Here's an article that been written by a very good friend of mine about the
Golden Era. I do take the great pleasure to post it.
BY:Shadow The Golden Era Remembered…. Chupna sakega ishq hamara, chaaron taraf hai unka nazara …so danced the ravishingly beautiful Madhubala with a defiant smile lighting up the entire court, as the regal and majestic veteran actor Prithviraj Kapoor for once looked shaken at the reflections of a thousand Anarkalis twirling around, cast dizzyingly on the mirrored walls of the breathtakingly beautiful replica of the Mirror-Hall at Agra Fort, as Dilip Kumar as Prince Salim looked on bemusedly and triumphantly at his powerful father. For me, that defined the most magical moment of Indian Cinema, and aptly, it belonged to the Golden Era. K. Asif's magnum opus, Mughal E Azam, was released in 1960 and went on to become the biggest ever commercial success then (before Sholay happened).
Before objectively viewing the Golden Era (late 40's, 50's, most part of 60's), we need to look at what started off the 100 year old history of Indian cinema. 1896 was the first time a "Movie" was shown in India, at Watson Hotel, Mumbai (Bombay). The "Burra Sahibs" and their "Gori Mems" thronged in carriages to catch this defining moment. This started off the Indian Film Industry. Dada Saheb Phalke released the first full length film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913. The first Talkie to be released in India was Alam Ara in 1931, four years after The Jazz Singer debuted in the United States. Music and dance is in our blood, so the films of yore were complete musicals. A film would have as many as 30 songs even! It was the pre-requisite for any actor to be proficient in singing. The thirties saw the entry of Kundan Lal Saigal, the thespian actor, Ashok Kumar Ganguly, fondly known as Dadamoni, the majestic Devika Rani, and other early patrons of the new art on the Cinematic scene, and there was no looking back.
The thirties also saw the advent of the studio system. The Indian film industry regrouped itself into three significant camps – New Theatres of Bengal, which to this day has produced the best films (Devdas 1935, biggest hit of that era, established KL Saigal's legendary career), heralded by P.C Barua and later by Salil Chaudhry; The Prabhat Flim Company, established by Damale, V Shantaram and S Fatehlal, which pioneered the concept of spreading awareness among the masses using Films as a media; and the Bombay Talkies (Achut Kanya, 1936, first film which had playback-recorded songs which were runaway hits).
This era saw the emergence and phenomenal success of Singing Stars like the legendary KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Amirbai Karnataki, Noor Jehan, Suraiyya etc. It also popularized the low octave nasal twanged singing of pathos filled numbers, mainly by Saigal and Mullick. Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya, To Jee Ke Kya Karenge is a classic even today, first rendered by Saigal. The music directors then were feudal lords, with Serfs working tirelessly for them, churning out monotonous tunes. After Saigal's death in 1946, there was a severe dearth of singing stars. The one music director who ruled roost with exclusive movies right from the 30s to the early 50s is the greatest of the great Anil Biswas. He structured the modern Hindi song giving it the modern shape of a Mukhda and several Antaras. He gave Talat Mahmood his first break with the evergreen sublime melody Aye Dil Mujhe Aisi Jagah Le Chal. He created magic with Talat Mahmood, Mannadey and Lata...giving masterpieces like Pi Bin Sooni Re, Ritu Aaye Ritu Jaaye etc. Another maveric Musid Director was the genius of Sajjad Hussain. Neither has the screen seen a composer like him, nor will it ever see. He was a genius very much ahead of his time, and like all geniuses, eccentric. He scored only 14 recorded songs in his short career, but each of them is a masterpiece. His most famous movie remains Sangdil, with Talat's Yeh Hawa Raat Yeh Chandni set in the majestic night raga of Raag Darbari creating absolute magic. Anil Biswas once said of Sajjad Hussain, that he is the only original composer...everyone else has to turn to some source of inspiration. Sadly, this genius was boorish, rude and always irritable, and never satisfied with his own work. So no one approached him for scoring music, and he slowly faded away and we lost a BIG chunk of Gold.
