The Golden Age of Hindi Film Music is considered to be the period from the 1950s to the 1970s. Song and dance were always considered to be a part of Indian Nautanki and drama and became an integral part of the narrative structure of popular Indian cinema. By the 1970s, Hindi film songs had reached out to a humongous audience across India but were also resonating in Asia, Africa, Russia, and Eastern Europe. This amazing era was defined by the exceptional creativity, talent, passion, and innovation of not only the Musical Trinity of Iconic Singers, Composers, and Lyricists; song and music also flourished because it was exquisitely imagined and projected by visionary filmmakers and directors.

Flashback to ‘Shree 420’ (1955). ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and the voice of Showman Raj Kapoor- Mukesh. RK’s music team – Shankar Jaikishan, Hasrat Jaipuri, and Shailendra frequented Khandala to compose music for his films. They used to stop at a roadside hotel run by a Telugu guy Ramaiah for tea and snacks. Shankar, who was conversant in Telugu, placed the orders. One time around there was a delay in service and Shankar started humming  ‘Ramaiya Vastavaiya’ – calling Ramaiah to come quickly. His partner Jaikishan started drumming on the table. Shailendra piped in with ‘Maine dil tujko diya’ – indicating that all 4 were waiting for Ramaiah. As they hummed the lines they felt that this could be a song. Raj Kapoor liked the idea and created a street situation for the song and the lyrics were written keeping these lines intact. The original Telugu words were retained even though the Hindi audience could not understand its meaning. The song became a chartbuster.

Lata Mangeshkar sang the ‘Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya’ song for recording at 3 different locations. Mughal-e-Azam was released in 1960 and had been a few years in the making. “There was no technology to create’ the echo effect’,” writes Srishti Magan in an article for the magazine Bollywood probably alluding to a grand palace setting. “The only way out was to record the song at different places and overlap the recording. ” This was achieved to splendid effect by music-director Naushad and Lata Mangeshkar.

OP Nayyar (OP) is lauded as ‘The Rhythm King’.  His music had a robustness and rhythm; his songs were bewitching and easy on the ears. He brought the folk and modern together in perfect harmony. But the OP name is associated with the melodious use of Western instruments like the guitar, accordion, claret, cello, and piano. Author Ajay Mankotia reveals surprising facts through his meetings with and articles on this maverick composer. He changed the rules of Hindi film music. Please listen to ‘Yeh Kya Kar Dale Tune’ from ‘Howrah Bridge’ (1958) and ‘Ankhaon hi ankhon mein ishaara ho gaya’ from ‘CID’ (1958). He brought the Sarangi out of its limited role- either in kothas or as a mournful accompaniment to melancholic songs. He transformed it into an upbeat musical instrument. He gave it a feel-good melody and a fast pace. “The poor Sarangi was joyfully released from typecasting.”

Take the Santoor. The beat allotted to it by music directors was gentle. OP Nayyar used it as a fast-flowing brook- soft but more insistent in the prelude to ‘Jayenge Aap Kahan Jayenge’ from ‘Mere Sanam’ (1965). Never had been the santoor used like this. Shades of fusion music in the 1990s brought forth by the upbeat rhythm of traditional Indian musical instruments. Take ‘Yeh Haseen dard de do’ from ‘Humsaya’ (1968). For the song an accomplished tabla player would provide a beat pattern that would be simple and linear. OP’s beat patterns are complex yet riveting. The beat patterns certainly shook up the music aficionados of the time.

In an episode of KBC, Big B revealed that the exuberant yell “Yahoo!” in the song ‘Chahe Mujhe Junglee Kahe’  from ‘Junglee’ (1961) was recorded by writer Prayag Raj who happened to be in the studio and not by the singer Rafisaab. Later in Amitabh Bachchan’s own ‘Coolie’ (1983) Prayag Raj provided vocalization by shouting “Allah Rakha” in a song. The ‘Yahoo’ song picturized on the ‘Rebel Star’ Shammi Kapoor is considered a turning point in Hindi cinema. It solidified his image as an untamed screen presence, an unshackled freedom-seeking soul. Much akin to contemporaries Elvis Presley and James Dean. The singer in a later interview commented that he sang this exuberant song on a high scale whilst visualising the persona of the rocking Shammi Kapoor. In his foreword to the biography ‘Mohammad Rafi- Golden Voice of the Silver Screen’ by Sujata Dev, Dilip Kumar writes, “With Rafisaab it was a mystical bonding.  As if he was part of me when he sang for me without being told how I would perform the song during the filming of the sequence.” Think also of Kishore Kumar. His years as an actor helped him to project his voice to captivatingly express the emotions of other actors.

