Parsi musicians in movies
seth...@yahoo.com
Saraswati Devi ( Khorsheed ) and VA Balsara who was better known as an
arranger .Am I missing any more ? Pl. help .
Thanks ,
Cawas Sethna
Vish Krishnan
It may not be a very long list. Few Parsee composers have received solo
credits for Hindi film music. But what they have lacked in numbers,
they have gained in the sheer significance of musical checkpoints they
have helped define. Here are a couple:
Checkpoint #1: (AALAM AARA - 1931): Music - Pirozeshah Mistry. So
there, India's talkie music odyssey was kicked off by a Baawa !!
Actually, two. According to the Geet Kosh (Vol 1), PM shares the
credit with one B. Irani.
PM went on to do some more work with Imperial Movietone, his employer
and also the production company that made AALAM AARA. I am not sure if
every movie he worked on has been documented.
Imperial Movietone had its roots in the silent era.
Founder/cinematographer Ardeshir Irani was busy striking collaborative
deals with European manufacturers and film companies a good many years
before the dawn of India's talkie age. Not much has been written about
the music of India's silent films. I would not know where to even begin
the research. But I would speculate that if there is one production
company of the silent age where Parsee music directors were most likely
to be on the payroll, it would have to be Imperial Movietone. (It is
likely though that a lot of that music was canned Western fare).
Beyond gaining fame as India's first talkie producer, Imperial
Movietone never quite made the transition out of their silent legacy.
In the second half of that decade, one Jamshedji B Khan (??) composed
for at least two Imperial releases. This was probably also the
beginning of the studio's decline. Imperial folded up, but Ardeshir
Irani himself remained active in the industry, until his last few
years.
Checkpoint #2: Saraswati Devi is generally accepted as the first woman
composer for Hindi films. I question that attribution. Jaddan Bai may
have edged in just a bit ahead of her. The controversy is minor, and
only marginally relevant to this discussion.
As long as we are talking about Saraswati Devi, sister Manek Homji
(stage name - Chandraprabha) must also get on your list. It is quite
safe to credit Chandraprabha with at least some of the Bombay Talkie
music output otherwise attributed to the better known sibling.
Outside of those checkpoints, there are some one-film assignments. For
example, Pandit Firoze Dastur did GUL BAKAAVALI (1946), jointly with
Prof Bundu Khan. I was also a little surprised to find
producer-director JBH Wadia credited (at least in part) for the music
of a 1956 Wadia production.
V Balsara's association with Indian film music began around 1943.
Quantitatively, his body of solo-credited work for the Hindi space was
not much, not even by a modest yardstick. His repertoire of
less-than-10 films+ a handful of non-film songs is not well remembered
today. But his work with Lata and Mukesh is exquisite.
The only other Parsi composer that comes to mind is Kersi Mistry.
Although he has not managed to establish anything in the nature of the
checkpoint claimed by his father (Pirozeshah M), his compositions for
CH Atma are very worthy.
That is what I can think of, for the Hindi music space. The Gujarati
Film Geet Kosh is also worth a look. It may reveal a name or two.
Jamshedji Maadan's Calcutta studio offers more opportunity for
research. The Maadans seem not to have engaged any Parsee music
directors for their talkie films, but like Ardeshir Irani and Imperial
Movietone, they too were pioneers of the silent era. Despite my nagging
suspicion that most of that music for India's silent productions may
have been adapted from Western sources, I would still consider it a
worthy research area.
Add all this up, and you still end up with a rather sparse list. Parsee
production companies seemed to focus on grooming their understudies to
be the best-in-class next generation movie directors and
cinematographers, to say nothing of business people with a healthy
appetite for technology. Sounds like terrible stereotyping, but it is
not meant to be. It is hard to forget Fareedoon Irani's world-class
camera work for just about every Mehboob Khan film he shot.
These were the role models, not just for the Parsees, but for entire
new generations India's movie techies.
Anyway, I am not surprised we don't see many Parsee music directors.
Then there is my Classical argument. I would offer the suggestion that
our Parsee friends, musically speaking, were otherwise busy. Up until
the '70s, Bombay's Western Classical "scene" used to be defined by the
annual events calendars maintained by the volunteers at Victory Stall
(Colaba) + the Bombay Madrigal Singers' Association (Fort). What I
liked best about their lists was that the featured artists and groups,
mostly from Europe, were relative unknowns, often even in their own
countries. And most of them were phenomenal !! I have no idea how the
lists were created or how the possible artists were screened. But they
generally turned out to be well worth the 2-3 hours.
