Of one-hit wonders and sleeper hits: Mahesh Chander, Bhushan, Maikhana
Ashok
of a "one-hit wonder"--a singer or group that has produced only one hit
song. Some even employ the expression in an objective way: the artist(s)
have had only one top-40 hit in their career. For the most part, however,
the expression means something like the band is remembered for one
particular song. There are quite a few web sites devoted to this concept.
For Indian film music, it is not a very fertile concept, primarily because
of the thinness of the singing talent the industry engaged. That's true
at least for the period we love most and are most familiar with. There
might be interesting such cases in the '30s and the early-to-mid '40s
(Kamalakar? Naniwadekar?). And I think the current scene--both film and
non-film pop--is quite likely to throw up some such cases (is Kay Kay
ever going to come up with another song worth remembering?)
For "the period" (I am deliberately leaving the boundaries undefined), it
is possible to dig up some candidate names and discuss whether they
qualify e.g., Shailesh, Meena Mangeshkar, Meera Shiraz, Dilip Kumar,
Nutan, Kabban Mirza, Kishori Amonkar, Ratna Gupta, Sudhir Phadke,
Vyjayantimala in Bengali, Ramachandra in Kannada (I haven't been able to
find out anything about S. Janaki's co-singer in the 'Miss Leelavathi'
song "dONi saagali mu.nde hOgali', one of the greatest songs in Kannada.)
Madhuri Purandare ... Do note that these are examples of candidate names
for discussion only and by no means a definitive list. The discussion
would range on, among other factors, whether the artist has even one hit,
or perhaps more than one; or whether the artist can be regarded as an
aspiring film singer, and of course, the fundamental and unanswerable
philosophical question, what is a hit? It would be a good thread and
RMIMers are welcome to launch it and contribute to it with their usual
mixture of seriousness and dilettentism. Here my purpose is to mention
one possibility: Mahesh Chander.
A notable difference between the Indian film music scene and the Western
popular music scene is the role of the music director. In the West,
the names of the writers, composers or producers of the song do not
have any popular resonance; only afficianados are likely to know of
them (e.g., most people assume "Black Magic Woman" is a Santana song).
In Indian film music, however, a few music directors have attained
star status, so that even casual listeners are likely to be aware of
many of them. Substantively also, the variety in our popular music
comes from the diverse composer talent, rather than from the variety
of voices, timbres and singing styles of a diverse array of singers.
So, perhaps, the equivalent of the one-hit wonder for us might be
more fruitfully seen as a music director than as a singer.
From my memories of working on RJGK 28 on obscure music directors,
it is rare that a music director has had precisely one hit (Sudha
Malhotra and Vilayat Khan come to mind, but are uninteresting
examples from the angle of whether they were aspiring MDs; Sadat
Khan might be a more valid example). After all, there can be more
than one hit from the same film. It is perhaps more natural to look for
"one-soundtrack" wonders when MDs are involved. I think there have
been some, e.g., Jagmohan Sursagar, Mukesh, Pardesi, Suhrid Kar,
S. Madan, Satish Bhatia, Sapan Chakravarty (I don't know if
they have scored for precisely one film. I think their names are
associated with one film for which they composed memorable music. Let
me know if they have films other than the one famous one.) Here, my
purpose is to flag one MD possibility: Bhushan Mehta.
Coming to films, in Hollywood there is a notion of "a sleeper" or
"a sleeper hit": a totally unheralded film that no one knew much about
is released with little publicity, but catches attention mainly by word
of mouth and ends up being at least a minor hit. (It is to be distinguished
from a cult hit or an underground favourite.) It is a good RAMLI
question, which if any Indian films can be considered to have been
sleepers. I think a film that can be considered to have been one
is Maikhana.
It's a film by Kidar Sharma and carries many of his characteristic
imprints, at least of his later phase: little-known cast; an off-beat
and serious theme, but not in the mould of a parallel cinema; lyrics
by himself; not well-known music director, and so on. The censor date
of the film is 1967, but I don't really know when it got its first
release. I saw it in Calcutta in 1971/72. By then it had acquired
a minor fame in urban India as a film worth-seeing. It can't really
be classed as a hit film, but it was more successful than films
without star value, and certainly than Kidar Sharma's own earlier
ones, such as 'Hamari Yaad Aayegi' and 'Fariyad'. The film starred
Zeb Rehman, Shailesh Kumar, and in the central role, a new face,
Bambi. I am not aware of any other film by her, but she was a
refreshing presence in 'Maikhana'. The story resembled that of
'Anupama' somewhat: a repressed young woman, blooming out through
romance. But Kidar Sharma's class as a much superior director
showed. He is less careful (and anal) than Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
but far more intuitive and he employed a more deft, but lighter
touch here than in 'Anupama', making the film far more enjoyable,
inspite of having a less experienced cast. It will take things
too far off the topic to dwell at length on Kidar Sharma here.
I hope the recent releases featuring him, brought to our attention
by Rajkumar Keswani, will rekindle interest in his contributions
to Hindi films.
The music director of 'Maikhana' is one Bhushan. I think his
full name is Bhushan Mehta. With this song featured here, he
might qualify as a "one hit" wonder, but I don't really know.
His only other film I am aware of is 'Purani Pehchan', an
early 70s mystery, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Tanuja. The
music there is decidedly uninspired, with a bunch of undistinguished
Asha songs. I recall that there were a couple of other hummable
songs in 'Maikhana', by Rafi, Asha and Suman, but none that has
left a mark. But the song featured here is a beauty: great tune
and very appropriately orchestrated. The song had some air play
over the radio over late 60s and early 70s.
The singer of the song featured here is one Mahesh Chander.
I don't know any other song--film or nonfilm--sung by him.
A pity, really, because I think he has sung this song extremely
well, with very good phrasing and improvisation. I am keen to
find out from RMIMers if they know of other songs by him.