This was the time when singers like Mukesh, Rafi and the vastly under-rated but great Talat Mahmood were scouring for footholds in this harsh industry. Mukesh, first termed as a very good Saigal Mimic, but ineffectual, heralded in the era of the new singers with his near perfect rendering of Dil Jalta Hai in 1945, and ironically, it was a perfect Saigal imitation. It was a runaway hit and Mukesh Chand Mathur established himself as the leading singer of the day (To this day, he's both my dad's and my favourite). This was about the same time when a young prodigy named Latabai Dinanath Mangeshkar, with nothing to look after her family (her father, Pt. Dinanath Mangeshkar had died of a heart attack following the invasion of Talkie Cinema) knocked on Ghulam Haidar's doors. He heard her, and took her to Subodh Mukherjee's studio for a recording. She was instantly rejected, the reason being, "Iski aawaz to bahut patli hai". Apparently, she was no match for heavy throated, bass voiced Punjabi singers like Zohrabai Ambalewali, Rajkumari Dubey etc. Ghulam Haider was incensed; he made a prophecy about composers begging at her feet to sing for them, and the rest is history. With one song, Aayega Aanawala, in Mahal, 1949, she swept clean the careers of those inane male-voiced Punjabi singers. Success had gone to Talat's and Mukesh's heads, they turned to acting. Then came in the pleasant mannered lad from Lahore, trained under the able baton of the great Ust. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, who could sing at any pitch, and could even amazingly hold three octaves together, without going once out of tune. He sang Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki for the film Dulari, and we acclaimed the entry of the unmatched genius of the great Mohammad Rafi. Around this time itself, two young men of Bengal, from New Theatres, forayed into Hindi Cinema. One was the firebrand lyricist and musician, Salil Chaudhry, banned by AIR for his anti-British songs and poems, and the other was the silken voiced debonair Hemanta Mukherjee. Salil Chaudhry took Hemanta a.k.a Hemant Kumar under his wings, and they went on to become a rage in Bengal; they invented a new form of Bengali Music called Kavya Geet. Salilda once said of Hemant Kumar, that if God ever sang, it would be in Hemant's voice. Hemant also showed his mettle in the Bombay film industry with such classics as Sunja Dil Ki Daastan in Jaal. Another Babu Moshai to make his mark was the unparalled Manna Dey. Though he maintained a low profile throughout his career, he is still undisputedly the best male singer the Indian Film Industry has seen, in terms of proficiency and talent. Note, that there's a difference in proficiency and acceptability. His sheer range and overtones were unmatched, even by the great Rafi. Manna Dey perfected his style of Semi-Classical singing and was one of the finest exponents of Rabindrageet and Nazrulgeet. His classical song "Ketki Gulab Juhi Champak Ban Phule" in Raag Basant is considered the best ever classical compositon sung on the silver screen. And aptly, it was a duet with Sangeet Sartaj, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and was a part of the film Basant Bahar, which has some of the finest classical compositions ever heard on the silver screen. Even more fitting, the song was composed by the unrivalled duo of Shankar-Jaikishen who changed the scene of Hindi Film music forever with their entry in the late forties, and ruled the industry for three decades; and won 9 filmfare awards, a feat still to be surpassed by anyone in any category. The 1950s saw a spate of musicals, which were based on great musicians lives. Baiju Bawra 1952, Basant Bahar 1956, Sangeet Samrat Tansen, Rani Roopmati were some of them. Bharat Bhushan, the reserved, dopey eyed actor was the automatic choice for most of these movies, and he teamed up excellently with Rafi and Manna Dey to deliver some of the most intricate and pleasing classical songs on silver screen with Naushad and Shankar-Jaikishen.