It also went beyond things Classical. India's first Jazz Festival,
Jazz Yatra 1978, featured a Parsee tenor saxophonist (Cawasji Patel??)
Just that little stretch of Queen's Road from Eros cinema to the
Cooperage bandstand must have had the highest concentration of Western
Classical musicians-in-training. Between the Billimorias and the
Pastakias and the Modis and the Mistrys, that right there was your
string quartet, with a piano trio thrown in for good measure.
Well, may be not any more.
cheers
vish
naniwadekar
"Vish Krishnan" <vishkr...@hotmail.com> wrote :
>
> Not much has been written about the music of India's
> silent films.
>
Keshavrao Bhole has reminisced about the music heard
in Indian film theatres during the years of silent films.
I reproduce here an excerpt from a post I had made in
January this year.
---------------
Involvement of Christian musicians with India's Cinema
Halls had started even before films began talking. Keshavrao
Bhole has talked with nostalgia about live orchestral
accompaniment provided to silent films in Mumbai's
theatres in the 1920s. In Capitol and Opera House cine
halls, orchestra was blessed with conductors of vision.
Wellington Cinema House also employed orchestra.
In Pune, musicians would provide accompaniment to
silent films in Indian style. Nana Sathe, who later became
familiar as one half of Sathe Brothers associated with
film music, alongwith his brother Bal Sathe, played music
for silent films since he was just 9-10 years old at Pune's
Aryan Theatre. Narhari Sahasrabuddhe and one Thakaar
were his comrades. Nana Sathe played several instruments
but specialised in violin.
The advent of talkies put an end to the practice of local
musicians providing live background music to films.
---------------
- dn
Surjit Singh
they are Parsi.
B. Irani and Damodat Sharma in Jaadui Qismat 1944
Suleman Dafrani in Teer 195?, unreleased
S. L. Merchant in Daku Bhoopat 1960
A. Lokshir in Kala Parvat 1971
Vish Krishnan wrote:
--
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
Surjit Singh
Surjit Singh wrote:
> Looking through all 5 volumes of Geet Kosh, here a few more. I think
> they are Parsi.
>
> B. Irani and Damodat Sharma in Jadui Kismat 1944
Sorry. Prepared the list last night. But just got up. Of course, should
be Damodar Sharma.
> Suleman Dafrani in Teer 195?, unreleased
> S. L. Merchant in Daku Bhoopat 1960
Geet Kosh adds that S. Janaki sang here for the first time in Hindi films.
> A. Lokshir in Kala Parvat 1971
Songless film. Background music only.
asi...@my-deja.com
Surjit Singh wrote:
>
> > Suleman Dafrani in Teer 195?, unreleased
> > S. L. Merchant in Daku Bhoopat 1960
>
If the above S. L. Merchant is the same as the one referred in these
articles, he may not be a Parsi gent. His name was Sadruddin Merchant
and he apparently composed music for "South Indian" films (which
language??).
http://www.verveonline.com/25/people/merchants/merchants.shtml
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/apr/28ss.htm
Surjitji - Vijay Madhavji Merchant was Hindu. Merchant is a common last
name across Hindus, Jains, Parsis and Muslims. Vijay Merchant had told
a nice anecdote in his 2.00 p.m. programme on how he "acquired"
Merchant as his last name - it should have been Thackersay.
Cheers
Arun
Sreenivas Paruchuri
> > > Suleman Dafrani in Teer 195?, unreleased
> > > S. L. Merchant in Daku Bhoopat 1960
<snip>
> and he apparently composed music for "South Indian" films (which
> language??).
"Daku Bhoopat" was certainly dubbed into Tamil and Telugu. I am just
missing the titles.
re: SL Merchant's South Indian films, off hand I can think of one. The
Telugu version of it is: #konDaviiTi donga# (1958). Original version is
Tamil; starring Ranjan, MK Radha, Anjali et al. The music credits for
the Tamil version were given to SLM and MS Sriram (not a very big name,
but All India Radio - Vijayawada listeners knew him better.). For the
Telugu version Ramesh Naidu was credited as music supervisor (#sangiita
paryavEkshaNa#).
Regards,
Sreenivas
Sreenivas Paruchuri
> Imperial Movietone had its roots in the silent era.