There is a minor story behind your hearing of the song from
me. I was reminded of the song recently at the Denver RMIM meet
last year at guri's place, where Vish sang it for us. Next,
Chetan played for me some songs he had recently recorded from
the radio during his visit to India and this song showed up.
There you are. Here are the lyrics and courtesy Srinivas
Ganti, you can listen to an mp3 version at:
http://gantisri.tripod.com/maikhana.mp3
Chetan helped with the lyrics also. Yet, there are two
spots, one in particular, where corrections are solicited.
The song employs the ghazal form, although I doubt if it
follows a canonical ghazal metre. Kidar Sharma, the lyricist,
has pulled off that trick time and again, e.g., the Mukesh-
Geeta duet from 'Bawre Nain' and the title song of 'Hamari
Yaad Aayegi' by Mubarak Begum. In theme also, the song
exhibits Kidar Sharma's perennial interest in metaphysical
issues--here, the relation between god and a human.
ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham to
ye duniyaa musaafir_Khaanaa hai
ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham to
ye duniyaa musaafir_Khaanaa hai
naa apanee koee kahaanee hai
naa apanaa koee afasaanaa hai
ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham
saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
jis_kaa ye jahaa.N maiKhaanaa hai
un ko to pilaae Khum ke ham (?1)
(hollow laughter)
Khaalee meraa paimaanaa hai
ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham
betaab tere jalawo.n ke liye
betaab tere jalawo.n ke liye
wo aur koee moosaa hogaa (?2)
tere jalawe Dhoo.NDhe.nge jise
wo meraa dil-e-deewaanaa hai
ek shab ke ...
Sorry, the song cuts out about here. guri seems to think
that there is one more stanza. I would love to know for
sure. I hope the HMV release of two cassettes of songs
with lyrics by Kidar Sharma includes this one.
Is the word at ?1 "Khum" meaning pot? (Could it be
a Persian word cognate with Sanskrit "kumbh"?)
The word at ?2 is perhaps "moosaa", Arabic for
Moses.
Addendum: MusicIndia OnLine comes up with some songs
by a singer named Mahesh Chander. Do give them a listen.
I can't really make out if it is the same singer. The
songs seem to be in Sindhi. The url is:
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/l/030A0200
Ashok
BHAGWANTSAGOO
>The singer of the song featured here is one Mahesh Chander.
>I don't know any other song--film or nonfilm--sung by him.
>A pity, really, because I think he has sung this song extremely
>well, with very good phrasing and improvisation.
>
>
> ye duniyaa musaafir_Khaanaa hai
>ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham to
> ye duniyaa musaafir_Khaanaa hai
>naa apanee koee kahaanee hai
> naa apanaa koee afasaanaa hai
>ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham
>
>saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
>saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
> jis_kaa ye jahaa.N maiKhaanaa hai
>un ko to pilaae Khum ke ham (?1)
>(hollow laughter)
> Khaalee meraa paimaanaa hai
>ek shab ke musaafir hai.n ham
>
>betaab tere jalawo.n ke liye
>betaab tere jalawo.n ke liye
> wo aur koee moosaa hogaa (?2)
>tere jalawe Dhoo.NDhe.nge jise
> wo meraa dil-e-deewaanaa hai
>ek shab ke ...
>
I have in my possession a vinyl album featuring ghazals by Mahesh Chander
titled Shab Ke Musafir. I had no knowledge of the singer or the reason for the
title until now. Many Thanks.
Would Brij Bhushan qualify as a one hit wonder with Mukesh's Kai Sadiyon
Se(Milaap)?
Or Daan Singh with MY LOVE(Zikr Hota Hai Jab/Mukesh);
Or why not Sahilendra Singh with Main Shayar To Nahin in Bobby(never to regain
this status again).
Bhagwant
Shalini Razdan
possible MD candidate might be Malay Chakarvaraty. I've come across just
one movie by him: an early 60s film called "Mukti." I would rate the
soundtrack as somewhere between very good and great. The only problem
though is, was the movie (or its music) a hit in it's time? I can't answer
that question, but perhaps you or others from that era could comment?
Incidentally, Bambi has appeared in at least one other film. It's a late
sixties movie called "Jaalsaaz" and stars Dara Singh. My memory is fuzzy,
but I think the MD was G. S. Kohli (btw, would he qualify as a one-hit
soundtrack wonder re Shikari?).
Shalini
"Ashok" <ADhar...@WorldBank.Org> wrote in message
news:aifv2...@enews2.newsguy.com...
Ramesh . S
> >
> Thank you for a wonderful introduction to a potentially fascinating thread.
> Would Brij Bhushan qualify as a one hit wonder with Mukesh's Kai Sadiyon
> Se(Milaap)?
> Or Daan Singh with MY LOVE(Zikr Hota Hai Jab/Mukesh);
> Or why not Sahilendra Singh with Main Shayar To Nahin in Bobby(never to regain
> this status again).
> Bhagwant
The first composers that came to my mind, were these very guys -
Daan Singh and Brij Bhushan [ probably because they were in the
same cassette that i have ].
I was under the impression that "Woh tere pyaar ka Gham
Ek bahaanaa tha sanam" was the most popular song from "My Love".
However, Daan Singh also has one(?) other popular score
[ Thakur Jarnail Singh ? ]
I do not know of any other film by brij bhushan but the walking
geet-koshes [ read: kalraji,ashok et al ] might verily furnish
a long list.
I am not so sure about Shailendra Singh being a one-hit wonder.