Fast forwarding to the fifties; the start of the Golden Era (actually, its pretty difficult to draw a line where it exactly started….was it with the entry of actors like Dev Anand, Madhubala, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rahman, or with the success of the great singers?..so my narrative will keep going back and forth as and when required, because this is written from memory), the Indian audience received the pathos filled, melancholy eyed romantic hero in Dilip Kumar, and to a lesser extent, Ashok Kumar. Dilip Kumar became the youth icon, fulfilling the teenage passion of ungiven love with classic performances in Jwar Bhatta (debut), Kismet, Milan (1946), Yahudi, and Kohinoor. His break was courtesy Devika Rani, the biggest female star of the 1940's. She ruled the Bombay Talkies with an iron rod and delivered memorable hits due to sheer quality and management. Dilip Kumar perfected his histrionic skills owing to a well stocked library and theatre at Bombay Talkies. He got the major chunk of the Romantic but tragic hero roles, owing to his impeccable emotional quotient, chocolate good looks and a debonair reserved manner of diction. People identified with this screen idol from across the border and the younger generation took to him instantly. It was nothing new to see young maidens coming out of the theatre weeping copious tears and the eyes of some weak hearted gents would also be glistening. The best remembered and the most heart rendering scene is one when Dilip Kumar comes in and asks Suchitra Sen "Kaisi Hai Paro?", and Suchitra Sen burns her fingers with a match. That was the smouldering love of Devdas for his Paro, in the best ever Devdas film, Devdas (1955). The Devdas of 2002 is no match for the emotional vitality of the 1955 one; huge sets and crores of rupees do not make up for dry acting. Dilip struck gold in 1948 when Shaheed and Mela came quick on each others heels and helped him dig his heels into the Hindi film world. Fortunately, Kumar could be irreverently funny too. Witness his turn as the audacious peasant who tames a shrewish princess (Nadira) in Aan [1952]. But Dilip seemed to gravitate towards roles that scorched the viewers with sheer intensity. In the mid-1950s came a professionally-fulfilling association with Bimal Roy --- Madhumati [1958], Yahudi [1958] and especially Devdas [1955]. Another film meriting mention here is the horror flick Madhumati. It's the grandmother of reincarnation stories. Dilip Kumar again delivered a smashing performance, and upheld the very core of love when he commits suicide because his beloved gets murdered. Madhumati is also remembered as Salil Chaudhry's best Hindi musical score, with gems such as Aaja Re Pardesi, hauntingly delivered by Lata, and the travel song Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Hasin, immortalized by the genius of Mukesh. That was romance then, when the hero would die for his beloved, and romance now is when the hero shouts that if the girl can't be his, he'll make life hell for her. Gosh!
No history of the film industry is complete without a sketch of Madhubala. Debuting in 1942, Indian flim industry's single most beautiful heroine became a rage with her first hit film, Mahal in 1949. Partly, Lata's haunting number Aayega Aanewala, contributed to its success, but there was no question as to this lady's acting; boy could she act! With successes like Tarana, Amar, Neel Kamal (1946), crime thrillers like Howrah Bridge and later comedies like Mr and Mrs 55, and the evergreen laugh riot Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi set her up as the unquestionable queen of cinema. Rarely is one blessed with so much talent, and when one is, it doesn't remain long enough….she was only 36 when she died of a heart ailment and left behind a legion of memories of this hauntingly beautiful face that still enthrals millions of hearts. Both Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle have sung songs for this girl, but Asha seems to snatch away the magic of Seene mein sulagte hain armaan, Guzra hua zamana, Tere sadqe balam and other Lata gems with numbers like Aaiye Meherbaan, Acchca Ji main hari, Haal kaisa hai janaab ka and Piya piya na lago mora jiya, an earthy folksy number from Phagun.
Another tragic lover boy was the handsome and genteel Sunil Dutt. He delivered some awesome hits, the best of the 50's being Sujata (1959); his on-screen chemistry with Nutan being the stuff of legends, in other films like Bandidi, Milan etc. Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani sitting chastely apart and singing a sweet love song was the height of Eroticism those days. And the young India took in every drop of this sweet poison. The late forties also saw the emergence and establishment of Raj Kapoor as one of the finest directors and actors ever. Awara (1949), Barsaat (1951) became runaway hits and the RK-Nargis chemistry burnt up the screen. Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua, Dum Bhar Jo Udhar Munh Phere woh chanda, Awara Hoon, redefined the ideals of love and romance. A rain soaked Nargis and RK under one umbrella walking serenely on a lonely road is still a frame that inspires many a young heart. Into the fifties, Guru Dutt took center stage. A fine actor, brilliant director, with a knack for selecting the right combination of technicians and artistes, he revolutionized film making.
Devdutt Pishorimal Anand from Gurdaspur Punjab changed his name to Dev Anand and came to Mumbai in 1943. He and Guru Dutt became the best of buddies and a string of Dutt-Anand ventures were too follow which were resounding success. He also fell in love with the songstress Suraiyya, but her granny nipped the romance in the bud. He and his brother Chetan Anand, under the Navketan banner started to produce films, with Guru Dutt directing most of them. He delivered hits like CID, Taxi Driver, Hum Dono and married his heroine Kalpana Kartik in a lunch break on the sets of Taxi Driver!