> Founder/cinematographer Ardeshir Irani was busy striking collaborative
> deals with European manufacturers and film companies a good many years
> before the dawn of India's talkie age. Not much has been written about
> the music of India's silent films. I would not know where to even begin
> the research. But I would speculate that if there is one production
Vish,
This is a topic very dear to my heart. Any serious study of Indian
cinema - south or north - should start with the study of Marathi and
Parsi theatres of ca. 1850s through 1920s.
Re: Parsi theatre and its relationship to the evolution of Indian
cinema, you may like to check the work of Kathryn Hansen at UT-Austin. I
was introduced to her work through her 3-part translation of Somnath
Gupt's book on Parsi theatre, published in Sangeet Natak Akademi's
journal in 2001. Good news is that this translation has now come out as
a book. See Literary Review column in yesterday's The Hindu.
http://www.hindu.com/lr/2005/07/03/stories/2005070300080100.htm
A Google search should give you a lot of information about her and her
work. One of her papers is available on-line at:
http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/16/8_Hansen.pdf
If you are further interested in her work, I have one of papers
(Languages on stage: Linguistic pluralism and community formation in the
19th century Parsi theatre - Modern Asian Studies, 37.2, 2003, pp.
381-405, Cambridge University Press) as PDF document and another two
in print.
Best,
Sreenivas
seth...@yahoo.com
more seriour music lovers like you on RMIM .
Many donot know that Blasara had some association with KL Saigal . He
was in the orchestra team of Naushad for Shahjehan . He recalled how
Naushad Saheb struggled to record ' jab dil hi toot gaya ' In those
days when Naushad himself arranged every piece of instrument
meticulously . His arranger for later movies was Ibrahim who did a
splendid job for him .
Regards ,
Cawas Sethna
Afzal A. Khan
> Beyond gaining fame as India's first talkie producer, Imperial
> Movietone never quite made the transition out of their silent legacy.
> In the second half of that decade, one Jamshedji B Khan (??) composed
> for at least two Imperial releases.
> vish
I am intrigued by the two question marks after the above Parsi
name. If it is due to any doubt about the association of the
apparently Muslim surname, let me add that many Parsis have had
this surname. It could be due to the title of "Khan Saheb" and
"Khan Bahadur" that used to be bestowed on eminent people from
both the Muslim and Parsi communities. I knew one Parsi guy whose
surname was "Khansaheb" !!
Afzal
Srinivas Ganti
Sreenivas Paruchuri wrote:
> "Daku Bhoopat" was certainly dubbed into Tamil and Telugu. I am just
> missing the titles.
Isn't the Telugu movie Rajanandini ?
You once told me that the Suseela, PB Sreenivas duet from Daku Bhoopat
"nainaa jo naino.n se mile, huaa hai mujhe haaye kyaa"
has a Telugu version by AM Raja and Jikki and is from Rajanandini.
I absolutely love the Suseela, PBS duet !
> re: SL Merchant's South Indian films, off hand I can think of one. The
> Telugu version of it is: #konDaviiTi donga# (1958). Original version is
> Tamil; starring Ranjan, MK Radha, Anjali et al. The music credits for
> the Tamil version were given to SLM and MS Sriram (not a very big name,
> but All India Radio - Vijayawada listeners knew him better.). For the
> Telugu version Ramesh Naidu was credited as music supervisor (#sangiita
> paryavEkshaNa#).
IIRC S.L Merchant was an assistant to Ramesh Naidu in a couple of Hindi
Movies.
Surjit Singh
Afzal A. Khan wrote:
Believe it or not, there was a physics professor at IIT Kanpur called
Debi Charan Khan!
http://www.iitk.ac.in/infocell/cgg/
I met him in a conference.
>
>
> Afzal
seth...@yahoo.com
Q - I wish to know if the movie Rustom Sohrab had any touch of Persian
music ?
both the songs and the background score .
Regards ,
Sethna
Afzal A. Khan
I do believe that most of the songs in this movie
(MD : Sajjad Husain) had the flavour of Middle Eastern
music. "Yeh Kaisi 'ajab daastaaN ho gayee hai", "Ai
dilruba, nazreN mila" and also Talat's "MauzhaNdraan"
are some such songs from this movie. The qawwali "Phir
tumhaari yaad aayee ai sanam" had an unusual beat for a
qawwali. Interestingly, Mumtaz who played the female
lead opposite Prem Nath also had an Irani family connection.
Afzal
Ketan
seth...@yahoo.com says...
>Vish and Paruchuri , Thanks for the excellent feedback .Wish there were
>more seriour music lovers like you on RMIM .