He continued to singh quite successfully for rishi kapoor thru
Zamane ko Dikhaana Hai and Saagar [ jaane do naa - was quite
popular ]
Does Shyamal Mitra [ Amaanush ] qualify as a contender ? And what
about Kuldip Singh [ Ankush had 1 hit number, saath saath was
also popular ]?
regards
ramesh
cricfan
"Ashok" <ADhar...@WorldBank.Org> wrote in message
news:aifv2...@enews2.newsguy.com...
> of the thinness of the singing talent the industry engaged. That's true
> at least for the period we love most and are most familiar with. There
> might be interesting such cases in the '30s and the early-to-mid '40s
> (Kamalakar? Naniwadekar?). And I think the current scene--both film and
> non-film pop--is quite likely to throw up some such cases (is Kay Kay
> ever going to come up with another song worth remembering?)
>
He has (imho). Both in Filhaal and Rockford, he has done a fairly good
job.
> For "the period" (I am deliberately leaving the boundaries undefined), it
> is possible to dig up some candidate names and discuss whether they
> qualify e.g., Shailesh, Meena Mangeshkar, Meera Shiraz, Dilip Kumar,
> Nutan, Kabban Mirza, Kishori Amonkar, Ratna Gupta, Sudhir Phadke,
> Vyjayantimala in Bengali, Ramachandra in Kannada (I haven't been able to
> find out anything about S. Janaki's co-singer in the 'Miss Leelavathi'
> song "dONi saagali mu.nde hOgali', one of the greatest songs in Kannada.)
If you include Dilip Kumar and Nutan, you cannot exclude Shabhana
Azmi's "Gulab Jism Ka" from Anjuman. What was it that drove Khaiyyam
to ask her to lend her voice? Sheer desperation? I can hazard a guess
that Bhiku Mhatre and Yeda "ne uske kanpatti pe gun rakh ke" forced
him to record her voice. But I don't think it can be classified as a hit in
any
way.
Dilraj kaur sang "Mata Saraswati Sharda" from Aalaap.
Lakshmi Shankar sang a few songs, but Bawarchi was her one-hit wonder.
R. S. Mishra in Sur Sangam - 'Jaon Tore Charan kamal'
Satyasheel Deshpande in Lekin "xxxxxx naina bole". The xxxxx has been
debated
ad nauseum on RMIM :->
Archana sang "Aayo Kahan Se Ghanshyam" in Buddha Mil Gaya.
Haimanti (Shukla?) sang "Kahan Se Aaye Badra" - a truly memorable
song in "Chashm-e-buddoor"
Aamir Khan's song was a genuine 'hit' since the masses loved it. And it was
not a bad effort either. Aamir and co also sang "usne bhi layli, isne bhi
layli" in Holi.
Someone sang a forgettable song "Dukh Sukh ki har ek mala" in Kudrat.
Pt. Vasantrao Deshpande in Rang Birangi.
Amjad Khan hums - quite beautifully - the very poignant "Jab Chhod Chale
Lucknow nagri" in Shatranj Ke Khiladi. But it is not a complete song.
Did Amrish Puri sing the opening lines in Pardes "London Dekha, Paris
Dekhi"?
Mehmood is another that comes to mind.
Johnny Walker kept repeating 'Champi" in the famous song "Sar jo tera
chakraye"
Shashi Kapoor hums Faiz couplets in the superb Ismail Merchant film
"Muhafiz"
More later..
Cheers
Arun
surjit singh
>GONE
> saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
> saaqee se shikaayat hai ham ko
> jis_kaa ye jahaa.N maiKhaanaa hai
> un ko to pilaae Khum ke ham (?1)
Kum ke Kum = pots and pots of sharaab
Surjit Singh,a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
Gurcharan Sandhu
> ADhar...@WorldBank.Org writes:
> >The singer of the song featured here is one Mahesh Chander.
> >I don't know any other song--film or nonfilm--sung by him.
The only other known film song, again a cracker, by Mahesh Chander
is 'Jo zubaan-e-dil naa samajh sake...' PATTHARON KAA SHEHAR
(MD: Usha Khanna}. Unfortunately this film was never released.
Another film with which his name is linked is PEHLAA QADAM (1980)
(MD: Snehal Bhatkar} for which he seems to have sung, as per HFGK
Volume 5.
Besides the 8 ghazals in album 'Shab Ke Musafir' pointed out by
Sagoo Saheb, Mahesh Chander has also to his credit an EP featuring
4 ghazals not only sung but also music directed by himself.
There also was a live concert recording released on a musicassette
featuring 8 more ghazals as the singer and MD.
Brij Bhushan had 5 films to his credit:
MILAAP 1972
ZAROORAT 1972
EK NAAO DO KINAARE 1973
KAAMSHAASTRA 1975
SANGDIL 1981
> Or Daan Singh with MY LOVE(Zikr Hota Hai Jab/Mukesh);
Daan Singh, on the other hand, had only 3 films:
TOOFAAN 1969
MY LOVE 1970
BHOOL NA JAANAA Un-released
'Bhool Na Jaanaa' had two lovely gems:
'Mere humsafar mere humnawaa...' by Geeta Dutt, and
'Pukaaro mujhe naam de kar pukaaro...' by Mukesh
Gurcharan
BHAGWANTSAGOO
I mentioned Shailendra Singh's Bobby number(s) because he never attained the
acclaim he did thereafter. Yes Saagar was a hit for him but not in the same
league as Bobby and Main Shayar To Nahin is still sung and played today.
One could I suppose also add Sharda to the list: Titli Udi and Dekho Mera Dil
Machal Gaya;
Vani Jairam - Bol Re Papihara Papihara(Guddi)...yes she has a volume of work
but has she ever hit the big time as she did with Guddi?
I think mentioning names of odd actor singers is pointless as the songs were
invariably not hits(unless its Aamir's Kya Bolti Tu).
From the current crop, Sanjay Dutt's effort from KAANTE - Jaane Kya Hoga Rama
Re is a big hit...mind you he may follow this up with other hits(even from
jail).
