Khayyam came to limelight with the Ghazal "Shaam-e-Gham Ki Kasam" sung by Talat Mehmood from the film Footpath(1953). He gained greater recognition from the film Phir Subha Hogi (1958), in which all the songs were written by Sahir Ludhyanvi. Since then, he preferred to work with poets rather than film lyricists.That is the reason one finds poetry playing an equal role in Khayyam's compositions as the music or the singer.
Khayyam's music had the touch of ghazal but was rooted in Indian classical music. In a career spanning over four decades, he gave Hindi cinema some of its most memorable movie soundtracks with films like Umrao Jaan, Kabhi Kabhie, Raziya Sultan, Bazar, and many others.
I am posting a few of my favorite Ghazals of Khayyam
In an interview, Gulzar Saheb said that songwriting is my profession while writing poetry is my statement of life. Since his childhood, he was writing poems, He was also writing when he worked as a mechanic in a car garage in Bombay. It was during his interactions in the PWA Sunday meetings that lyricist Shailendra and Bimal Roy encouraged him to join films. Initially, he joined Bimal Ray as his assistant and later got a chance to write a song in Bandini (1963)under the composer S D Burman, the song that brought him to notice was 'Mera Gora Rung Le Le' from Bandini.
Gulzar’s first venture as a filmmaker was Mere Apne (1971), It was produced by N C Sippy and directed by him. The film stars Meena Kumari, Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha in lead roles, In fact, it was the first film of Vinod Khanna as a hero. Before ventured into the direction he wrote dialogues for Biwi Aur Makan(1966), Aashirwad(1968), Khamoshi, and Anand(1969) all directed by Hrishikesh Mukharjee. He also wrote the story, dialogue and screenplay of Guddi, once again directed by Hrishikesh Mukharjee.
His second venture as director was Parichay in 1972.It stars Jeetendra, Jaya Bhaduri; while Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna, has given special appearances and the music was composed by Rahul Dev Burman. The film was reported to be based on the Bengali novel Rangeen Uttarain by Raj Kumar Maitra and partially inspired by the 1965 movie The Sound of Music.
His third film was Koshish released in Dec 1972. It was inspired by the 1961 Japanese film Happiness of Us Alone. The film was highly acclaimed. he got a National Award for its screenplay and nominated the Filmfare Best Director Award.
The next film he directed was Achanak in 1973, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and starring Vinod Khanna. Gulzar received a Filmfare nomination as Best Director for this film. Even though Gulzar is an accomplished lyricist, this film did not have any songs in it.The entire film production was completed in 28 days
In 1975, three films under his directions were released. the first released was Aandhi in Feb 1975. The film was an Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship with her estranged husband, The film got the Filmfare Award of Best Film and Best Actor award to Sanjeev Kumar.
Khushboo was the next film released in March 1975.it was produced by Prasan Kapoor under the Tirupati Pictures banner, presented by Jeetendra and directed by Gulzar. It stars Jeetendra, Hema Malini, and music composed by R. D. Burman. It was praised as a beautiful film with good acting by Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Asrani and Jeetendra
Mausam was the third film of that year released on 29th Dec 1975. The film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, and directed by Gulzar. It is loosely based on the novel, The Judas Tree, by A.J. Cronin. Sharmila Tagore for her acting received The Silver Lotus Award at the 23rd National Film Festival and the movie was honored by presenting an award for 2nd Best Feature Film. The film received two of eight nominations at the 24th Filmfare Awards. The film also won many other accolades as well.
In 1977 he entered into production also, two films Kitaab and Kinara both produced and directed by him were released, Meera was the third film under his direction released in 1977, all the films couldn't receive well in Box office. Though Meera received critical acclaim.
Angoor was the film released in 1982, in between two insignificant films released under his direction in 1980. Angoor was based on Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors. The film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma in dual roles, and directed by Gulzar. The film was appreciated by all. Deven Verma got the Filmfare Best Comedian Award.
Machis(1996) was an important film of Gulzar, after the death of R D Burman he made the film with Vishal Bhardwaj as music director for the first time. The film was produced by R. V. Pandit. It stars Chandrachur Singh, Om Puri, Tabu and Jimmy Sheirgill in the lead roles. The film portrays the circumstances surrounding the rise of the Sikh insurgency in PunjabMaachis was a critical and commercial success. Gulzar's direction and the music of Vishal Bhardwaj were strong points.
