Posts Tagged ‘Fan’s Tribute’

Yaad karoge yaad karoge – Fan’s tribute : Usha Harlalka

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Geeta Dutt

Remembering Geeta Dutt on her 43rd death anniversary on 20th July, her melodious that immortalized songs like Waqt ne kiya and Jaane kya tune kahi, continues to enthrall listeners and remain in our heart and soul forever.

1) One of her song that I love to listen is from the film Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam (1960) . It’s a different flavor of love, where the lady is waiting for her beloved to arrive . Geeta Dutt’s sultry voice is just perfect for this song. Playfulness, naughtiness, coyness, sweetness everything is on display in her voice.
The lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni and the masterpiece composition by Hemant Kumar captures the feelings of a newly married typical Indian woman of those days beautifully. Hence we find a touch of “Sharang” or being more specific, “Brindabani Sharang”. The song only partially follows the notes of the “Kafi Thaat” to which the particular Raaga belongs to. Hence we can not refer to it as a Raga-Based song despite the influence of “Sharang” !

2) Another nostalgia and one of the early songs sung by Geeta Roy was “Mera Sunder Sapna Beet Gaya…” in Do bhai 1946 . The music is by the legendary S D Burman, and the lyricist was Raja Mehndi Ali Khan . The prelude of the song starts with the guitars which makes it just too good ! The song is based on Raag Bilawal .

3) This is a very sweet duet song to listen to. In fact, the movie “Baawre Nain “(1950 ) was full of memorable songs. The music director was Roshan and the songs were penned by Kidar Sharma who was also the producer and director of the film .The song “Khayaalon mein kisi ke” is sung by Geeta Dutt and Mukesh and their collaboration makes this masterpiece remembered fondly to this day. The voice of Geeta Dutt sounds so refreshing and melodious in this song.

4) One of the immortal bhajans is from “Jogan” (1950). It is sung by Geeta Dutt and this bhajan is one of the most memorable songs of her career. Bulo C Rani was the music director . The lyrics of this song by Meera Bai .

This song is easily one of the iconic songs of bollywood that has led to countless variations and versions, but I like Geeta Dutt version only . It is based on raag Darbari Kanada .

5) Here is a song, a timeless classic from the movie “Baadbaan” (1954) ” .Both Geeta Dutt and Hemant Kumar versions have been rendered with deep pathos, but to me, GD’s rendition touches to the core and is incomparable , the piano sounds heavenly .

Indeewar is the lyricist and music was composed by Timir Baran and S K Pal.

6) This is one of the best peppy songs from old classic suspense movie Mujrim (1958) . Geeta Dutt is singing for Geeta Bali . This song is filmed on Club . Geeta Bali made a special appearance in this film starring her real life husband Shammi Kapoor and Ragini. Clapping sounds and trumpets makes it very enjoyable to watch and listen .

Music Director was O P Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri

7) Here is a very delightful song from Basu Bhattacharya’s Anubhav (1971). Considering that this movie was released in 1971 and Geeta Dutt passed away around the same time, this must be the final time when her wonderful voice was heard in a Bollywood movie.

Music Director is Kanu Roy and the song is penned by Kapil Kumar and sung by Geeta Dutt.

8) This song is quite romantic setting song from the movie Jaan Pehchaan 1950. The song is sung by Talat Mehmood and Geeta Dutt. Shakeel Badayuni is the lyricist. Music is composed by Khemchand Prakash .

9) Another gem from the movie Dilruba 1950 . This song sung by Geeta Roy and G M Durrani .Awesome composition by Gyan Dutt and penned by S.H. Bihari. It is filmed on the romantic pair of Rehana and Dev Anand.

10) One of the best and peppy song from the golden treasure of the melody queen Geeta Dutt is Chand ghatne laga, raat dhalne lagi, Aarzoo mere dil ki machalne lagi . This peppy Geeta Dutt number is a sheer joy to listen to. A dance number, it nevertheless talks of love and her heart’s desires, and how it is unaffected by the waning of the moon and the passing of the night.

The song is written by S H Bihari. Music is composed by Hemant Kumar from the movie Shart 1954.

Acknowledgement: We sincerely thank our friend and Geeta ji’s fan Usha Harlalka ji for writing this tribute on our special request.