Bhagwant
Ambrish Sundaram
Pathhar se sheeshaa takaraa ke (not ITRANSed) - from Saawan Ko Aane Do -
sung by Anand Kumar. The song received good airtime in the 80s. I can't
think of other hit songs by Anand Kumar, as I do not have the Geet Kosh.
BTW, isn't Anand Kumar the same guy who sang the title song for Ramanand
Sagar's tele-serial Ramayan?
Ambrish Sundaram
Urzung Khan
............... Khum pe Khum
(I hear 'pe' not 'ke')
> The word at ?2 is perhaps "moosaa", Arabic for
> Moses.
The word is 'moosaa' as you say.
Urzung Khan
naniwadekar
Several names came to mind as potential 'one-hit wonders'
and got disqualified one by one. I am re-thinking my
thoughts aloud now. I have taken the word 'hit' to mean
whatever suits my purpose of mentioning some lesser known
names. In a few cases 'hit' is taken to mean nothing more
than a song I happen to like very much. My post should
only be seen as orthogonally related to the topic.
The earliest name that came to my mind was MihirKiran
Bhattacharya. He has composed a lovely tarannum for Pahadi
Sanyal in Kaarawaan-e-hayaat - 1935. 'ye kuch ke waqt
kaisi aawaaz'.
The very first Hindi film song which used playback singers
was a trio in Dhoop Chhaon - 1935, sung by Suprova Sarkar,
Parul Ghosh and Harimati. SS and PG are well-known
quantities. Even Harimati's name occurs often in 1930s GK.
Shalini has already mentioned Malay Chakravarty's MUKTI.
1930s Geet Kosh has many well-known names which you don't
usually associate with Hindi films. Prof B R Deodhar
(Kumar Gandharva's guru), Wamanrao Sadolikar, Sureshbabu
Mane, Hirabai Badodekar, Dinanath, Balo Gandharva are all
there. Indira Wadkar, disciple of Agra giant Vilayat
Hussain Khan, is not very well known even in Classical
Music circles. Her name can be found here and there in
1930s Geet kosh. I have two songs by her in a Marathi
film, Chhaya, MDed by Annasaheb Mainkar. Even the sarangi
nawaz Bundu Khan has composed music for Hindi film(s). I
discovered this very recently. I suggest every artist who
is known to have performed very frequently and was a big
name in his region and is known to have been a big name in
his region by outsiders should be excluded. Vasantrao
Deshpande and Kishori Amonkar are part of my everyday life
and it feels extremely odd to see them discussed as one-
hit phenomenon. M S Subbulaxmi, Ghantasala, P B Sreenivas,
Bhanumati, Jikki are also ruled out, however infrequent
their appearance in Hindi films. But it may be worth
mentioning them under a sub-heading.
Among famous names associated with Marathi Natya Sangeet,
older names were co-opted by Hindi Film Industry before
its soul was seized by dons in Pakistan. The smaller the
world has become, the less use Hindi films have found for
talents which are routinely seen and heard on other media
like radio and tv. Jitendra Abhisheki is one of the
greatest music composers. Alas, he has probably
contributed nothing to Hindi films. When even Talat was
cast aside in 1960s after R D Burman's grand entry, who
had time for Abhisheki? Better let us go back to saner
times. Bal Gandharva has acted and sung in only one film
AFAIK - Dharmatma in 1930s. Dinanath acted in a couple of
films which must have been built around his singing
talent. Video of one of his songs, from the film
Krishnarjun Yuddha - 1934, is available. The arrival of
talkies heralded lean times for Dinanath's Balwant Natak
Company. Its co-founder Chintamanrao Kolhatkar tried to
cash in on the high and ever-increasing demand for films
in 1930s by making a few films. Dinanath acted in most/all
of them.
Vasant Prabhu's songs are very famous in Maharashtra. But
his name is not as well known as Sudhir Phadke or Vasant
Desai. Every Maharashtrian who is unaware of this great
MD's output should be shot dead. Some outsiders like Vish
know his truth worth and his name gets a frequent mention
whenever you talk with music lovers who know what songs he
composed for Lata and Asha. He has one Hindi film to his
credit, Gharbaar - 1954ish. I understand all three Lata
solos and a Talat-Asha duet from the film are available
with RMIMers. Vasant Prabhu and Vasant Desai are
responsible for the three Marathi film songs by Talat,
each a gem. But in his duet with Suman Kalyanpur, Suman
has completely overshadowed him. Her fluency in that song
made me mistake her for Lata.
Kishori Amonkar is ruled out from one-hit discussion. But
Kishori, sister of K S Ragi, may be a one-hit wonder. She
has sung songs in Siskiyaan - 1950s. Kewal Singh Raagi's
name can be seen often in 1948-1953 Hindi films. Gulraja
is another singer from that era who is rarely discussed.
His song in Shagan may be known to some readers.
The name Afzal Lahori had never been mentioned on RMIM
before S Jayaraman brought it up. But his name can be seen
fairly often in 1940s Geet Kosh. Mujaddid Niazi is another
name that comes to mind. I have one lovely non-film song
in his voice. I had asked about him recently. IIRC UK had
responded that he used to sing on Lahore radio around
1950. Recently I saw his name as assistant for a Hindi
film. I think it is a 1950s film, but it could be 1940s
one. I rubbed my eyes in wonder, confirmed I was indeed
reading the name correctly and promptly forgot the name of
the film. Anybody? Sandhu-ji?
Purushottam Solankurkar was part of a clique of Marathi
MDs, a friend of Sudhir Phadke and P L Deshpande. He has
two films in 1952 (Devyani and Sandesh IIRC) under the
name S Purushottam. One Purushottam was MD for a few
Rajkamal films in late 1940s, including DAHEJ (with Vasant
Desai). He could be the same fellow.
