Showing posts with label Tamil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tamil. Show all posts

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Hindi Song: Dil Mein Chupake Pyar Ka - Aan


'Dil Mein Chupa Ke Pyar Ka' Mohammed Rafi.
From movie, 'Ann'.
YouTube Video by 'Gold Vintage'.

  UP TO 1,200 VIEWS, 
20 CHATS, COMMENTS

SONGS I LOVE:

Another 50s Hindi song that kept playing in my head was from the musical, Aan (or Pride - image). I had tried for some time to check out the song from movie websites and from friends but to no avail.
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So a visit yesterday, with my Music Meister friend, to a neighbourhood coffee shop at Serangoon proved fruitful when his Indian friend wrote out the full song title in romanised Hindi. That did the trick and I heard it again for the first time after many years. *Mohammed Rafi's: Dil Mein Chupake Pyar Ka came alive on You Tube.
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In those early years of Hindi movies in Singapore the re-runs were either at the Garrick Cinema in Geylang Serai or the Queen's Cinema in Geylang Road. Aan or Savage Princess was called a 'swashbuckling, romantic film', that became a block-buster. The unique English title was used to draw US audiences who were always keen about the 'mysterious' East.
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The movie was produced in 1952 and was the first Indian film in 'Technicolor'. It was directed by the legendary Mehboob Khan and starred Dilip Kumar and Premnath (big stars they were). Music was by Naushad.
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Again it was my Malay neighbour who persuaded me to see the film after drumming the song into me for days. To appease him, we queued patiently for tickets at the Garrick and managed to get the 50-cent seats. We were 6 rows away from the screen, had to lean back and look upwards for the duration of the movie. I couldn't remember the plot, I could this particular song.
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I came out of the cinema with a stiff neck. Hamid laughed when I complained but I must thank him for the humbling experience and beautiful song. In Singapore, the interest and love for Bollywood movies never waned. Even today Singaporeans of all races watch them on television, DVDs and in the cinemas to 'escape the harsh realities of everyday life.' Similarly 50s and 60s Indian pop evergreens are still in demand in the music shops.
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*Mohd. Rafi was an Indian playback singer (doing voice-overs for movie stars) for four decades. Versatile and talented, he could sing in English, Persian and 10 Indian languages. Rafi had been honoured many times by the Indian government, Bollywood and other movie industries for his capability and music contribution.
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(Apparently Hindi and Tamil movies are just as popular in the 60s as it is today, especially in Singapore because Tamil is one of the four official languages. In fact, for non Singapore readers, this island has both a TV channel and radio station that broadcasts only in Tamil. The songs are popular too.)
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You Tube Video by: 
ddffx.
Thanks to yuanyuanyuanyin for You Tube videos and comments.

Image/Movie information: 
Wikipedia and Websites.

Original article: 
Andy Lim.
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For: 
Music Meister, Eusoof Angullia, Salma, Ahyar Jammari, Azizah and Abdul Hamid (wherever he is.)

Anyone with an extra copy of the vinyl?

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

'Dil Deke Dekho' - Pop Hindustani Song - 1959


SONGS I LOVE:

Dil Deke Dekho is a Hindi movie (1959) shown at the Garrick Theatre in Geylang Serai, Singapore about 50 years ago. I vaguely remember the movie but is familiar with the song and listened to it for days afterwards at a Malay neighbour's home. (It is common knowledge that Indian pop songs influenced the Malay pop yeh-yeh wave of music in the 60s.) And YouTube is a blessing because when I found the song and played it again and again, my wife asked me if I had a new Indian girlfriend!

The music is composed by Usha Khanna in this her first film and the cast includes Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh. These were big names in the 60s and the movie was Nasir Hussain's second film as director and gave star Shammi Kapoor a new image as a comedic, dancing hero. Husain and Kapoor reteamed here. Asha Parekh, a former child actress, made her film debut as a heroine.

It was also the debut film of comedian Rajendranath, brother of Premnath (another 60s Hindi movie screen hero). When the film became a hit at the box office so did the songs. Husain, Kapoor and Parekh would reteam again as his leading lady in five other films.
4 edited comments from You Tube:

Dil Deke Dekho - Dil Deke Dekho Ji - Mohd Rafi. Video by Greg Pelka. Thanks.


1. This film was the first for Usha Khanna. She copied some songs from English and did a tremendous job by giving us these memorable melodies. This song is copied from a song with the lines, "Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at suppertime... (Sugartime - Johnny Cash and also McGuire Sisters Hit in 1958).

