledge, Manna Dey didn’t play baseball. It didn’t matter as each melody worthy curve ball pitched to him, containing either gravity or levity, was hit out of the ball park for a home run. His phenomenal octave range owed its strength to meticulous training under various ‘Ustads’. When allowed, his myriad intonations could be dichotomous within a song; settling and disturbing, elevating as well as depressing, but always devoted to Saraswati, goddess of the arts.
Inextricably linked by today’s date are actor Dev Anand and singer Hemant Kumar, defining the first and final act of their respective lives. On 26 September, Dharam Dev Pishorimal was born in 1923 and in 1989, Hemanta Mukherjee died. However, in the intervening process of living, their paths crossed and mutual creative output merged to produce a handful but unforgettable classics of Indian film music.
On the birthday of Sh. Abhas Kumar Ganguly, our very own Kishore Kumar, here are some wet facts known or caricatured anecdotes about him. Primarily an under-appreciated maniacal genius at large:Also singer, actor, lyricist, music director, producer, director.
The multi-faceted Manoj Kumar, celebrating his 76th birthday today, has always been an emotional man but not as ascribed by modern definition, largely attributed to romantic love. Sensitive about his neighbors, family, friends, the humanity in general; their condition reflected in the daily pain coupled with their inability to alleviate it, has defined his art
As character actor Khurshid Bawra before him (Barsaat ki Raat, Taj Mahal, Rustom Sohrab), Pran saab featured in many a non romantic qawwali, lending them his full bodied expressive best. B R Chopra greatly encouraged this form in his films, with most flowing from the pen of Sahir Ludhianvi.
Qawwali is to the dargah what a bhajan is to the temple – an open line of communication with God, a glorifying musical sonnet, acquiescing to his command as the almighty and entreating him with supplication of pure love. As moderated by Bollywood, this devotional love transmuted into the romantic realm. For the purists, it diluted the somewhat somber image of the qawwali but extended its popularity and longevity across continents by taking it to the living rooms of the uninitiated.