Bollywood Masala Mix
By Pran Neville (The Hindu)
The advent of talkies in 1931 with the release of “Alam Ara” brought a revolution in the entertainment scene turning song and dance into an integral part of Indian films. R.C. Boral of New Theatres Kolkata is widely acknowledged as the founding father of film music. The leading composers of the early talkies era included stalwarts like Pankaj Mullick, C Ramachandra, Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash, Ghulam Haidar and Naushad. Those were the days of singer-actors like K.L. Saigal, Kananbala, Khurshid and Surendranath. The late 1940’s witnessed the emergence of playback singers with the fading away of the singer-actors. It was around this time that Roshan appeared on the scene as an innovative music composer.
Born on 14 July, 1917 at Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, Roshan had his early training in music in Lucknow. He became an accomplished sarod player after taking lessons from the renowned musician Allauddin Khan. In 1940, he joined All India Radio, Delhi as a composer but gave it up in 1948 and went to Bombay in search of fame and fortune. By sheer coincidence Roshan met Kidar Sharma, then famous producer-director and impressed him with his musical background and experience. Kidar Sharma was known for introducing new talent to the film industry and grooming them into famous stars such as Raj Kapoor, Geeta Bali and Madhubala. He gave Roshan a break as a music director of his film ‘Neki Aur Badi’ (1949) but the film was a flop. Roshan went into depression but Kidar Sharma perhaps noticed his talent and giving him all encouragement entrusted him with the task of composing for his next film ‘Bawre Nain’ starring Raj Kapoor and Geeta Bali. It was a roaring success with every song becoming a hit and earning greater fame and popularity for the playback singers: Geeta Roy, Raj Kumari and Mukesh.
The all time favourite melodies included “Khayalon mein kisike”, “Sun beri balam sach bol re” and “Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahin”. This in turn established Roshan’s reputation as an innovative composer. He followed it up with “Ham Log” and “Malhar’ in 1951, both successful at the box office.
His next notable music was in K.A. Abbas’s “Anhonee” starring Nargis and Raj Kapoor with lyrics by Ali Sardar Jafri – “Main dil hun ik arman bhara” and “Is dil ki halat kya kahiye”.
Roshan never ran after producers and showed his genius and talent even in the small producers’ films. He efficiently used musical instruments such as sarangi, sarod and flute augmenting the appeal of songs to listeners. His tunes were always based on some raga.
Roshan drew out the best from Lata Mangeshkar as seen in the Meera bhajan “Aeri main to prem dewani” (“Naubahar”, 1952). Lata chose Roshan from among the then leading music directors of the 1950s to compose for her own film “Bhairawi”, which, however never took off. Roshan composed for quite a few films in 1950s, with moderate success with the exception of a hit on Lata’s voice “Sari sari raat teri yaad sataye” in “Aji Bas Shukriya” (1958).
Roshan’s all-time big success came with his score of “Barsat Ki Raat” (1960) with every song turning a hit led by Rafi’s “Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi”. The most outstanding feature was the memorable qawwali composition “Na to karwan ki talash hai – ye ishq, ishq.” Roshan was hailed as the master of qawwalis and also responsible for the upgradation of this genre and making qawwali songs respectable in films.
During the 1960s, Roshan earned greater fame with films like “Taj Mahal” (1963) which had even popular hits, “Jo wada kiya”, “Paon chhu lene do” and “Zulm-e-ulfat ki hamen log saza”. This also brought Roshan the first Filmfare Award. In the same year, Roshan saw another success with “Dil Hi to Hai” where he used Manna Dey’s talent in classical music with the all-time favourite “Laga chunari mein daag”. By this time Sahir, the famous poet-lyricist had teamed up with Roshan to give vent to his creativity as he found in him a composer who could embellish his words with some outstanding tunes. We find them in “Chitralekha” (1964) with “Man kahe na dheer dhare” and “Sansar se bhage phirte”. Other notable films where Roshan’s genius is visible were “Bheegi Raat” (1965) – “Dil jo na keh na saka”; “Devar” (1966) – “Roothe sayan hamare sayan”; “Mamta” (1966) – “Rehte the kabhi jinke dil mein” and “Bahu Begum” (1967) – “Ham intezar karenge.”
Roshan’s last film was “Anokhi Raat” (1968) which was released after his death in November 1967. Every song in this film penned by Kaifi Azmi was a super hit. The songs “Mile na phool to kanton se dosti”, “Oh re tal mile nadi ke jal mein” and “Mahlon ka raja mila ke rani beti” continue to delight millions of music lovers.