One P Ramakant composed for many films in late 1940s in
which Bhagwan Dada is a recurring presence. Bhagwan told
Hamraaz that the MD of Bhedi Bangala - 1949ish was none
other than C Ramchandra though documents mention P
Ramakant. Does this mean CR used the name P Ramakant? I
don't think so. If he did, Hamraaz would have mentioned it
in his email. The name Ramakant reappears in late 1950s as
assistant to N Datta. But he may be a different fellow.
An MD named Haribhai is one-hit wonder.
But that Haribhai is none other than Anil Biswas.
For how many films did Anilda compose music under the name
Haribhai? I think only one.
Madhuri Purandare must have performed in more than 200
programmes of Marathi songs in Maharashtra in 1990s. She
draws/paints pictures (pardon my complete ignorance about
that branch), has written a prize winning book on Picasso,
has good knowledge of French and has adapted two French
dramas in Marathi. One of them is utter junk. The other,
'Waiting for Godot', is performed very rarely by a
talented group of amateurs based in Nashik, spelt Nasik by
white man. It is a world class production. The current
brain-dead crop of Marathi theatre crowd has no use for
it. As for Madhuri Purandare's music, a group of four
talented Pune based artists has been performing shows
under various themes over last 10 years. MD Anand Modak,
organist Rajeev Paranjape and singers Chandrakant Kale and
Madhuri Purandare. ALURKAR has done two releases. IIRC the
title of a two-cassette release is 'Amrutacha Ghanu' or
'Amrut-gaathaa'. Kale and Purandare have sung abhangs by
Marathi saints. I would recommend that set. www.neelam.com
should be a good source for that set.
How many songs in Hindi films were penned by Majaaz? Off
the top of my head I can think of only the Thokar tandem.
P N Arora had talked to him about Hoor-e-Arab but nothing
came of it.
Shanta Shelke has written dozens of Marathi songs, filmi
and non-filmi. But in Hindi films, she probably makes an
appearance only for Lekin.
If we keep aside music, Morarji Desai has appeared in a
film or documentary on Gandhiji. And Sardar Vallabh-bhai
Patel reproduced a film named Netaji Subhash in 1947. Geet
Kosh lists name of only one actor, who must surely be a
one-hit wonder : Netaji himself.
- dn
naniwadekar
Jayaraman says Meenal Wagh had sung 'dilli se aaya bhai tingu'.
Vinod had told his daughter the song was sung by Honey. Honey
could be Meenal Wagh's nickname. MW's name can be seen
in some other Vinod film, maybe Wafaa.
How many songs has Wahidan Bai (Nimmi's mother) sung in films?
Offhand, I can only recall tracking down four of her songs. Two duets
with Anilda in Ek Hi Rasta - 1938 and two with Surendra in Alibaba.
Wahidan's voice spells magic.
Jumping to 1970s, Girish Vazalwar has sung something in Kinara.
Meena Phatarphekar, a Pune based singer, has sung in Bhumika.
I think the both MP and Saraswatibai Rane have sung the same
cheez in the film. (Which one? 'maundar baajo re' in Shuddha
Kalyan, I think.) I am told SR is MP's grandmother. To make
things more curious there was one more classical singer named
Saraswatibai Phatarphekar. I don't know anything about her.
I may add that Madhuri Purandare is daughter of the famous
historian, Babasaheb Purandare. Now in his 80s he can still
stand ramrod straight for 3-4 hours and deliver lectures over that
span in a booming voice on his hero, Shivaji. He says if he doesn't
mention the century and merely says '56' it means the year 1656.
Gundopant Walawalkar, a familiar name in Classical Music
circles in his time, finds a mention in 1930s Geet Kosh. Is he
related to the famous harmonium player, Purushottam
Walawalkar, Bhimsen's constant companion during late 1980s?
Azam Bai, CR's heroine in Naagaanand - 1935, had taleem
of a Jaipur stalwart. Her non-film song 'baharaat aali jaaii juii'
is available. Annasaheb Mainkar re-used it for a Marathi film
in 1941/42 - Paayaachi Daasi - 'anganaat phulali jaaii juii'.
I haven't heard its Hindi equivalent in the Hindi version - Charanon
Ki Daasi. The words are - 'anganaa mein chhayi anokhi bahaar'.
CR used the same tune for his Albela lori, 'dheere se aajaa ri
akhiyan mein'.
Gauhar Sultana has a sublime song in Ishara for Gulshan Sufi or
Khursheed Anwar : 'shabnam kyun neer bahaaye'.
Names like Banne Khan, Rewa Shankar Marwadi, Kantilal,
Vatsala Kumthekar, Mohantara Talpade-Ajinkya, Sundar Singh,
Naseem Akhtar, Dadasaheb Chandekar, Annasaheb Mainkar,
Brujmala, Shameem, Meenakshi Shirodkar, Menaka Shirodkar,
Bharati Devi, Utpala Sen, Rekha Mullick, Ram Dulari,
however little known they may be to us, enjoyed quite some time
in the sun in 1930s and 1940s. I am sure Kamalakar-ji has
memories about many of these names.
If Yeshwant Marathe and Madhusudan Bhatt have sung any
song apart from 'bharat ki ek sannari', I should like to know
about it. Another one-hit candidate from Ram Rajya is Phulaji
Suwa Saheb. His 'surya Dev Jagdish Tej' is a lovely song.
The name Hari Prasanna Das is seen on a few 1940s pages.
Neenu Mujumdar's name is seen a lot in 1940s films. He gave
Meena Kapoor her first break. Not much is known about him.
And what about Niaz Hussain Shami, co-MD of Paraye Bas
Mein? I have got two Zeenat Begum songs from the film,
but both are Vinod's.
