Collectors of gramophone
records of Hindi films find it extremely difficult to get the records of
composer O.P.Nayyar . What we get are mostly overused ones with a lot of
scratches. Recently I could get a LP record, in fairly good condition, of film
HONGKONG(1962),starring Ashok Kumar, B.Saroja Devi,K.N.Singh and Helan for
which music was composed by O.P. Nayyar. The film got the attention of
film goers because of the presence of Ashok Kumar, the leading southern artist
B. Saroja Devi and the music of O.P. Nayyar.
Dance music and dance scenes were popular those days and the music of the film catered
to this trend. The song, ‘Honolulu’ and
‘Kenya Uganda Tanganika’, ‘Hong Kong China meena’ and ‘Muhabbat karne wale muft
mein’ by Asha Bhosle are catchy numbers of the film. In fact out of the eight
songs seven are by Asha and the eighth a
duet with Rafi. Though one of the lesser
known albums of O.P. Nayyar, Hong Kong
has still a place of its own on the
shelf of the collector.
In fact the LP record
of Hongkong is a duel album as on one
side of it is the music of film
SINGAPORE (1960) starring Shammi Kapur and the Southern leading lady
Padmini . The film, shot in part in Singapore, with the story about a treasure
hunt was a big hit . Beautiful music by Shankar jaikishen was an added
attraction. The most popular songs of the film were the rare Mukesh song for
Shammi Kapur, ‘ Yeh shahar bada albela’ and the typical Helen song, ‘Dekhoji
dekho’by Lata. The song ‘Rassa sayung re’ in Malay language by Lata was also very popular on the campus.
While listening to this
album my mind strayed towards a few
films with titles of foreign locations/cities. Naming films like that was
common to catch the imagination of viewers of the period fond of watching
scenes from foreign locations and the films offered a rich feast of such
scenes. Films Singapore and Hong Kong fell into this category. Two other films
coming to mind are the Joy Mukherjee-Asha Parekh film LOVE IN TOKYO(1966) and
the Shammi Kapur –Sharmila Tagore film AN EVENING IN PARIS(1967). Both films
had lilting and rocking music by Shankar Jaikishen. The most popular song of
the first film especially among college students was the
sentiment filled ‘Sayonara’by Lata Mangeshkar. The semi classical number ‘Koi
matwala’ by Lata was also a hit on the radio. Rafi’s ‘Oh mere shahe -khuban (There is also a
version by Lata)was a typical Rafi song. The fast and energetic Rafi number
‘Aaja re aa zara’ was a huge hit. ‘Main
tere pyar men’was also a very popular Manna Dey song.
The film AN EVENING IN
PARIS has the team of Shankar-jaikishen,
Muhammed Rafi and Shammi Kapur at their sizzling best.The chemistry among this
trio is as well acknowleged and accepted
by film lovers as the team of Dilip Kumar, Rafi and Naushad and/or Dev
Anand, S.D.Burman and Kishore Kumar.The
fast paced and melodious title song, ‘An evening in Paris’ , the rollicking ‘
Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho’ and ‘Aasman se aaya farista’prove the point. In
fact Shammi Kapur was probably the best for song situations with his delightful
antics and flexibility! Shankar-Jaikishen and O.P.Nayyar had exploited this for many of their songs.
That again reminds me
about the Shammi kapur-Shakila- Helen film CHINA TOWN (1962) having a similar
theme with visuals of foreign locations.
The film had outstanding music by Ravi. The song for Shammi Kapur’s club dance
scene ‘Bar bar dekho’ was the most popular. The sweet and nostalgic title song
‘China town’ by Asha Bhosle for Helen remains as sweet as ever. There is also
this song, ‘Yamma yamma yamma’ and the Rafi-Asha duet ‘Bada qatil hai’ both typical of films in this genre like Singapore.
The pleasant, breezy duet ‘Hamsena poochho hum’ by Rafi and Asha is an added
attraction.
 | |
| Sharda |
The showman Raj
Kapur’s mega film AROUND THE WORLD(1967)
with Raj Kapur and Rajshree in the lead
is another film coming to my mind.The picture was shot extensively on foreign
locations including London, New York, Washington, Disneyland and so on offering
a visual treat to the viewers. Music by Shankar jaikishen is another attraction
of the film. The long title song ‘Duniya
ki zair kar lo.....around the world in 8 Dollars’ by Mukesh and the then new
singer Sharda was very popular. Sharda ,had made her debut
as a whiff of fresh air in the Hindi film playback scene for Shankar
Jaikishen,in film SURAJ (1966) with the super hit song ‘Titli udi ud jo chale’
and ‘ Dekho mera dil machal gaya’. In Around the world she rendered two more notable songs like ‘Chale jaana zara thehro’ and ‘Jaane bhi
de sanam’ . Sharda with a distinctly soft voice and style of crooning was heard mainly
for Shankar Jaikishens’ films like Duniya, Gumnaam and so on and soon
disappeared from the scene in spite of
the huge promise she showed in the beginning. It was said that Shankar’s preference for her voice led to the split of the great musical duo.
While typing these
lines memories of two highly successful adventure films passed through my mind.
One is PANIC IN BANKOK(1966) starring
Kevin Mathews and Robert Hossen. The other is THAT MAN IN ISTAMBUL(1965) starring Horst Bucholz and Sylvia Koscina. My record player is playing the
sweet nostalgic song “Mere piya gaye Rangoon’ by Shamshad Begum in her
inimitable voice along with Chitalkar from film PATANGA with music by
C.Ramachandra.