Tarana (1951) – another movie in which I find Shyama to be more beautiful than Madhubala (although both are far too young :) … But unlike with Barsaat Ki Raat, made ten years later, one can definitely see why the hero – played by Dilip Kumar – prefers the Madhubala character, because there seems to be a bit of chemistry between them. Also, this is such nice music by Anil Biswas, and I’m impressed by a singer here whom I’m not that familiar with -i.e., Sandhya Mukherjee – who might be even better than Lata in this duet.
Very Sweet Song from a Movie I’m Watching Right Now – Tarana (1951)
13 Thursday May 2010
Posted in Uncategorized
Isn’t Tarana the movie where Madhubala fell in love with Dilip Kumar? I like the song “Nain mile nain baware” too. Madhubala was so sweet and lively and fun–an archetype of beauty that I like. There are other types. Rekha is mysterious–it’s like she is a spider who wants to trap you in her web. I lprefer Madhubala’s infectious innocence. I feel she is a lot like me.
Shyama is nice too in the song.
I agree, the other singer sounds much better. At first listen I thought it was Suraiyya, but its not of course. Lovely Song !
Sophy, interesting thoughts… Your mention of different beauty archetypes could cause me to go on a long tangent – but I’ll avoid doing that for now. :)
Was this the film during which Madhubala and Dilip Kumar fell in love? Well, that makes sense given the intensity between them (which is one of the most appealing things about this film, along with the music, and some of the décor – otherwise, not so exceptional, though I still liked it due to my usual strange attraction to melodrama). (Btw, a little while back, our friend Memsaab also had a post talking about the Dilip-Madhubala intensity in this film.)
Ava, I hesitated to put it as strongly as you did, but, yes, Sandhya Mukherjee sounds much better in this song than Lata Mangeshkar. Well, I guess it was possible for that sort of thing to happen once in a while. :) Anyway, glad you also find this song to be lovely.
Richard,I’ll check Memsaabs post. I haven’t seen Tarana myself. Btw, iif you ever do a post about onscreen chemistry, I think the Dev Anand-Kalpana Karthik chemistry is off the charts in “Aankhon mein kya jii”. From my youtube loitering I haven’t come across anything better. I’m hoping someone will do a post on this topic and poll the readers. Sorry to have derailed the original post.
That’s all right, I like when posts get derailed in the comments section. :) But due to connection problems and some other limitations this week, I can’t really take this tangent as far as I sometimes take them.
Regarding that discussion of Madhubala’s beauty/archetype, it’s funny because I just re-watched most of my favorite Madhubala film, and here Madhubala was not really lively, and if she was fun or sweet, it was not in the conventional way… I am referring to the great Gothic suspense film, Mahal (made two years earlier than Tarana, in 1949)… Here, Madhubala was so dark and gloomy (for the most part), and she certainly did hide a mystery. It’s also hard to believe that she was only 16; she was so good in this! Ashkok Kumar was also great… But I think this film owes most of its greatness to Kamal Amrohi (who certainly knew how to find and bring out beauty in the cinema (regardless of how he may have treated some beauties in real life)) and music director Khemchand Prakash, who did create songs that were perfect for Lata Mangeshkar (thus she was amazing here). I reviewed this film sometime back, and I liked it a lot then, but since then, as I’ve viewed some scenes and songs over and over, it’s only grown on me.
Unfortunately, I don’t have all that much time to explore YouTube right now because it is coming in at a fraction of the usual speed. (Of course, there has been a benefit from this problem, since I’ve ended up digging through my DVD collection and rewatching some of my favorites, or at least parts of them…) I will check out the Dev Anand-Kalpana song later, but I have to admit, I was never a big fan of the actress Kalpana. By the way, for the longest time, I never thought that any couple could beat the chemistry of Raj Kapor and Nargis, but now I think that Dilip and Madhubala might have, for a few years. (Now, is there any Bollywood couple who conveyed such amazing chemistry without having an affair off-screen? Maybe that would be the true test of acting skills!)
Thanks for this song!
madhubala looks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
beautiful!
You’re welcome. And I’m glad Madhubala here inspired so many “o”s for you!
ach she needs more o’s than that! ;-)
Lovely song and one of my favorite soundtracks. Sandhya’s voice outshines Lata in this one I agree although I love Lata. Especially Lata’s song from ‘Mahal’ – Aayengaa Aayengaa. The song was one of Lata’s first hits and put her on the map – if you listen to it closely (at least for me), it seems that Lata starts out meek and unsure of herself but gains confidence and grows up right before your ears into a superstar.
Madhubala – can’t say enough about her and she remains to this day my favorite Bollywood actress. And you are right, her easy breezy roles are great but the darker ones – like Mahal or Amar are where she really showcases a different side of her talent. Anyway, keep up the great work!
I agree with almost everything you said, Sanket. But I’ll have to listen to “Ayengaa Ayengaa” again to recognize the meek and unsure part, because when I think about Lata in that song, I can think of her only as being amazingly wonderful. :)
And though Madhubala is not my absolute favorite actress (there are a few others whom I tend to admire or revere more), I can understand why she is many people’s favorite, and she still remains pretty high on my list, especially when I think of Mahal, etc.
Thank you for the nice words, by the way. It is always very encouraging to get a compliment for my efforts here from Doc Bollywod!