Last year, a friend gave me four songs in Neki Aur Badi,
Roshan's debut, and directed me to a gentleman named
Avinash Limaye, who has got all the songs from the film.
Now in semi-retirement, Shri Limaye takes
life easy in Pune after a bout of ill-health. He gave me one
cassette which features many obscure names. While I am
not claiming that any of these songs is worthy of special
mention, each of them is beautiful in its own right :
(the obscure names are in upper-case)
prem ke sapne meethe meethe - Snehprabha and CHANDUR
- Salgirah - 1946
bol re panchhi, bol - SHOBHA + Gulshan Sufi - Mauji Jeevan - 1944
kaahe ko nain milaye - Snehprabha and PARESH BANERJEE
- Din Raat (1945)
nigaahon se tukade na ab keejiye gaa - all names are obscure -
Saroj, Faaruuqii, A R Oza, saathi - Pardesi Mehman (1948)
parwaane ho parwaane - Mukesh and HUSN BANO
- Pardesi Mehman (1948)
- dn
Gurcharan Sandhu
> The name Afzal Lahori had never been mentioned on RMIM
> before S Jayaraman brought it up. But his name can be seen
> fairly often in 1940s Geet Kosh. Mujaddid Niazi is another
> name that comes to mind. I have one lovely non-film song
> in his voice. I had asked about him recently. IIRC UK had
> responded that he used to sing on Lahore radio around
> 1950. Recently I saw his name as assistant for a Hindi
> film. I think it is a 1950s film, but it could be 1940s
> one. I rubbed my eyes in wonder, confirmed I was indeed
> reading the name correctly and promptly forgot the name of
> the film. Anybody? Sandhu-ji?
> - dn
Wow! What a knowledge. I am impressed Naniwadekar-ji.
The film is ANNADAATAA (1952)
Gurcharan
naniwadekar
Three more names to add to one-hit wonders discussion.
Shaila Belle in Naukri (chhota sa ghar hoga)
Does the name Binata Bose ring any bell? I don't remember
seeing her name anywhere except R C Boral's Humrahi - 1945.
(That I haven't seen her name doesn't mean much.) She has
sung a beautiful song in Humrahi. 'hasii chaand ki aaj niraali
man ko lubhane wali' .
Amar Prem - 1948 has a candidate. This Madhubala - Raj Kapoor
starrer has a delightful duet : 'aao chale manwa more duur kahi re' .
The song just glides along. It is sung by Rajkumari and Mohd Rafi.
Both of them sound heavenly. The freshness of the voices, the
fluency of delivery, nice play with theka combine to make it a
memorable experience. The film has one more nice Rafi, Rekha
Rani duet : 'jamna ke taT ham to rokenge baaN'. The MD is
a quite obscure name : Datta Thaakar.
- dn
raajkumar keswani
we can have a few more like Lala Assar Sattar . They composed excellent
music for 1965 Dara Singh , Geetanjali starrer " Sangram" . It has songs
like " dum, dum , dum damroo baaje " and Mohd. Rafi's " Main to tere haseen
khayalon mein kho gaya " . They gave the music for , i dont remember the
names , but to my memory nothing like "Sangram" again .
Similar , to me , sounds the case of Jaani Baboo Qawal . His music in 1965
Jagdeep-Chitra starrer " Noor Mahal" . It had a great suman kalyanpur song "
Mere mahboob na ja " . Jaani Baboo too scored for a few more films but Noor
Mahal magic was missing .
Another case is that of Jay Kumar . A long time associate of Kalyanji
Anandji as their assistant . He got the opportunity to score independently
in a just a few films , perhaps two or three films . One was 1970 movie "
Bhagwan Parshuram " . I remember two songs " Dus gayee nagin ban ke jawani
and " jab se gaya ladakpan mera " . Nice compositions . But he would be
remembered for his music in " Putli Bai " . Specially , the famous qawali "
Kaise beshram aashiq hain ye aaj ke ".
One more please . I hope we all remember the song " Mera prem himalaya se
ooncha , saagar se gahra pyar mera " from 1969 " Pujarin" . It had the team
of Madan as lyricist and Narayan Dutt as music director . There were some
more wonderful songs which i dont remember at this moment .
And lastly , for this post , a lyricist who showed lots of spark and than
disappeared . A radio Ceylon announcer Shiv Kumar Saroj . He penned the song
" Khamosh zindagi ko aawaz de rahe ho , toote hue haathon mein kyon saaz de
rahe ho " for (perhaps) 1966 movie " Naag Mandir " . It had music by LP .
By the way , cant we consider Raj Kapoor in this category as a singer ? His
song in " Jail Yatra " in particular sounds quite interesting . I am not
sure if it was a hit in those times .
raajkumar
"Ashok" <ADhar...@WorldBank.Org> wrote in message
news:aifv2...@enews2.newsguy.com...
> Ashok
>
Ket...@att.net
One song that would fit the one-hit wonder category is "Jhoom barabar jhoom
sharabi" from the movie 5 Rifles(1974).
However I am not sure if this can be considered a full fledged song made
specifically for the movie. It seems more like an item number. The actual MD of
the movie are K-A. Geet Kosh itself does not list the song along with the other
ones in the movie. Instead it mentions it in a footnote as:
"Is film main ek lokpriya qawaali Jhoom barabar jhoom sharabi(Music: Aziz
Nazaan, Lyrics: Nazaa Sholapuri) abhinetri Ambika Johar par filmai gayi thi".
Do "Aap jaisa koi" and Nazia Hassan qualify for the one-hit wonder category as
far as Hindi films go? I am not sure, since the songs of STAR were popular, just
that the movie failed.
Among actors/actresses, Kajal Kiran must be the biggest one-hit wonder. One "Hum
kisise kum nahin" and she is never heard again.
