(300th Post on the Blog)
I hope you all enjoyed the piano songs with a female pianist last Sunday. It’s time now for the male pianist songs from the Hindi films of the 60s (1961 to 1970).
As I said in the introduction of the last part, the number of songs was more than I expected, so I decided to choose only one song per actor and then I tried balancing the number of songs and popular, less popular actors on the list.
I found the highest number of Piano songs from the Hindi films of the 60s (I haven’t yet probed the 70s and the 80s though) and no wonder, all the prominent actors have piano songs to their credit. Let it be a happy song or a song in a blue mood.
Then I tried looking for stats in the post just as a curiosity. I must add here that as the list has my favourites, it’s likely to have a selection bias. I don’t claim the stats to represent any trend in that particular era.
And I found 9 out of 15 songs on the list were by Rafi. Not a surprise I guess! He was the top male playback singer of the 60s and sang for all the top heroes, barring Raj Kapoor, and lesser popular actors as well during that era. He was followed by Mukesh with 3 songs and Kishore Kumar with 2 songs.
As far as the composers were concerned, Shankar Jaikishan and Ravi were the most commonly repeated composers on the list with three songs each, followed by Naushad with two songs, comprising a total of 8 songs out of 15.
As usual I’ve arranged the songs in chronological order that very effectively corrected any bias that would have occurred otherwise as far as the sequence of the songs is concerned.
So here we go …….
1. Koi Sone Ke Dilwala – Maya (1961) Rafi / Salil Chowdhury – Majrooh
Opening the post with a Dev Anand song. I was to choose between this one and ‘Khwab Ho Tum Ya’ and both actually have piano sounds only for a brief period. This song has a touch of pathos and philosophy both. Dev Anand being four years younger than the one from Teen Deviyan looks more handsome. Then I chose this one, though perhaps the other one is more popular and would have added one more song by Kishore Kumar to the list.
2. Main Khushnaseeb Hoon – Tower House (1962) Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar / Ravi – Asad Bhopali
I know a general music lover knows mainly the second innings of Ajit’s career when he played the villain. But in the 50s and the early 60s, he also played the main lead in a number of films. He was indeed very handsome, but very soon lost his looks and put on weight too. In this movie he was opposite Shakeela and the film had a few memorable melodies. This song is actually a duet, but the singing character himself plays the piano throughout, qualifying it for today’s post. And it’s one of my favourite romantic duets of all time. What a beautiful use of piano in the song!
3. Agar Sun Le To Ek Naghma – Ek Raaz (1963) Kishore Kumar / Chitragupt – Majrooh
What a sublime melody! I love the song. Kishore Kumar sings for himself, addressing the song to Jamuna, who’s into pieces after listening to the soulful voice. In the early 60s, Kishore Kumar was perhaps more concentrating on his acting career. The song has a typical Chitragupt touch to it and piano pieces are woven beautifully in the interludes. And I think Kishore Kumar knew how to play piano as apparent from his finger movements.
4. Ae Husna Zara Jaag – Mere Mehboob (1963) Rafi / Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni
Naushad himself was a good piano player. In fact, in the first part of the series, the songs of the 40s, the list had a good number of songs by Naushad. Today’s list also has a couple of songs composed by him. This is the first one.
It’s picturised on Rajendra Kumar, while Sadhana listens to it from behind the curtains.
5. Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se – Gumraah (1963) Mahendra Kapoor / Ravi – Sahir
One of the most popular Piano songs of Hindi cinema. The song emotes helplessness and anguish of a man facing the fact that the woman he loved has married another man. And he knows she still has feelings for him. The song talks about letting the past behind and forgetting a relationship that now can never be. And they both know it’s extremely difficult. It’s one of Sahir’s most popular and critically acclaimed songs. Mainly the third verse is mostly talked about where he mentions “वह अफ़साना जिसे अंजाम तक लाना ना हो मुमकिन
उसे इक खुबसूरत मोड़ देकर छोड़ना अच्छा”
In addition to the music and the lyrics, are Sunil Dutt’s expressions. Right from the casual beginning to the end, the pain shows on his face.
I was to choose between this one and ‘Kisi Patthar Ki Murat Se’ (that has exactly the same musical team of Sahir and Ravi, again produced and directed by B R films, except for the co actors, Mala Sinha and Ashok Kumar),
I obviously chose this sublime song.