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A fan’s tribute: Vol.6

Thursday, November 22nd, 2012

Geeta Dutt

GEETA DUTT- MELODY PERSONIFIED

Long back,in our management class,our Professor conducted a survey in the class. He asked us to write the name of the Toothpaste
we were using. Those days too,Colgate was the Brand leader. We were 30 students in the class. I was using Macleans’ (a brand that was available in India in those days),
so I wrote Macleans’. Then he collected all 30 chits,added his own and started reading. The result was Macleans’-8,Kolynos-7,Colgate-7,Forhans-6 and 3 were using tooth powder.
 He explained to us that even the Brand leader,not necessary always,will lead in all consumer groups. It is a collective total which gives the leader its position.

The same is the case in any other field. Take the case of female playback Singers. In the 50s to 70s, Lata was the Brand Leader,but personally I always liked Geeta Dutt. I simply loved Geeta’s voice which had so much flexibility and was also so soulful.

When you hear her sing Meera Bhajan,you get lost in Bhakti Ras,listen to her sad songs and gloom descends on you and hear her club/cabaret song,you feel like tapping or dancing.
 It seems like as if Geeta never bothered to be the No.1,she only wanted to be honest to her singing. She was a pure soul bearing no envy towards anyone.
 There is always a discussion whether she gave her best to S.D.Burman or O.P.Nayyar songs. Not many know that Geeta worked with more than 150 composers. I personally dont believe she ever compromised in her
 performance. Whether she sang for a well known composer,or an unknown one like M.A.Rouf, S.L.Pardeshi, Manohar, D.V.Gadekar, Kumar, M.Masurekar, T.K.Das, Ali Husain,Pt.Harbanslal
 or Rajhuns,she put all her soul and skill in rendering the song.


There is, however, always a personal liking. I always liked Geeta’s songs with O P Nayyar. Their association started with the film Aasman (1952). Though her songs like “dekho jaadu bhare more nain’
 were very melodious and became quite popular,the film had flopped. The subsequent film Baaz (1953) was also the same story. Good songs-film flopped. But then Aarpar (1954), Mr. and Mrs.55, Musafirkhana (1955) and Miss Cocacola and C.I.D.-in 1956 brought commercial success. 
After C.I.D. in the year 1957, Geeta suffered on 2 counts. One,O.P.Nayyar started grooming Asha Bhosale and secondly Geeta was facing a lot of personal problems. The singing assignments coming her way were getting lesser and even she was cutting down on the same. In fact, she had expressed desire to completely stop singing in the year 1957.

Geeta Dutt

In the year 1958 she got only 10 songs from O.P.Nayyar. But then she sang the iconic song in Howrah Bridge which made her name Amar in the history of Golden Age of HFM for ever.
 This incident has been narrated by the famous film/music writer Issac Mujaawar in the Marathi magazine Rasrang. When Howrah Bridge was being made,it was evident that all the songs will go to Asha. By that time ASHA had mastered the art of singing club/cabaret songs. It is said that rehersals were done for
”Mera naam chin chin chu”.
 Shakti Samanta was the Director of the film. O.P.Nayyar never tolerated any interference fro the Producers or the Directors. Shakti da wanted that song to go to Geeta,as he genuinely felt that she is better suited to sing it. He called Nayyar one day and coolly explained to him the situation. Miraculously,Nayyar accepted the suggestion without a word of protest. May be his conscience was biting him,or may be he too thought on those lines. Whatever be the reason,Geeta was summoned next day and the song was given to her. The rest is History…….as they say !


The Dance Director was A Satyanarayana,who participated in almost every club dance he choreographed. He did an excellent job for this song and the song became the highlight
 of the film,along with Asha’s ‘Aayiye meherban’.
 This is my most favourite song for 3 reasons.One-the tune is very catchy, two-Geeta ji’s voice is very seductive here and three-the choreography of the song is just superb !

Now,enjoy the song-‘Mera naam chin chin chu’
 singer- Geeta Dutt
 , Lyricist-Qamar jalalabadi
, MD-O.P.Nayyar
, Film-Howrah Bridge (1958)

Acknowledgements:

We are grateful to our dear friend Shri Arunkumar Deshmukh ji for writing this special tribute on our request.

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