A musical giant Salil Chowdury or Salilda, enriched us with his music over 5 decades. From Bengali to Hindi films, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese and Odia films. Agnivo Niyogi when writing for the Telegraph mentions quite a few Bengali masterpieces introduced to Hindi audiences. We check out some of these compositions of Salilda which are memorable both in Hindi and Bengali. “The wistful melody ‘Na Jaane Kyun’ from ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ (1976) set to Yogesh’s words and brought to life by Lata Mangeshkar was a recreation of his Bengali song  ‘Pagol Hawa’ which Jaitleshwar Mukhopadhyay sang with great finesse. ‘O Sajana Barkha Bahaar Aayee’  from Bimal Roy’s 1960 classic ‘Parakh’ is another gem from the composer-singer duo of Salilda and Lata Mangeshkar. The latter also sang the Bengali version, ‘Na Jeo Na’. ‘Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye’ from ‘Anand’ (1971) captures the melancholy of a terminally ill cancer patient who is watching his life slip by. Penned by Yogesh the heartfelt lyrics as rendered by Mukesh touches our hearts. The original Bengali version ‘Amay Proshna Kore Neel Dhrubo Tara’ in Hemant Kumar’s deep, rich voice has etched its place in the annals of Bengali music.”

‘Ek Chatur Naar’ one of the most loved songs from the1968 laugh-riot ‘Padosan’ was actually made up of 3 different songs. A puzzle perfected by bits and pieces brought in by the versatile Kishore Kumar. As composed by RD Burman it was a combination of Carnatic and Hindustani classical music. Manna Dey, a trained classical singer rendered the Carnatic part whilst self-taught Kishore da sang the Hindustani counterpart.  The Alaap ‘Ek Chatur Naar Karke Shringar’ was taken from Ashok Kumar’s original version in ‘Jhoole’ (1941). The tune used in ‘Sant Tulsidas’ (1939) song  ‘Ban Chale Ram Raghuram’ was adapted as ‘Are Dekhi Teri Chaturai.’ The tune used in ‘Chanda Re Jaa Re Jaa Re’ sung by Lata Mangeshkar  ‘ Ziddi’ (1948) was the final piece of the puzzle, ‘Kaale Re Jaa Re Jaa Re Are Nale Mein Jake Tu Munh Dhoke Aa.’  The famous reel battle remains as humorous and entertaining as it was 55 years ago. Rajendra Krishan’s lyrical fluidity, RD Burman’s creative mastery, the class of Manna Dey, and the genius of Kishore Kumar all contributed to the timeless track we have today. The humorous on-screen presentation by Sunil Dutt, Mehmood, and Kishore da himself remains till today as a favorite repeat watch for movie buffs, Manna Dey in his interviews has mentioned his fond memories of the making of this crazy, rollicking duet. The rehearsal over 8 days and good food at each other’s house. The final recording in 2 phases. Manna Dey in his interviews admiringly speaks about the mad-cap genius of Kishore and his improvisations which made the song into a cult classic.

Indian Railways is a recurring character in countless Hindi songs of that era. Shakti Samanta’s 1969 romantic drama ‘Aradhana’  gave Hindi cinema an evergreen romantic song in ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani’.  The filmmaker’s son Ashim Samanta recounts what went into the making of the iconic song. The number was to introduce the lead pair of Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. The song was visualized with the hero driving a jeep through a scenic hill station whilst the heroine is sitting in a slow-moving passing train. The Bagdogra to Darjeeling toy train route was selected for the song. But just a few days before the actual shoot, Sharmila Tagore informed the director that she had already allotted the dates for a Satyajit Ray film. The filmmaker was livid but she convinced him to go ahead with the scheduled shoot without her. As the hero proposes to her in the song the heroine is seen sitting in the train trying to read a novel and sneaking glances at the Romeo. Whilst watching the film it seems that it was all shot at the same Darjeeling location. In reality, it had to be re-shot on a set at Nataraj Studios, Bombay. Art Director Shanti Das recreated a set to match the toy train compartment. The scenes were edited and interspersed so seamlessly to seem one with the outdoor location shoot. Another important reveal is that all the songs were supposed to be sung by Mohammad Rafi. As he was on a 3-month world tour, Sachin Dev Burman and Shakti Samanta brought in Kishore Kumar. The rest is history.