Ketan
vibhendu
I'll start with the period with which I would be most comforatble-cos
this is the only time period for which I hve some first hand
experience.
The first set consists of MD's who exactly had one turn at the
charts, their previous/subsequent efforts not cutting much ice
there.It may also include people who did not get another chance.Some
of the names featured may not have hits to their names but the music
was at least noticed.
90s
Arun Paudwal (Meera Ka Mohan)
Basu Chakraborty (Nargis)
Neeraj Uttank (Pehla Nasha)
Tushar Bhatia (Andaz Apna Apna)
Mahesh Kishore (Sanam Bewafa)
Ved Pal (O Bewafa)
Channi Singh (Yalgaar)
Babul bose (Jeena Teri Gali MeIN)
Tabun Sutradhar (Yash)
80s
Vijay Singh (Kabhi ajnabi The)
Jugal Kishore Tilak Raj (Bheegi Palkein)
Anil Utpal (Shahenshah)
Hemant Bhosle,Ajit Verman , Kuldip Singh,Rajkamal had more than one
films to their credit - none of them strictly can be 'hits' however.
So they are disqualified from being called 'One hit wonders 'on more
than one count.
As for the decades before this my judgement would largely depend on
whatever has filtered down the years, and I have every reason to
believe that we may have lost lot of information here because of
time-lag, reigning tastes, politics and public perception.I could
think of only a few MDs who to my generation are associated with only
one or two soundtracks to their credit- Lachchi Ram (Razia Sultana-
Jalti jae Raat),Jani Babu Qawwal (Aaj ki raat na jaa- Nur Mahal).There
are others like Sonik Omi (Mahua,Dil Ne phir yaad kiya), Ganesh
(Shararat) and Babul(Naqli Nawab, Reshmi Rumal) who I believe do have
a greater body of work outside these films.
Come to think of it, all the tributes to Sudhir Phadke on the news
channels played only 'Jyoti Kalash Chhalke' and Sardar Malik is always
mentioned with reference to 'Saranga' only.
The attention span of public is small and cruel.If the criterion of
public perception of a MD/singer largely associated with only one
output of his/her is carried to its logical conclusion the results
could be painful.A recent episode of 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' was devoted to
Jaidev and three out of four participants sang songs from 'Hum Dono'
and even the host Shaan (Dad Manas Mukherjee could be a contender for
the one hit tag) ended up singing up 'Main zindagi ka saath nibhata
chala gaya'.
Talking of Mans Mukherjee, one reason behind limited hits/ appearances
for MDs could be that they were busy elsewhere -that is outside the
boundaries of HFM.Biddu,Anand Shankar and Shyamal Mitra.Even Bhupen
Hajarika had only one Bollywood score (Aarop) till his collaboration
with Kalpan Lazmi came along.
Even singers are the victims of the similar circumstances - second
hand information, public perception etc.
In public perception, Sudha Malhotra,Mubaraq Begum,Sharda, Meena
Kapoor and Jagjit Kaur are largely associated with one or two song
each.That is at public functions/interviews the introduction
invariably mentions-'Tum mujhe bhool bhi jao', 'Tum apna
ranj-o-gham'/'Dekh lo aaj hum ko' or 'Hamaari yaad aayegi' and
nothing else. Others like Chhaya Ganguli,Preeti Sagar and Aarti
Mukherjee never got the opportunity after that initial brush, however
fleeting , with success.
Some of the genuine cases where the singer never lived upto the
expectations raised by the earlier sparks-Salma Agha and Sapna
Mukherjee.
Never heard of Usha Timothy after 'Himalaya ki God Mein' (She was the
'phansi kudi in another KA hit-'Rafta rafta dekho aankh meri ladi
hai') and Kanchan after 'Dharmatma' and 'Qurbani'.Anupama Deshpande
disappeared after her Filmfare winning turn in 'Sohni Mahiwal'.
What about Dwijen Mukherji and Subir Sen? I am aware of very little
output by them and they can be surely called hits.
As for the sleeper hits part I believe the 80's flick-'Prem Geet' with
Jagjit Singh as MD first opened to a rather cold response.Then ,Music
India Ltd decided to come up with the soundtrack and post music
release the film had some success. Both 'Ardhsatya' and 'Jaane Bhi Do
yaaron' also managed some decent box office performance largely on
word of mouth publicity.
In my post, I have largely restricted myself to names who are not
exactly obscure- a famous mom/wife,a filmfare award, a hit score are
enogh reasons to claim.This is largely to highlight the fact that how
an element of subjectivity can alter such discussions.
Vibhendu
Ket...@att.net
vibh...@hotmail.com says...
>Come to think of it, all the tributes to Sudhir Phadke on the news
>channels played only 'Jyoti Kalash Chhalke' and Sardar Malik is always
>mentioned with reference to 'Saranga' only.
And Usha Khanna too is largely known for just 2 movies---she may be a 2 hit
wonder, that too 25 years apart--Dil Deke Dekho and Souten.
Is Iqbal Quereshi known for anything other than "Love in Simla"? I am not sure
if the music was a hit, but the movie does get mentioned if only as the debut
vehicle of Sadhana and Joy Mukherjee. "Banarasi Babu" does have good music, but
had it not been for some RMIMer, I would never have discovered it.
>In public perception, Sudha Malhotra,Mubaraq Begum,Sharda, Meena
>Kapoor and Jagjit Kaur are largely associated with one or two song
>each.That is at public functions/interviews the introduction
>Some of the genuine cases where the singer never lived upto the
>expectations raised by the earlier sparks-Salma Agha and Sapna
>Mukherjee.
And Nitin Mukesh.
Ketan
cricfan
<Ket...@att.net> wrote in message news:ailkn...@drn.newsguy.com...
> In article <aifv2...@enews2.newsguy.com>, ADhar...@WorldBank.Org
says...
