I love classical off beat movies and have great admiration for Nasir Udinshah and Shubana Azmi's short movies commercial movies have their place because they follow a formula but there are actors who shine nonetheless I loved the Puri brothers (Om puri and Amerish puri) may their souls rest in peace
its just a title on here which was granted due to my past service, experiences and contributions when I have plenty of time.
Ouch!
Chief, that is not fair to yourself. Please let it be known to the young lady what you have done and what you represent.
I watch a lot of non-Indian films and can't stand most modern Indian movies. (Or most non-Indian movies for that matter).
But exactly like you, I was drawn to old Indian films including Bollywood because of the music. I absolutely love it and it made me love old films too.
You will be fascinated if you go further into Hindi film music.
We all know about the poetry; we go into ecstasy about the tune making. But a Hindi film tune on screen is not poetry, the libretto, or the tune, the music. It is the orchestration also. The greatest pleasure I get out of these old songs is to listen carefully to the entire piece, including the poetry, the tune AND the orchestration. Try this experiment; listen to one of the oldies, Johnny Walker singing Tel Maalish, for instance (bad example: I'm unable to think of a good one quickly, perhaps from Howrah Bridge or from CID would be better). Try to listen to what is going on BESIDES the tune and the words. There is a third element, the orchestration, and no one pays attention to that.
All through the 40s through the 60s and 70s, Goan musicians drifted into Bombay and made livings for themselves in the fleshpots. Besides the thriving bars and cabaret shows that Bombay (and, even more than Bombay, Calcutta) was famous for, they found employment in the films. It was these musicians who were responsible for the very tuneful, hummable nature of 'Hindi' film tunes.
My particular favourite 'sweet spot' is O. P. Nayyar, Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutta; but beyond that, if you listen to the orchestration of these or any others of that generation, you will find some industrious Goan band-master hard at work.
The name Anthony Gonsalves was a real man's name; he was one of the best known of these Goan pioneers, and it is a wonderful tribute that his name was picked up and immortalised in Amar Akbar Antony.
I hope, when you listen to these songs again, you do that with a new sense of belonging and of closeness. Their clearly western influence is why I prefer listening to them, for instance, rather than to Indian Army music, that should have represented an element of western heritage in their marches, but has lost everything to some really crappy music for which the band-master responsible should have been court-martialled and shot, or impaled on someone's bagpipes.
@RAMPAGE
I see why they were hits in Soviet Union.
Even a silly movie like Disco Dancer with silly songs, it's made in a way that makes you appreciate the poetry in the story.
Maybe one day.
Thank you for the kind words. You're one of those I really respect. So...
