Remembering Usha Kiran

( 22nd April 1929 - 9th March 2000 )

We, the Maharashtrians have a special pride for Madhuri Dixit for securing the topmost position in Bollywood in 90s. While the pride placed on Madhuri is not at all undeserved, at the same time we should also be proud of Usha Kiran, a Marathi actress who made a mark in Bollywood in 1950s, when forget acting in movies, going to a movie was a taboo !

Usha Kiran viz. Usha Balkrishna Marathe, started acting in films at the age of 19 to support her family. Her first film was Kalpana ( 1948 )a dance- drama film, produced by Uday Shankar, in which she played a small role. Her first film in lead role was 'Daag' ( 1952 ) opposite Dilip Kumar. But she rose to the fame from Patita ( 1953 ) opposite Dev Anand. Her performance in Patita established her in Bollywood.

Usha Kiran acted in about 50 Hindi and Marathi films. Other than Daag and Patita, her other hit  Hindi films were Badbaan, Nazrana, Kabuliwala, Chupke Chupke, Mili, Bawarchi etc. Her well known Marathi films are 'Shikleli Bayko', Postatil Mulgi and Jashas Tase.

Usha Kiran acted opposite to the Great trine ( Raj,Dilip,Dev), Ashok Kumar, and during 70s opposite to Rajesh
Khanna, Dharmendra and Amitabh Bacchan.

She had the honour of being Sheriff of Mumbai during 1996-97. This talented actress having a simple, sweet and expressive face succumbed to cancer in 2000. Dev Anand who worked with Usha Kiran in three films remembered her in his condolence as one of the finest actress he has ever worked with...

Remembering Manohari Sing

( March 8, 1931 to July 13, 2010 )

( To pay him tribute today please watch the  song ' Aawaz deke hame tum bulavo'  below from the film 'Professor'. Listen to the magic of Manohari Singh's saxophone between mukhada and first stanza and between second and third stanza... Music from the Great Shankar Jaikishan....)

It is very rare in Bollywood music that an instrument player in the orchestra commands the equal name and fame as that of the music composer or singer. But that happened in case of Manohari Singh.. but the journey of this saxophonist  was not so simple and smooth.. he toiled hard initially in brass band and then in Kolkatta's night clubs.. playing and practicing his favourite saxophone 13 hrs a day...
He received his first break in bollywood by S.D. Burman for the film in 1958 for the film 'Sitaron Ke Aage.' and thereafter played saxophone with other music composers also. But his hit song is ' Gata Rahe Mera Dil' from Guide partially composed by R.D.Burman. He had the strong association with R.D. Burman with whom he played Saxophone a number of times and  also acted as Music assistant and arranger.....

He last played his Saxophone for the songs of ' Veer Zara ' in 2004.This charming Piper said good bye to this mortal world on July 13, 2010 but leaving behind his immortal tunes to entertain us forever.....

Remembering Ravi

( March 3, 1926 to March 7, 2012 )

'जब चली ठंडी हवा, जब उठी काली घटा, मुझसे ऐ जाने वफा, तुम याद आये '

Yes, we do remember Ravi not only in 'ठंडी हवा,' but quite often for his melodious music and superhit songs.

Ravi was born as ' Ravi Shankar Sharma' in Delhi. He could not learn any classical music and was an electrician by the occupation. He shifted to Bombay in 1950 to become singer and had hard times as he had to stay on streets and sleep at night on railway platform.

The great music composer Hemant Kumar gave him the first opportunity to sing in chorus of ' Vande Mataram' in film ' Anandmath'. Thereafter he worked as an assistant to Hemant Kumar for some time. His first film as a music composer was ' Vachan ' . But he got popularity from the song of Talat Mehmood in 1957 from ' Ek Sal' (सब कुछ लुटाके होश में आये तो क्या किया ) He was consistent enough to establish himself as a recognised music composer by composing melodious music for the films ' Dilli ka Thug, ( ये राते ये मौसम नदी का किनारा ) Chirag kanha Roshni Kanha, Choudhvi ka Chand,(चौदव्हीका चांद हो या आफताब हो ) Ghoongat , Tower house (ऐ मेरे दिले नादान तु गमसे ना घबराना )

He thereafter had a long association with producer B. R. Chopra and composed music for of his films which became superhit viz. Gumrah,(चलो एक बार फिरसे अजनबी बन जाये हम दोनो ) Waqt (आगेभी जानेना तू , ओ मेरी जोहराजबी, हम जब सिमटके आपकी बाहो में आ गये ) and Nikah (दिलके अरमान आसुओमे बह गये )

Ravi's other best songs include तोरा मन दर्पन, छु लेनेदो नाजुक होठोंको ( Kajal ) रहा गर्दिशोमे हरदम ( Do Badan ) ना मुह छुपाके जिओ (Humraaz ) etc.