This was also when actors, producers and lyricists settled into harmonious partnerships, making the entry of other very talented composers like Madan Mohan very difficult. While on one hand it was RK-Shankar-Jaikishen-Shaiendra-Hasrat-Jaipuri, it was Dilip Kumar-Naushad-BR Chopra, and Guru Dutt-SD Burman under the Navketan Banner-Shair Ludhianvi. Lata and Rafi ruled the roost in the fifties, but younger sister Asha wouldn't be left behind. She literally seduced the country with her extremely sexy and inviting Aaiye Meherbaan for Madhubala (who else) in Howrah Bridge. Asha also sang some lilting melodies in Pyaasa and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, but success was to elude her due to the clout held by her elder sister.
The music directors went mad, and suddenly she was besieged with offers to sing such stereotyped cabaret numbers and hip-hop sequences. By now, Talat and Mukesh had realized their folly, and tried to make a comeback. Mukesh got his chance with blockbusters like Dharmatma, Aan, Aah, Awara, Barsaat, Phir Subah Hogi and Hariyali Aur Raasta. His greatest songs are Chal Akela (Sambandh), Jinhein Hum Bhoolna Chahein (Aabro), Jis Dil Mein Basa Tha Pyar Tera, and a host of other songs. He became established once again as the voice of the sacrificial romantic hero. Here, it is interesting to note, that though he sang for Dilip Kumar in Andaaz (1949) and Rafi sang for RK, Mukesh later on was to be identified as the voice of RK. Talat, still looking around, managed to convince Dada Burman to give him one chance. The song was to be picturised on a helpless Sunil Dutt declaring his love over the phone to a weeping Nutan in Sujata (1959). No song had ever pulled at the heartstrings of young teens, forbidden in their romantic pursuits in that era of unwarranted prudery than this one. Jalte Hain Jiske Liye became a smashing success and Talat regained lost territory, but could somehow never regain his past mastery. Though, we now remember him as the King Of Ghazals, who cut his first gramophone record at the age of 18 with HMV and gave us gems like Itna na mujhse tu pyar badha, Humse Aaya Na Gaya, Hai Sabse Madhur Who Geet, Milte Hi Aankhen Dil Hua, Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal etc. Hemant Kumar was also going great guns with smash hits like Hai Apna Dil To Awara which ended as the top number in the 1957 Binaca Geetmala, Chandan Ka Palna (Shabab), Yaad Kiya Dilne Kahaan Ho Tum (Patita), Chandni Raatein Pyar Ki Baatein (Jaal), Chupa Lo Yun Dil Mein (Mamta)…all duets with Lata.
Nehru type fundamentalism was raising its head, and whole country felt influenced, so how could the Film Industry be left behind? The BR Chopra banner produced the evergreen classic Naya Daur (1957) with Dilip Kumar and Vijayanthimala, Mother India with Nargis and Haqeeqt with Dharmendra (although this wasn't a BR film). Nutan's performance in Mother India rightly won her the Filmfare Award and this is to this day hailed as the best ever performance by an Indian actress.
Guru Dutt released his masterpiece Kagaz Ke Phool in 1959, and to his utter disbelief and the Industry's shock, it was a disaster at the box office. Kagaz Ke Phool was a classic in every sense. Waheeda's brilliant acting, Dutt's mastery over the shots, V Murthy's cinematography, the sets, lighting, every frame was a gem. The most well remembered scene is one in which Waheeda runs to meet Dutt, but is besieged by fans wanting her autograph, and the dewy melancholic smile of Dutt haunting the hall. Truly unforgettable.
So after a string of success like Baazi, Aar Paar (which saw the first hit of the maverick music director O.P.Nayyar) Mr and Mrs 55, and Jaal, he couldn't take the shock, and went into deep depression. It is always said that Guru Dutta Padukone, couldn't take failure, and that's what killed the genius who was ahead of his time, at the young age of 39.