‘Khaike Paan Banarasiwala’ became the USP for the 1978 hit film ‘Don.’ The lyrics were written by Anjaan for a Dev Anand film ‘Banarasi Babu’ (1973). Kalyanji-Anandji (KA) were the music directors for both the films. However, the star disliked it as it did not go with his urbane, debonair image and hence it went into the KA song bank. After the completion of the rushes, ‘Don’s’ director Chandra Barot screened the film for his mentor Manoj Kumar. He was advised that the film script was going too fast and that a song be introduced post-interval to give the audience a breather. Hence, the famous song picturized on Amitabh Bachchan, where he was inspired by some of Bhagwan Dada’s dance moves a la ‘Albela’. Kishore Kumar agreed to sing the song after much persuasion by the music director duo but insisted that he would only give one take. He asked for a paan at the studio, and chewed the paan, and also spat it during the recording. Please check out the song again to get the real feel and flavor of it again. These incidents were recounted in the radio show Suhana Safar with Annu Kapoor’.

In a Facebook video, Asha Bhosle recalls the recording of the song ‘Inteha Ho gayi Intezar Ki’ when Kishore Kumar sang the song whilst lying on a table. This superhit song featured in Prakash Mehra’s film ‘Sharabi’ (1984) with the camera panning on Big B and another top heroine from the South, Jaya Prada. Anjaan captured the mood of the song in his lyrics which was composed by Kishoreda’s nephew, Bappi Lahiri. The singer decided that he would sing the song lying down as a fallen drunkard. A teetotaller, the artist in him decided to reach the high by lying down flat.

During her last concert tour to Britain in 2016, Asha Bhosle spoke with the Hindustan Times about how she immersed herself into the role of a Lucknow courtesan to prepare herself for the rendering of the mellifluous ghazals from the 1981 film ‘Umrao Jaan’. The soulful lyrics were penned by Shahryar and the music of the film was composed by Khayyam. She mentioned that normally her focus is on 2 things- who is singing the song on the screen and what the screen persona of the actress is. For ‘Dil Cheez Kya hai’ the gestures and expressions of Rekha came to her mind. Then she read an Urdu novel ‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ (1905) to understand the character and situation. “After imbibing all that I became Umrao Jaan myself. I could translate her feelings into my rendition of the song.” We have all heard of Method Acting- the technique for an actor to get into the skin, mind, and even soul of a character. How about, ‘Method Singing?’

Eminent lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar is full of anecdotes about Pancham. 116 of his songs were set to music by R D Burman. “He used to be at his wit’s end about my lyrics. Ek to bechare ki Hindi weak thi aur oopar se meri poetry,” says Gulzar- The poor man’s Hindi was weak and to top it he had to grapple with my poetry. “When I gave him ‘Mera Kuch Saaman ‘ (Ijazat-1987) he threw away the sheet saying that next time you will give me a headline from the Times of India and tell me to tune it.”

Such iconic songs are known for their timeless melodies and poetic lyrics which resonate with people across generations. They have stood the test of time. They take us back in time to a period when music-directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal (LP) flawlessly conducted an 80-piece orchestra and when music arrangers played a vital role. The lyrics were meaningful and had universal themes and appeal. These classic melodies touched millions of hearts and spread cheer and goodwill. Tapping into the entire spectrum of human mood and emotions- uplifting, philosophical, sad, reflective, wistful, upbeat, naughty, and seductive. During a recent episode of a reality show, Sanjay Dutt shared that his father Sunil Dutt had told him to listen to 4-5 select inspiring and motivational songs when he felt down and desolate. One of the booster-dose numbers, ‘Ruk Jaana Nahin Tu Kabhi Haar Ke’- Do not stop after a defeat from the film ‘Imtihaan’ (1974). Another stirring song by Kishore Kumar,  curated by the LP- Majrooh Sultanpuri team and featuring an idealistic and resolute teacher Vinod Khanna who triumphs over the travails and challenges that life has in store for him. The Golden Oldies numbers have this subtle power to relax and refresh, revive and reinforce.