He was instrumental in bringing Mahendra Kapoor ,the singer, to the limelight. He received the Filmfare award for best music composer twice viz. Khnadan and Gharana.

Later on Ravi diverted himself to Mallyam films and had a remarkable presence there. He received National awards for two Malyalam films in 1995 : Parinayam and Sukhrutam.

I was never an ardent lover of Ravi's Music. With due respect, I found his music of same style even though melodious. But I still remember the folks in college days who used to watch 'काजल , वक्त , दो बदन, हमराज at Matinee shows again and again to listen to Ravi's songs. He had a notable fan base.

Ravi's songs were much popular and used to be played at weddings ( आज मेरे यार की शादी है , बाबुल कि दुवाये लेती जा ) Interestingly the beggars in trains ( especially in Mumbai local trains ) used to recite only the songs of Ravi ( दिलके अरमान आसुओमे बह गये, तुम एक पैसा दोगे वो दस लाख देगा ) Reasons beyond my comprehension !

Even though popular among masses Ravi remained less appreciated by Hindi film industry. He was never retained by any Big banner production houses. Ravi , in spite of lack of appreciation,always remained a self content man till he breathed his last at Mumbai on March 7, 2012

Remembering OM Prakash

( 19th December 1919 to 21st February 1998 )

Since childhood, often I used to get impressed by the side actors, villains etc more than the heroes. And those side actors having a special style of acting or dialogue delivery were used to be my favouries. Obviously Om Prakash, the great versatile actor and comedian was one of them !

OM Prakash, Born as OM Prakash Chibber in Jammu started taking lessons in classical music when he was just twelve and joined All India Radio in 1937 on a monthly salary of Rs 25. He was known as “Fateh Din”, a radio personality and his programs made him popular all over Lahore and Punjab.
As an actor, he started his career in 1942 and played the leading man in some films like 'Dus Lakh' and 'Sadhu aur Shaitan'. However he had a greater success as a supporting actor. Due to his nasal voice and a peculiar style of dialogue delivery he became popular for his comedy films. His pivotal roles in the films like Chupke Chupke, Julie, Joroo Ka Ghulam, Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Pyar Kiye Jaa, Buddha Mil Gaya , Namak Halaal, Apna Desh will be remembered forever.
The most striking aspect about Om Prakash is his sheer versatility. He had done with ease almost all types of roles viz. lead hero, villain, comedian, family man, Munshi, alcoholic person, romantic old man, politician, hen pecked husband and what not ! He had a long spell of about 50 years in Bollywood and acted from Ashok Kumar, Great trine (Raj, Dilip, Dev ) to Rhishi Kapoor. He had a special relationship with Amitabh Bacchan as both worked in various hit films from Zanzeer to Sharabi

When Mehmood recevied the Radhakrishan award for best comedian for the film ' Pyar Kiye Ja' he acknowledged that Om Prakash, who played his father in the film equally deserved the award as his fabulous reactions made the scenes more entertaining. The scene of story telling in this film became so popular that it was repeated later in ' Dhoomdhadaka ' ( Marathi film ) by Lakshmikant Berde and Sharad Talwalkar.
After having 300+ films to his credit, Om Prakash breathed his last in 1998 in Mumbai

Dev Anand remembers Madhubala

(Kala Paani, 1958)

Dev Anand remembers Madhubala in his autobiography :

'I remember the film ' Kala Pani ' the most for Madhubala, the most beautiful of all heroines in the fairy land of films with her natural looks and always as fresh as morning dew. Her childlike innocence was accentuated by the most noticeable trait of her character, her famous giggle. She was forever giggling at the slightest pretext. Nobody knew when the next bout of giggles would come, and once it did, how long it would last !

Many times she would suddenly start giggling during a take when the camera was on. The lights had to be switched off indefinitely and tea ordered,until she was able to get a hold of herself.

The great giggler was perhaps laughing a the world around her that did not knew that she had a damaged heart, and would die quite young......'