>
> One song that would fit the one-hit wonder category is "Jhoom barabar
jhoom
> sharabi" from the movie 5 Rifles(1974).
>
> However I am not sure if this can be considered a full fledged song made
> specifically for the movie. It seems more like an item number. The actual
MD of
> the movie are K-A. Geet Kosh itself does not list the song along with the
other
> ones in the movie. Instead it mentions it in a footnote as:
>
> "Is film main ek lokpriya qawaali Jhoom barabar jhoom sharabi(Music: Aziz
> Nazaan, Lyrics: Nazaa Sholapuri) abhinetri Ambika Johar par filmai gayi
thi".
>
Yes, Aziz Nazaan's album was already popular before it was included in that
film. That
reminded me of another song - the four brothers (Sharma bandhu?) singing a
bhajan
in some film. It was quite popular in the 80's.
Cheers
Arun
rkusenet
>Yes, Aziz Nazaan's album was already popular before it was included in that
>film. That
>reminded me of another song - the four brothers (Sharma bandhu?) singing a
>bhajan in some film. It was quite popular in the 80's.
Jaise Sooraj kee garmee se mile jaye taruvar kee chaya.
Some Shabana Azmi movie (Kadambari or Swami).
Horrible song. Never liked it.
rk-
Abhay Jain
"naniwadekar" <nan...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:aihc1u$14ij4p$1...@ID-75735.news.dfncis.de...
>
>
> his name is not as well known as Sudhir Phadke or Vasant
> Desai. Every Maharashtrian who is unaware of this great
> MD's output should be shot dead.
>
>
>
You didn't mean "every" but only the music loving Maharashtrians.
Otherwise, Maharashtrians watch out. Nani is walking with a shotgun.
Abhay Jain
Abhay Jain
<Ket...@att.net> wrote in message news:ailva...@drn.newsguy.com...
hit
> wonder, that too 25 years apart--Dil Deke Dekho and Souten.
>
>
I would add 1964 "Aao Pyar Karen" to Usha's better movies.
Abhay Jain
raajkumar keswani
lead artists .
raajkumar
"rkusenet" <rkus...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:aimtk...@drn.newsguy.com...
Dinesh Krishnajois
> of a "one-hit wonder"--a singer or group that has produced only one hit
> song. Some even employ the expression in an objective way: the artist(s)
> have had only one top-40 hit in their career. For the most part, however,
> the expression means something like the band is remembered for one
> particular song. There are quite a few web sites devoted to this concept.
>
> For Indian film music, it is not a very fertile concept, primarily because
> of the thinness of the singing talent the industry engaged. That's true
> at least for the period we love most and are most familiar with. There
> might be interesting such cases in the '30s and the early-to-mid '40s
> (Kamalakar? Naniwadekar?). And I think the current scene--both film and
> non-film pop--is quite likely to throw up some such cases (is Kay Kay
> ever going to come up with another song worth remembering?)
>
> For "the period" (I am deliberately leaving the boundaries undefined), it
> is possible to dig up some candidate names and discuss whether they
> qualify e.g., Shailesh, Meena Mangeshkar, Meera Shiraz, Dilip Kumar,
> Nutan, Kabban Mirza, Kishori Amonkar, Ratna Gupta, Sudhir Phadke,
> Vyjayantimala in Bengali, Ramachandra in Kannada (I haven't been able to
> find out anything about S. Janaki's co-singer in the 'Miss Leelavathi'
> song "dONi saagali mu.nde hOgali', one of the greatest songs in Kannada.)
(I hope its not too late :)). There are a few more that I know of
from the Kannada film industry. They may not exactly fit the "one-hit
wonder" category, neverthless wherabouts of these artistes is a
mystery or somewhat hazy (to me ;)).
Srirangam Gopalaratnam: She sang a few songs in the movie "subbA
shAstry" under the direction of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Doreswamy Iyengar,
the famous vainika. The beautiful number "krishNana koLalinA kare.."
that she sang was penned by the renowned Kannada poet,
P.T.Narasimhachar. Overall, a splendid collaboration. I did hear a
Karnatak katcheri on the National Program of Music of AIR in late 70s.
After that, no news.
Ravi: He is well known for his (one) hit song: "sUrya.ngU chandra.ngU
bandAre munisU.." from the film shubhamangaLA. He resurfaced, after a
long time, with another not so well known song "illE swargA illE
narakA, bErEnilla suLLU..." from the film nAgarahoLE (This song was
filmed on Ambarish). After that, no news.
Bangalore Lata: She is well known for her one song "Odi bA, na
Oduve.." with L.R.Anjali or B.K.Sumitra(?) from the film
chakrathIrthA. She has another non-filmi number to her credit "ellI
ninnA bhaktarO, allE mantrAlaya" (Rajkumar has also sung this song,
but in a different tune). Lata's rendition is very pleasing. In mid
80s, she moved to Madras. I did hear rumours that she committed
suicide. Can anyone confirm this?
Krishna Murthy: He is truly a one hit wonder, AFAIK. He sang a duet
with P.B.Sreenivos "ammA endarE..." in the film kaLLaa kuLLaa (1975).
The MD was Rajan Nagendra.
Vidhyarani: Her only song is from the film "thabbaliyu nInAde maganE"
(1977). The song is : "dharaNI mandala madhyadoLagE", sung with
P.B.Sreenivos and B.K.Sumithra. It is infact a folk song. The music
was composed by Bhaskar Chandavarkar.
Dulal Sen: This one is perhaps the most mysterious. I did a search
on google with keyword "Dulal Sen". Couple of articles by Ashok
Dhareshwar with no follow-ups/replies. Dulal Sen composed music for
two movies : punar janmaa (1969) and sipaayi raamuu (1972). I have
not come across any more info.
Regards,
- Dinesh Krishnajois.