People may have noticed by now that my favorite musical directors tend to be from the Vintage and Golden Age eras (and that my tastes continue to drift further back in time). My fondness for classic Bollywood soundtracks, as with movies, begins to decline after the early ’60s. I do have some favorites in the early ’70s (Pakeezah, Mera Naam Joker…), but these films and soundtracks are the works of artists from the Golden Age. I find it more difficult to think of favorite material that came from artists who actually emerged at this later time. But there are exceptions, especially in music – i.e., composers who came up with songs that I find startlingly good, causing me to “rethink” the ’60s and ’70s, leaving me open to the idea that I might actually catch some of the love that other fans of classic Bollywood have for this era.
Chief among those composers are the duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Their soundtracks – especially their earlier ones – have continued to hook me and surprise me at the same time. And there are a few songs of theirs that I always find it difficult to get out of my head…
First in my mind are a couple of songs from Mastana (1970). I appreciate this movie most because of the rare combination of Padmini co-starring with Mehmood, but aside from that, the music is great! [Note in looking at this some time later: The original song was wiped out on YouTube, but there is another great one, the Holi song, which I’ve also posted elsewhere in this blog.]
I imagine that just about every fan of old Hindi soundtracks must love the next one. Parasmani (1963) was Laxmikant-Payarelal’s first film, and what a debut it was! I love the opening, especially… Is that an early ’60s example of the Western (notice capital “W”) influence on Bollywood music? This is one of my favorite Helen dances too (in the top 10, maybe the top 5), and I’m glad that I have access to the subtitles, because there are some very amusing lines in the lyrics (btw, still trying to find out who wrote those)…
And as I pointed out when I posted “Ooi Maa Ooi Maa” close to two and a half years ago, the song was apparently a hit in China too:
The more I hear the next song, from Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli, the more it delights me. Of course, Sandhya’s dance here is fantastic too, but the music by itself stands out as one of the greatest film music compositions of the 1970s (at least among the ones that I know). I posted this once before (prompting much discussion!), but the copy that I posted was removed – which is perfectly OK, because that gives me more of an excuse to repost this song via Mr. Bollywooddeewana’s copy with English subtitles:
Dances on the Footpath 
I love Ooi ma ooi maa a lot too – in fact, Parasmani had a fantastic soundtrack, one of the few things about the film that I really liked! By the way, as far as I know, the lyrics for that particular song are by Asad Bhopali.
Dustedoff, glad you have a high opinion of this soundtrack too. And thanks for the info about the lyricist. I see this is the same person who did lyrics for Afsana (1951)(?)… Apparently was around for quite a while. :)
The Jal bin machli song is hard to see–with the fish gasping for breath. No, I didn’t like it.
I think the clip was cut off too early; it didn’t show the part where she put the fish back in the water. But this got me thinking, maybe I should show this one to my cat – now, he might like it!
Interesting in the Chinese Ooi ma, they reporduced the costumes faithfully including those long underpants for modesty. I’ve never met a Chinese person (and I’ve met lots) with any interest in Bolly dance whatsover. So all thiese reports have me wondering.
I’ve never met a Chinese person (and I’ve met lots) with any interest in Bolly dance whatsover. So all thiese reports have me wondering.
Maybe you should ask the “Hmong chick”:
http://apunbindaas.blogspot.com/
Interesting in the Chinese Ooi ma, they reporduced the costumes faithfully including those long underpants for modesty.
Actually, I didn’t even notice the long underpants in the Chinese one… Maybe my eyes were distracted by all those cute exposed navels.
That chinese version is too good! L-P did compose some very catchy songs :)
I am unable to find the video for this fantastic ghazal from the film Gaman (1978).
live:
film version (audio only)
@sophy: You have to read “From Heaven Lake” by Vikram Seth to see what Hindi cinema could do for you in China, even in the 70s and 80s.
Thanks, Bawa, that is very nice (especially the audio clip – the audio in the live video is a bit off…). But I was trying to figure out how this could be a Laxmikant-Pyarelal song. And I see that, no, it’s a Jaidev Verma song (a bit different :) )…
Its me going off-topic as usual, just some gems from the generally dire straits of late 70s music.
And also a voice that I thought you might appreciate, a bit different from the usual ones used in the era.
I can’t not like 70s. That is when I was a teen and being bombarded from all sides by this music. Pakeezah is a great fave of mine, Parasmani too. We watched Sandhya’s strange dances with mouths wide open.
I can’t watch the videos right now, there is some prob with my comp. I will visit again later.
Lovely post Richard I’ve long sang the praises of Laxmikant Pyarelal on my blog especially their work in the 70’s and 80’s, and that ooie ma song is gorgeous and dare i say it the chinese one almost outshines the original bollywood version , well maybe its the colours or perhaps the girls enthusiasm
In mid sixties also we have some extremely melodious duets from the desk of Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar…
–Khoobsurat Haseena Jan-E-Jaa Jaan-E-Man…”Mr. X In Bombay” 1965
–Chali Re Chali Re Gori Paniyan …”Mr. X In Bombay”..1965
–Sultana Sultana Tu Na Ghabarana..”Shreeman Fantoosh”..1966
–Dil Hamne De Diya..”Pyar Kiye Jaa”..1966
–Sunale Pyar Ke Dushman..”Pyar Kiye Jaa”..1966
This was when Kishore Kumar was passing through the lean period of his musical carrier.
Ajay, thanks for the recommendations. I haven’t seen these films, but I know about some of the songs from Mr. X in Bombay. In fact, I love “Chali Re Chali Re Gori Paniyan” – I even added it to my “Chalo Paniya Bharan Ko” post last summer:
https://roughinhere.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/so-hard-to-decide-which-chalo-paniya-bharan-ko-i-like-more/
Bollywooddeewana, glad you liked the post. And I agree, the Chinese “Ooi Maa” does outshine the original, because of the colors and liveliness – though, of course, the dancing is better in the original…
Ava, I think since I was exposed to the ’70ss music at almost the same time as i discovered the ’50s music (and just a little before I discovered the ’40s :) ), I didn’t have the benefit of special memories prejudicing my decisions. (Hmm, did I actually hear any Indian film music when I was a child in the ’70s? Not sure… I remember, during those years, that I heard Ravi Shankar doing Indian music, sometimes with George Harrison, and then there was the live classical music at some of the Indian restaurant(s)… But no, not much exposure to Bollywood films that I can remember.)
So, anyway, for whatever reasons, when I could take in all the decades more or less at once, I found the later decades a bit wanting compared to the earlier decades (and apparently, some people agree with me :) )… However, there has been at least some excellent music from all the decades.
…Including L-P doing music for Shantaram/Sandhya films. :) Hope you got your computer working!