Remembering Madhubala

( 14th February 1936 to 23rd February 1969 )

'The beauty in its purest form'

It rarely happens that even after a lapse of time... years together.... the hearts of millions people are filled with memories of a personality and their minds wander for ever around that charishmatic persona ....Madhubala was one of them......
Born as Mumtaz Jehan Begam Dehlavi, Madhubala was fifth of eleven children of her father. The family suffered innumerable hardships and Madhubala was compelled
to work in films as a child artist. Her first film was Basant ( 1942 ) when she was of 9 years old. She continued to act in films since then and assumed the screen name ' Madhubala' on the advice of the then veteran actress Devika Rani. Madhubala achieved recognition from ' Mahal' ( 1949 ) and her popularity reached at its peak in early 1950s as her succeeding films Dulari, Beqasoor, Tarana, and Badal were box office hits. Her bewitching eyes, mischievous glances, dazzling smile, glowing skin, natural look unburdened by make-up and a matchless, timeless sensuous personality did have a magic effect
Her stardom and huge fan base even forced Hollywood to take note of her by including an article on her in August 1952 issue of 'Theatre Arts' under the title 'Biggest Star in the World'. American Director Franc Capra was interested in inducting her in Hollywood but Madhubala's father refused.
Madhubala acted in about 70 films. Some of her notable films are Mahal, Chalti ka Naam Gadi, Howrah Bridge, Phagun, Kala Pani, Barsaat ki Raat and lastly the landmark ' Mughal-e- Azam' which made history.
However restrictions on her Public life by her dominating father, break up with Dilip Kumar, her incurable heart disease and late and ' not so happy' marriage with Kishor Kumar marred the personal life of this enchanting beauty.
Madhubala's health started deteriorating around 1960 and she was confined to bed. However she did not give up. With a slight improvement in 1966 she made an attempt to complete ' Chalak' opposite Raj Kapoor. When she found that acting entails strain on her body, she was set to make a directional debut by a film ' Farz aur Ishq'. Ultimately she surrendered against the cruel destiny on 23rd February 1969, but not with desperation and regrets. She might have rested in the arms of death ,humming innocently and mischievously in its ears ......अच्छा जी मैं हारी चलो मान जाओ ना ......

Remembering Pran

( 12th Feb 1920- 12th July 2013 )

' And Pran ...'

These two words ' And Pran ...' have appeared at the end of the titles of about 250 films.... This reflects the immense contribution Pran has made to the Hindi Cinema. True, Amitabh while paying tribute on Pran's demise called him as ' Magnificiant Pillar' of the film industry !
My first memories of Pran dates back to my childhood, to the movie ‘ Ram aur Shyam’. I still remember I was trembling by fright in my seat when he was slogging Dilip Kumar with ghastly cruelty. Thereafter I got fascinated by Pran’s performance in ‘ Madhumati ‘ especially the scene in which he says ‘ Sorry’ to Dilip Kumar with an aristocratic arrogance and in ‘ Dil Diya Dard Liya ‘ in which he misses no opportunity to insult Dilip Kumar. By the time I was in college, Pran had made a special place in my heart.

Pran, born as ' Pran Krishan Sikand 'was academically gifted especially in Mathematics. But he started his livelihood as a photographer. His first Hindi film was ' Khandan' ( 1942 ). His trademark of blowing smoke rings started from Film Bari Bahen. 'Ziddi' was his first notable film which launched his career as well as that of Dev Anand. Pran rose to the heights of fame after 'Ziddi' and ruled the film industry for about six decades as a villain and supporting actor. His career span stretches from the beginning of the era of great trine ( Raj, Dilip, Dev ) to the superstar Rajesh Khanna and Big B. His association with Dev Anand itself stretched for about 30 years from Ziddi ( 1948) to Des Pardes ( 1978 )
A natural gifted artist, Pran struck terror in the generation of filmgoers by his blood shot eyes and cold voice. Generating hate amongst the audience by his scornful smile and sneer, his influence was enough to desist people naming their children ' Pran'. He will always be remembered for his roles in Madhumati, Ram aur Shaym, Azad, Jis Desh Men Ganga Bahati Hai, Chori Chori, Amardeep, Rajkumar, Aah, Aadmi, Munimji, Don,Upkar, Zanzeer, Parichay, Majboor, Victoria No 203 etc .
Pran was awarded by Filmfare as best supporting actor in 1967, 1969 and 1972. He was honoured Padmabhushan in 2001 and Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2010.
Pran shifted himself to the roles of character actor in the later part of his career. Being a versatile actor he gave the superb performances. But for majority of his fans ( including me ) Pran was always a villain, is a villain and will always be remembered as a Villain …..
Rightly honoured as ‘Villain of Millenium’ in 2000 by Star Dust !