6. Dost Dost Na Raha – Sangam (1964) Mukesh / Shankar Jaikishan – Shailendra
Raj Kapoor sings the song on the piano, with Vyjayanti Mala and Rajendra Kumar as listeners. RK, perhaps suspicious of the relationship between the two, sings the song pretending to be a song, one of his friends at the air force used to sing. A well known piano song without a scenario of a party.
7. Aap Ke Haseen Rukh Pe – Baharein Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966) Rafi / O P Nayyar – Anjaan
A melodiously romantic song picturised on a handsome Dharmendra, a beautiful Tanuja and gorgeous Mala Sinha. Again not a party song, the only listeners are the two sisters, both presuming that the song is addressed to them. Dharmendra, actually in love with Tanuja, obviously sings for her. I reserved this beautiful song for today’s list, not including it on my recent O P Nayyar list. The song has a good tune and beautiful lyrics.
The other Dharmendra song on piano from the 60s was from Devar.
8. Bhari Duniya Mein – Do Badan (1966) Rafi / Ravi – Shakeel Badayuni
For Manoj Kumar as well, I had a couple of songs to choose from. Perhaps the other song, the title track of Patthar Ke Sanam, was more popular than this song. I went with the one I like more. We can hear Piano throughout.
9. Bahut Haseen Ho – Main Wohi Hoon (1966) Rafi / Usha Khanna – Asad Bhopali
This song is picturized on my favourite, Kumkum, who adorns the piano interludes with her graceful dance, and Firoz Khan, who plays the piano while he sings. Perhaps not a very popular song, but worth listening to. Firoz Khan in the initial years acted in low budget films, the breakthrough was perhaps his sacrificing lover in Arzoo in 1965. The pair looks good on screen.
10. Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salami – Ram Aur Shyam (1967) Rafi / Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni
Now it’s Dilip Kumar playing the piano. The 50s post also had his piano song from Sangdil. If you see carefully, Dilip Kumar perfectly handles the piano keys in the first verse. A perfectionist as he was, it’s but expected. It’s the second song on today’s list composed by Naushad. And I was completely mesmerized by Rafi’s singing, what beautiful expressions!
11. Waqt Karta Jo Wafa – Dil Ne Pukara (1967) Mukesh / Kalyanji Anandji – Indeevar
A song in blue mood, picturised on Shashi Kapoor, Rajshree and Sanjay Khan. Opens with piano pieces and has piano in the first and third interludes too. Mukesh’s expressions are so apt and the voice too fits well on him.
For Shashi Kapoor, I had a couple of piano songs, the other one being the sad version of Tum Bin Jaaun Kahan. The latter is good too, perhaps not so popular as compared to its happy romantic version.
12. Jab Jab Bahar Aayi – Taqdeer (1967) Rafi / Laxmikant Pyarelal – Anand Bakshi
The song had three versions in the film. The male solo was picturised on Bharat Bhushan and the other two versions also had piano. What a beautiful song! Rafi’s excellent expressions, a bit slow but catchy tune and good lyrics, what else a song needs to be memorable!
13. Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein – Brahmachari (1968) Rafi & Chorus / Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri
I’m not a Shammi Kapoor fan, but this song has intense emotions, and so is its orchestration. Violins, piano both at high notes, Rafi’s voice also at higher notes. The chorus also adds to the overall effect of the song. It was a must for the list.
A funny parody based on this song, that we used to sing in childhood goes like,
“कचरे के डब्बे में तुझको बिठाकर
प्लॅस्टिकका ढक्कन उसपे लगाकर” I forgot the following lines.
14. Jo Gujar Rahi Hai – Mere Huzoor (1968) Rafi / Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri
I wasn’t aware of a piano song picturised Raj Kumar. But of course, there’s one. After it opens with the sounds of piano for a brief period, I couldn’t hear any piano afterwards, though Raj Kumar continues playing it in picturisation throughout. The interludes sound like sitar to me, of course violins are also there. I won’t exactly call it my favourite, but it does fit the theme.
15. Pyar Deewana Hota Hai – Kati Patang (1970) Kishore Kumar / R D Burman – Anand Bakshi
After Aaradhana, Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar both reached the heights of popularity. Kishore Kumar was now the preferred voice for Khanna. This beautiful piano song, at a usual party set-up brings the characters played by Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh a little closer than before. He seems to be confident about his love and her growing attraction to him. Their facial expressions tell it all.
I hope you all enjoyed the post. Please add male pianist songs from the Hindi films of the 60s.
Disclaimer –
Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs vests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.