The words “Kya hoga kaun se pal me koi jane na” (Nobody knows what will happen in which moment ) were so prophetic for Roshan as he succumbed to a sudden heart attack while attending a social gathering.
Roshan was not only a versatile composer but deserves full credit for introducing the ghazal wave in Indian cinema. He did not achieve name and fame, which he so richly deserved partly due to his premature demise. Anyway, many of his timeless melodies continue to regale music lovers.
the George Eastman Museum's acquisition.
The museum, dedicated to the preservation and restoration of films, has recently acquired the world’s largest collection of contemporary Indian cinema held by a museum or film archive. The collection comprises 774 prints representing 597 film titles, all in 35mm format, made between 1999 and 2013. Some of the Bollywood titles include “Lagaan,” “Devdas,” and “Omkara.” A large number of film posters were also acquired as part of the collection.
And if you would like to know how this museum laid its hands on this massive collection, once owned by Indian American-run and Lakewood, California-based Naz Cinema, you could attend an ongoing exhibition at the museum, “Stories of Indian Cinema: Abandoned and Rescued,” which will shed light on the story behind this acquisition.
In the fall of 2014, the museum was given the opportunity to acquire a collection of Indian films from an abandoned multiplex in Southern California. What was originally estimated to be a hundred films turned out to be several hundred titles. The exceptional collection includes not only films from Bollywood, but also Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu productions.
Through staff commentary, original posters and materials, and film screenings, “Stories of Indian Cinema: Abandoned and Rescued,” tells the intriguing behind-the-scenes tale of this collection’s journey to Rochester and the Eastman Museum’s ongoing efforts in film preservation.
The museum, according to a report on Quartz, collected some 30 tons of cinema, stored in 1,300 burlap boxes, besides around 8,500 movie posters.
“We spent almost 20 years of our professional life looking for prints of Indian films that, all of a sudden, came to me as an avalanche,” Paolo Cherchi Usai, senior curator at the museum, told the publication. “Would you like an Indian movie? Here are 500 of them.” Naz 8 Cinema, according to the report, “abruptly went out of business, leaving behind all the prints that the George Eastman museum was eager to add to its own collection from around the world.”
“The added value of the Indian cinema collection is that it is, strangely enough, rare,” Usai explains in one of the videos in the exhibition. “Everybody can see these films on other platforms, such as DVDs, streaming, and so forth, but very few institutions can offer their audience the original viewing experience of the people who had watched these films for the first time.”
The museum’s team, Usai told Quartz, “has been working to conserve the collection, a costly and time-consuming process that involved checking each print for damages, and even playing them alongside corresponding DVDs to identify any parts that are censored or otherwise missing.”
The goal, he said, is to “help preserve these essential elements of India’s cinematic heritage for both present and future audiences, adding to the efforts of the National Film Archive of India in Pune, which works with limited resources.”
Another goal, Usai said, is to help non-Indian viewers better understand Indian cinema.
“The George Eastman Museum…exists in order to make the unfamiliar become interesting, compelling, exciting,” he was quoted as saying. “That is another form of cultural pluralism.”
Films like “Devdas” and “Om Shanti Om” have already been screened for visitors. Additional screenings are planned for 2018, including the following titles: “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India,” “Swades: We, the People,” “Umrao Jaan,” “Dev D” and Mani Ratnam’s “Kadal.”
"Salman Khan will be killed here, in Jodhpur... Then he will come to know about our real identity," Bishnoi told media persons while being taken to a Jodhpur court in police security.
Bishnoi was being produced in the court following his arrest on charges of terrorising traders and extorting them.
The gangster claimed that he had been framed in false cases and that to date, not even a single witness had deposed in the court to prove the charges.
"Now, if police want me to do some major crime, I shall kill Salman Khan and that too in Jodhpur," he added.
Bishnoi's death threat to Salman is being linked with the black buck killing case of 1998, in which Salman and his co-actors are accused. It was the Bishnoi community which had brought up the black buck hunting case, and ever since the community considers the Bollywood actor a "villain"
However, some onlookers felt that the gangster talked of killing Salman just to create a sensation.
On Thursday, the actor appeared in the Jodhpur's Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Rural Court in connection with the hearing in the black buck poaching case.
Bishnoi is a notious gangster and has been charged in over 20 cases of attempt to murder, carjacking, extortion, snatching and under the Arms Act in Punjab-Haryana belt.