The songs were hits, especially the unforgettable Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam by his wife, the melodious and beautiful Geeta Dutt. But the best film easily of this decade, his magnum opus, Pyaasa, happened in 1956. Never has a story been told so realistically, so artistically and so humanely, before the Indian audience. No movie has ever matched up to the resonating reality of Pyaasa. It was in many ways Guru Dutt's life story, and Waheeda Rahman delivered a sterling performance as the Streetwalker "Gulab", who falls for the rejected poet. This story is so terribly moving that you literally feel the actor's disappointment and frustration when he sings Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye To Kya Hai, feel the waves of passionate patriotism when he asks Jinhein Naaz Hai Hind Par Who Kahaan Hai. This song was banned by the Indian govt. because it projected the reality. Dada Burman provided minimal music to these songs and a very similar plaintive tune, because he felt, otherwise, it would take away the poetry of Sahir Ludhianvi. Pyaasa was definitely Oscar material. Guru Dutt, the cinematic genius, went on to star in Bimal Mitra's magnum opus Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and the film became a resounding success. Set in a crumbling 19th century haveli, symbolic of the slow decay of feudalism, the film told the tale of the lovely yet unloved chhoti bahu (Meena Kumari). Spurned by her husband yet desperately in love with him, she seeks support from her ghulam, Bhootnath (Guru Dutt), and increasingly from alcohol. To this day, confusion reigns; was it Guru Dutt who called the shots in this film, or was it Abrar Alvi whose name rolls in the credits?
In the late forties and early fifties, a young lad from Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh was looking for work. His elder brother, Ashok Kumar was already setting the screen alight with his on-screen escapades with Devika Rani. Abhas Kumar Ganguly changed his name to Kishore Kumar and came to Bombay Talkies looking to sing, a passion he had imbibed from his idol, KL Saigal. He sang his first song, Marne Ki Duwaayen Kyon Maangon for director Khemchand Prakash in the movie Ziddi (1948). He also starred in movies like Naukri (Salil Chaudhry didn't believe in this untrained singer and was at the point of calling in Hemanta to sing for him!), Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, Ladki, Asha, New Delhi, all hits. This was just the early fifties again. Dada Burman is credited with noticing the spark early in this totally eccentric and maverick singer, actor, dancer, comedian, director, producer, composer, lyricist, and what not. Such captive songs hugged to the heart by a whole earlier generation as Kusoor aap ka huzoor aap ka (from AVM's Bahar: 1951); Kachchee pakkee sadkon pe meree tumtum (from Pyar); Ae meree topee palat ke aa (from Funtoosh); Mere labon pe dekhon aaj bhee tarane hain (from Navketan's Baazi: 1951); Chahe koi khush ho chahe gaaliyaan hazaar de (from Taxi Driver); Maana janaab ne pukaraa naheen (from Paying Guest); Ek ladkee bheegee bhaagee see (from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi); Dho le too aaj apne dil ke sab daag dho le (from Apna Haath Jagannath); and Pahli na doosree teesree pasand hai shaadee ka kar lo intezaar (from Madhbhare Nain), Kishore finally found his mark. But this King Lear's fool was notorious for missing out on recordings, bunking dates and jilting directors, that he slowly lost water. He found his mark with Aradhana in 1971, but that's a wholly different era.
The Beatles had finally happened in the west. The culture of rock and roll, ruled for over two decades by The King, Elvis Presley, was handed over to these four new age artistes. Something similar was happening on the Indian front too. Hippy culture came up, movie viewing perspective changed, the approach to film making and acting changed. Most importantly, the music changed. The early sixties saw the entry of the my favourite, and the King of Ghazals, considered by many to be the best music director ever, Madan Mohan. Sad, that none of his movies were run away hits. But his songs were gems, and Madan-Lata combination is a thing of legends. With her "Rakhee" brother, Lata delivered the best of her very best, Lagja gale se (Who kaun thi 1962), Nainon mein bhadra chaye, Mera saaya (both from mera saaya), Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim (Who Kaun Thi), Woh Bhooli Daastan (Sanjog), Aapki Nazaron ne samjha (anpadh) and the entire sound tracks of Heer-Ranjha, and Laila –Majnu, went on to become classics, but sadly, only after Madan died of excessive drinking and depression. We lost the most talented composer ever. But the sixties also saw the revival of Dada Burman and the entry of New Age Cinema. Classics like Sahib Bibi aur ghulam, Guide, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Pakeezah, Mughal E Azam, Ganga Jamuna, Ram Aur Shyam, Sita Aur Gita, Johnny Mera Naam, Gambler, Jewel Theif, and the movie that failed miserably at the box office, but is considered a cult classic today – Mera Naam Joker and the lush green foreign locales and sweet love stories of An Evening in Paris, Love in Tokyo, Waqt, Purab Aur Paschim etc made the sixties one of the most
memorable phases of Indian Cinema.
Edited by Qwest - 19 years ago
CID