Add one more name--Kersi Lord. Although he never received official credit, the
background score and the orchestration/arrangement for movies like Saathi and
Pakeezah were done by him. Apparently it wasn't Naushad who finished Pakeezah so
much as Kersi Lord, who completed it after the passing away of Ghulam Mhd. His
father Cawas Lord worked with SDB and both Kersi and his brother Budgie worked
with SD and RD.
Peenaz and Pillu Masani have composed ghazals and speaking of Jazz here is an
excerpt from:
http://iecolumnists.expressindia.com/full_column.php?content_id=62792
Rudy Cotton was undoubtedly one of India’s greatest jazz musicians. Born of a
Parsi Zoroastrian father, his real name was Cawas Khatau. Some of the best music
Rudy made was with his band at Hackman’s in Mussoorie during World War II. In
1953 an impromptu jam session was arranged in Chembur, then a quiet, undeveloped
part of Bombay unravaged by the builders. It was an unforgettable musical
experience. Rudy’s performance was a tour de force. His tone and phrasing on the
tenor saxophone were remarkably close to that of Lester Young (Pres) and his
solos could be easily mistaken for those of Pres.
Ketan
>Regards ,
>Cawas Sethna
>
joshilay
Ketan wrote:
> In article <1120515040.5...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> seth...@yahoo.com says...
>
> >Vish and Paruchuri , Thanks for the excellent feedback .Wish there were
> >more seriour music lovers like you on RMIM .
>
> Add one more name--Kersi Lord. Although he never received official credit, the
> background score and the orchestration/arrangement for movies like Saathi and
> Pakeezah were done by him. Apparently it wasn't Naushad who finished Pakeezah so
> much as Kersi Lord, who completed it after the passing away of Ghulam Mhd. His
> father Cawas Lord worked with SDB and both Kersi and his brother Budgie worked
> with SD and RD.
add Homi Mullan to the list. one of the key musicians in the RD camp.
played accordian and duggi.
J
seth...@yahoo.com
din't find the name of Kesri Lord in the credits anywhere . I find
Ibrahim under credits for assistant .
Balsara had lot of praise for him as an arranger anyway .
Regards ,
Cawas Sethna
Sreenivas Paruchuri
> Sreenivas Paruchuri wrote:
> > "Daku Bhoopat" was certainly dubbed into Tamil and Telugu. I am just
> > missing the titles.
>
> Isn't the Telugu movie Rajanandini ?
Yes! You are right. This 1958 production was dubbed into Hindi. While
typing that message I had "arab viiruDu jabak" (1960-61) in my mind. In
fact, I don't know the original Hindi title of "jabak".
> You once told me that the Suseela, PB Sreenivas duet from Daku Bhoopat
> "nainaa jo naino.n se mile, huaa hai mujhe haaye kyaa"
> has a Telugu version by AM Raja and Jikki and is from Rajanandini.
>
> I absolutely love the Suseela, PBS duet !
The original Telugu version goes like: #andaalu chindu siimalO#. Its
quite incidental that I got hold of the Hindi version. In the 2nd half
of 2003 and early 2004, on every Monday, Mallaadi Suuribaabu (father of
Carnatic vocalist duo: "mallaadi brothers") of AIR-Vijayawada played
old non-film songs (mostly #lalita giitaalu#) from AIR's archives and
this song somehow slipped in to one of the programmes.
> IIRC S.L Merchant was an assistant to Ramesh Naidu in a couple of Hindi
> Movies.
Thats interesting! RN didnot do too many Hindi films. As per VAK
Rangarao, quite a few producers were impressed at his compisitions in
"Hamlet" and Kishore Sahu in particular wanted to engage him for his
next two productions. Then he fell sick and had to spend next 2 years or
so in a TB sanitorium.
Regards,
Sreenivas
seth...@yahoo.com
Have you any idea if Zubin Mehta ever composed music
for hindi films ?
Sethna
seth...@yahoo.com
Did Zubin Mehta scored music for Hindi movie ?
Sethna
asi...@my-deja.com
AFAIK, he has not composed music at all. He did a documentary on Parsis
(origins, famous people etc) called 'On Wings of Fire' (not a great
effort) and if I recall correctly, composed the music for it. I do not
think he has composed anything else.
It would be interesting to determine if his father Mehli Mehta was ever
associated with Hindi films since he was based in Bombay for a long
period of time and conducted the Bombay symphony orchestra.
Cheers
Arun
seth...@yahoo.com
Thanks Arun for info .
Sethna