P.S. Pertinent to the ongoing discussion about Devdas from the post a couple of days ago, take note of that other woman’s speech about how “We have to fight the male chauvanists in this society” (which forms a nice contrast to Kanan Devi singing “I am a desterted flower, I am the darling of the wild…” two minutes later).
It doesn’t start until around 2:20, but the opening music is nice, too. And by the way, when I found this movie, Sesh Uttar (1942), as the saying goes, I struck gold! Yes, old is gold…
I am watching the rest of the film now and other songs are marvelous, too. I have seen/heard most of them before, most often in the Hindi version, Jawab, but not in such a clear copy and not with the benefit of subtitles, nor in the context of the film, which is quite delightful so far…
Though I have to admit, I’d hate to have that little girl’s future… Or her future boyfriend’s future… Or the future of the other woman who would fall in love with her future boyfriend… Oh, how I love to watch films in which everyone is more miserable than I am! (Though it is interesting that at some point or other, all of those characters have at least some things that many people might think would bring them happiness, whether it’s material wealth, beauty, the ability to be a great dancer, the adoration of two beautiful women, etc. Interesting contradictions there, and all very deliberate, I am certain.)
And by the way, what a fine film! More for the acting, music, singing, dancing and, probably, direction, than the plot or how that plot unfolds (though I know that that story is a big and extremely influential classic and all)…but beautiful nonetheless. I put off getting this movie because I wanted so much to see the Saigal version first. But I finally gave up on that idea, and I’m not at all sorry that I did.
R.I.P. Jagjit Singh. When I went through a bunch of Jagjit Singh songs late last night, I found that the ones from the early 1980s were most striking to me. And I have read some say that this was his heyday. Also in the 1980s, his wife Chitra Singh would join him, and they were outstanding as a duo. (Tragically, as I guess many readers here know, Chitra Singh stopped singing after the shock of their son’s death in 1990. He was 18 years old, and the small amount of material on the subject I have read so far says that the cause was a “road accident.”)
Since I have turned a lot of attention on this blog lately toward Ghazals, I think another post is in order that would show more of Jagjit Singh’s performance of the Ghazal over the years. To find the right ones, I might welcome some assistance or recommendations (maybe our frequent commenter Bawa might help – and I will also search Bawa’s recommendations here from the past). It should be no surprise here, given the era that I have overwhelmingly favored, that I prefer the Ghazal-singing style of some older singers, such as Noor Jehan (of course), Begum Akhtar and (sometimes) Suraiya, or, among male singers, Talat Mahmood and (somewhat, from what I know) Medhi Hassan. (Which is all kind of ironic, since the first time I started to look into Ghazals, about 20 years ago, it was because I had become somewhat enamored of a very modern singer who brought Ghazals into fusion music; i.e., Najma Akhtar.) Nonetheless, Jagjit Singh certainly had a fine voice, and I know some of his works will grow on me.
I have also had a chance to hear him do some Golden Age Bollywood covers, which I will probably include in a future post. But for now, back to the early ’80s, as there is some good music here…
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P.S. Some fine images above, too. Wow, look at Shabana Azmi in that scene from Arth…
Maybe to further the theme of Pakistani films made from stories that most of you know as the basis of Indian films… Or because I have been enjoying these songs and noticed that YouTube has a couple of uploaded versions of the entire film (easy to find – but unfortunately, not with subtitles)… I have decided to share some of my favorites from Umrao Jaan Ada, the Pakistani film that preceded the famous Indian versions…
Up first, and of course it would be first, is this fine one from Madam Noor Jehan, a very dramatic song and scene matched by the wonderful drama in Madam’s voice. I should add that the music director is also very good – that is Nisar Bazmi. And the actress-dancer is very good, too – that’s Rani. Oh, I do like to watch Rani dance! More so, in fact, than watching the Indian actresses who played Umrao Jaan… Well, I mean I prefer her dances to their dances, though I am not sure if I prefer to watch her in general. But she does have a very unique face that is nice to look at, with or without the heavy load of face jewelry.
I posted this next one before, not all that long ago. But I posted it alongside an Asha-Padmini song that had basically the same name, and everyone ignored this one. I can’t blame you, considering how great that other song clip was. But this deserves attention, too, so here I am putting it in the right context. This is a song that can definitely get stuck in your head. And Runa Laila is a very good singer also.
But maybe the next song is the one that’s the most fun… The three singers here are Runa Laila, Nazeer Begum, and Pakistani cinema’s greatest Christian vocalist, Irene Perveen. The dancers include Rani and “the other” Mumtaz (haven’t been able to identify the third one yet).
And speaking of “the other” Mumtaz, she does a nice dance to this song, with vocals here by Runa Laila as well. (But who is the little girl?)
But now back to Rani… She is very sweet in this next song. I like the setting a lot, too, with the giant musical instrument and the glowing moon. The guys’ dances are fun as well. And, of course, Runa Laila does very nicely here. It is great that this film had so much Runa Laila (even if I would have liked to hear a little more Madam Noor Jehan).
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