2. Dil Deke Dekho means, "Try and give away your heart." He sings, "Try giving your heart, oh the heart snatchers, learn how to give as well... /Ask the mouth how enjoyable it is to burn slowly in love's fire./May you learn to enjoy love's heat as well.../Understand the lover's language,/If there's no love, there's no life/ May you learn how to sing this song as well..."

3. I don't like the acting but the music keeps rock & rolling. The main stuff!
4. Many of these old Hindi film songs are naive and a bit silly. But they are full of light humour and innocent charm that you simply don't find anywhere else now.
Anyone has seen this movie? And the song? It's still spinning in my head. Lovely!

(I have been trying to get a Tamil speaking friend to review some of the older Tamil movie classics and songs that were shown in Singapore but to no avail. Anyone know about Tamil movies or music?)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

(5) Indian Connection In Washington DC, USA


(DJ Carlito from Richmond, Virginia, USA has been supporting this blog for a long time).

This posting is not an advertisement but to show what others are doing to promote music for a more creative and peaceful world.

DATE: Saturday March 27th, 2010 TIME: 9:30PM - 2:00AM VENUE: Heritage Lounge, DuPont Circle, 1337 Connecticut Ave, Washington, DC 20036.
OK, so if you're in the Washington DC area in March, go to his show huh! Good luck, DJ Carlito.


(I understand that there are many Tamil speakers in Jersey, USA. Is this true? I am interested because Tamil is one of the four official languages in Singapore. Anyone familiar with 60s Tamil songs?
Information: http://turquoisekid.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Music Influence From India 'Awara' 1951 Movie

SONGS I LOVE:
As a young person in the 50s, blogger used to go to the Queen's Cinema (Geylang Road) or Garrick Cinema (Geylang Serai) in the eastern part of Singapore to watch Indian movies. Awaara is one of them and the theme song remains...
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Awaara means Tramp (shades of Charles Chaplin) and is a 1951 Indian film acted, directed and produced by Raj Kapoor (one of the greatest movie stars in the 50s and 60s).
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*The song Awara Hoon (I am a Tramp) sung by Mukesh with lyrics by Shailendra, became hugely popular across the Indian subcontinent, as well as in Russia, Romania, Turkey and China. The film was nominated for the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953.
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*In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films". Time Magazine listed it at number one on its list of "10 Indian Films to Treasure". It grossed over Rs. 12 million. This record was beaten the next year by Aan (another great movie that blogger has seen).
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Music from the great Indian country was a strong influence on Singapore 60s too as many Malay pop songs from Singapore and Malaya were inspired by these melodies.
Reviews on You Tube:

Awaara Hoon Ya Gardish Mein Hoon Aasmaan Ka Tara Mukesh Awara 1951        Shankar Jaikishan Shailendra


1. "Absolutely brilliant. Shankar-Jaikishan at their best. Pity modern music is western influenced and doesn't sound at all Indian."

2. "No words for this awesome film. Old is gold."

3. "When I hear this song I cry so much. It was my mom's favorite song. She use to sing it to us in bed 30 years ago! I was 6 years old. God bless your soul mom I miss you so much."

(In posting this movie, I am also wondering how popular Tamil movies and songs are in the US and other parts of the world because the fan base for Tamil songs in Singapore is quite large since about a quarter of the population speak the language.)

*Information: Wikipedia.

Image: http://soumyadipc.blogspot.com/
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrnwhYKm_WA

Friday, September 18, 2009

Tonic Chop Gajah Sangam Boys: Part 6 Advertisements.


The postings about Advertisements On Vinyl prompted a friend to send an article:

"Tonic Chop Gajah, which literally means Elephant Brand Tonic is an interesting vinyl and features a number of bands all singing about the virtues of the Tonic, which was very popular in Malaysia and Singapore in the 60s.

The performers are the Sangam Boys, Jabis 5, Vinnoli Music Party, and Kugiran 4 Sekawan. There are four tracks on the EP and all are sung in Malay, although the singers spell out the name of the Tonic in English.

Tonik Chop Gajah - Sangam Boys

The Sangam Boys are known to me mainly for backing other artists, such as S. Roha and Halim Yatim. A group called Vinnoli Music Party was still operating in Singapore in the early 2000s at Indian functions, and they might be the ones who do a more Indian sounding track.

There was an 4 Sekawan that backed some Malay singers in the 1960s. Jabis 5, of which I know nothing, could also be a band, or it might be the group of singers."

Could be the last posting in this series on advertisements. Thanks Steve!

(If I am not mistaken the Sangam Boys are also Tamil speakers. Please correct me if I am wrong because we have a large Tamil population in Singapore. I am not sure if they have produced records in Tamil.)

Image/Original article: 
Steve Farram Collection, 
Darwin, Australia; Eric Ching.