The first English song in a Hindi film was sung by Devika Rani in 1933 film Karma, starring Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai. The film was among the first Talkie Film in India to feature an on-screen kiss. The four-minute-long scene between Devika Rani and Rai, her husband in real life, is also known to being the longest such scene in Indian cinema. The song, ‘Now The Moon Her Light Has Shed’ is a proper western tune composed by German composer Ornest Broadhurst and song. The style is typical of the high pitched English songs The next English song was sung by Shanta Apte, composed by Keshav Bhole in Duniya Na Mane (1937) with the lyrics around poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem A Psalm of Life. The story is about a princess (played by Devika Rani) who falls in love with a neighboring prince ( Himanshu Rai) much to the disapproval of the latter's father. The film opens with a very cute scene of the Prince telling a squirrel how much he loves the Maharani, who is hiding behind a rock and replies on behalf of the squirrel. Maharaja, the prince father who knew that his son is in love with the princess, consults with his holy man on what to do about his recalcitrant son’s ongoing romance. The priest wisely counsels him not to interfere, but to allow them to marry and then control her through the alliance. English language Song by Devika Rani
It was Friday on 15th August 1947. Two films were released in Bombay on the Independence Day itself, 'Shehnai' at Novelty on Grant Road and 'Mera Geet' at Swastik on Lamington Road around the corner. 'Mera Geet' starring Sushil Kumar and Naseem Jr must have sunk like a stone since there seems to be no record of it anywhere but Shehnai was one of the biggest hits of the year. In fact, itbecame the first roaring hit of free India.
Shehnai was produced by Filmistan Studio and Directed by PL Santoshi. Nasir Khan, the brother of Dilip Kumar was the hero and Rehana was the heroine. The music of the film was composed by C Ramchandra. Its song 'Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke' was a super hit. The film had a straight-up. silver jubilee run in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Karachi.
The music was the highlight of this film, it was composed by C Ramchandra. It had 9 songs, all the songs were written by P L Santoshi, who was the director of this film also. The song' Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday' became a rage.It was the first song of Bollywood based on western beats, It was the first time western instruments were used in any Hindi song. It was C Ramchandra who brought music from many other countries in Bollywood music, In 1950 he brought Burmese music in the song 'Gore Gore Banke Chhore' in the film Samadhi, and ' Mein Hun Ek Khalasi' in Sargam(1950)
Nasir-Khan -Brother of Dilip Kumar in Shehnai 1947
There were five major film production centers, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore, and to a lesser extent Poona till 1947. Bombay was the main center, In Bombay alone, 114 films were made and released that year. Six films, 'Shehnai, Elan Jugnu, Do Bhai, Dard, and Mirza Sahiban' were super hit. The other hit film was Parwana of K L Saigal, which was released after his death on 18th Jan 1947.
In March, we had Kidar Sharma’s Neel Kamal with Raj Kapoor and Madhubala in their first lead roles. He was twenty-three and she was just sixteen.
Shammi Kapoor in his Biography said"The sound of any music evoked in me a strong urge to dance. The rhythm didn't take time to seep into me and seek expression in dance. The urge to dance was always there in him. His brother Raj Kapoor was a good dancer but Shammi was different.
He never had a dance director or a choreographer for his dance songs in any film. He danced to his own style and created his own steps and movements. The first time he got the chance of expressing himself in dance songs was in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, this film redefined him and shot him to bigtime stardom.
In his Biography, he tells "From a very early stage, he wanted to learn dancing but there were no professional dancing schools in Bombay at that time. There used to be a hotel in Dadar, whose owner used to teach Tango dance He took a few lessons from him.
Shammi Kapoor said that it was lucky that he got good songs." I think I tried to give physical expressions to music. My choreography was always done here( pointing towards his heart) and I brought it out on the floor. Telling about the picturization of the song' Yahoo' he said "everybody was satisfied with the song Yahoo recorded after the hard work of Rafi saheb and music director Shankar Jaikishan, now it was my turn to make this song an immortal. This song was picturized in Kufri, not in Kashmir. The setting looked ideal with 12 feet deep snow and the breathtakingly beautiful sight around Everybody was in a fix what will I do?, how will I do?
Shammi further said that he was also not made in his mind about how to do it. Yes it was sure that he had to slide on the snow, The next day in the morning at 7 AM the whole unit collected at the spot from where he had to slide, But just when the camera was to roll, the sun disappeared, they couldn't shoot that day due to poor sunlight. This happened for six days, the song couldn't be picturized Finally on the Seventh-day the song was picturized. Shammi Kapoor said that there was no choreographer, no preparation by himself, whatever he did was spontaneous.
After Junglee every producer and director wanted Shammi to perform the song as per his wish. He said in the book" I used to tell my directors to keep the camera flexible, don't freeze the field, play the music, and let me do the act. That is what he did in most of his songs.
He said for the song Aasman Se Aya Farishta of An Evening in Paris, it was his idea to perform on a helicopter.
His biggest hit Teesri Manzil (1966) broke all kinds of records at the box office — thanks to its music. Composed by R.D. Burman, songs of this movie are considered some of his best works and Shammi’s best dance performances. O Mere Sona Re, O Haseena Zulfonwali Jaane Jahan, and Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyaar Tera are still regularly seen on playlists and heard on the radio.
Looking at just one decade of Shammi’s career, it is clear about the kind of stupendous impact that he has had on Bollywood and its audience. He left a mark like no other and even though many have managed to make a name as great dancers, nobody has come close to him — much like the original Elvis Presley.