RIP Sadhana

( September 2, 1941 - December 25, 2015 )

' तुझे जीवन कि डोरसे बांध लिया है' 

Almost every youth in early years of 1960s was tied up with this sweet girl of lovely face and captivating eyes. Even after her golden times were over, her charishma continued till late 70s..... I remember the folks in my college days, who repeatedly used to watch ' Mere Mehboob ' and 'Rajkumar ' at matinee, the movies in which Sadhna looks exceedingly beautiful...

Born as Sadhana Shivdasani in a Sindhi family , her first lead role was in India's First Sindhi film ' Abanna' in 1958. But she got recognition by her first Hindi film ' Love in Simla ' starring with Joy Mukherjee. In the first film itself she introduced her trademark look, a hair style, which was later on became popular as ' Sadhna Cut ' and was a fashion in 1960s.

After ' Love in Simla ' Sadhna was cast in a role of a village girl in Bimal Roy's ' Parakh ' which proved to be a multi- award winning film. In 1961 and 1962 her image of a romantic heroine was established when she was successfully co-starred with Dev Anand in ' Hum Dono' and ' Asli Naqli '.

Sadhana was peak of her career in 1963 by her role in ' Mere Mehboob' ... a block bluster. In mid 60s she became famous as a ' Mystic Girl ' by her roles she played in suspense thrillers in three successive films, ' Woh Kaun Thi ', Mera Saya' and ' Anita '.

Unfortunately Sadhana does not have to her credit a single filmfare award..but interestingly she was fortunate enough to deliver on screen some of the best of Lata solos...नैना बरसे रिम झिम रिम झिम ,ओ सजना बरखा बहार आई,लग जा गले कि फिर ये हंसी , तू जहां जहां चलेगा मेरा साया साथ होगा, नैनोमै बदरा छाये, अभी रूठकर कर अब कंहा जायेयगा etc.

Sadhna developed a health problem with her thyroid, her eyes got affected and she was under a long medical treatment. After her comeback she did act in some films viz. Intequam, Ek Phool Do Mali, Aap Aaye Bahar aayi etc. Though these films were successful she had lost her earlier luster.

She retired from the film industry in mid 70s and was avoiding the public life post retirement. She even refused to be photographed as she wished to be remembered as the way she was in her golden times.
She is no more now.. but she will always be alive by her performances, her beauty and by the eternal songs picturised on her, and though we frequently hum अभी ना जाओ छोडकर कि दिल अभी भरा नही, our heart will always be full with her sweet memories.....

Tribute to Dev Anand......the 'Evergreen'

( 26th Sept 1923- 3rd Dec 2011) 

By dedicating my first block to him on the same day of last year, I began with this activity of preparing the posts of Bollywood artists. Following his footsteps I continued with the task happily without caring much whether my posts are read or ignored, liked or criticised,forwarded or deleted ! 

Frankly he didn't belong to my generation as such. When I was born in 1960, he had already acted in about 60 films ! But as his filmy persona stretched for 60 years, filled with glamour and fame, probably the longest of any actor till date, he was/is an idol for many like me.

Though his golden era is over since long his aura persists still today.... his songs and movies are still watched across the generations. His journey in the Bollywood is too long .... from 1946 to 2005..to cover in a tiny post. The secret of his popularity is in the lively,carefree image of urban hero he displayed on the screen. as compared to the brooding image of tragedy king Dilipkumar, and an innocent rural image of Raj Kapoor. Moreover while Dilip Kumar and Raj kapoor acted with a limited number of heroines, Dev Anand's co stars range from Kamala Kotnis in 1946 to Tara Sharma in 2005 ( who happened to be younger to him by 55 years !) He acted with almost all the heroines of Bollywood from Madhubala to Madhu and from Geeta Bali to Smita Patil. The another attribute worth noting is that Dev Anand as a head of his Nav Ketan films introduced multitude of talents to the industry beginning with Guru Dutt, Vijay Anand, Sahir Ludhianvi, Jaidev, Shatrughna Sinha, Shekhar Kapoor, Zeenat Amang, Tabbu, Jackie Shroff and so on....

Music and songs remained to be an indispensable part of his film career. He used to spend hours together with S D Burman to finalise the tunes and then used to take strenuous efforts to rehearse the songs. ( His this trait was also followed by superstar Rajesh Khanna who used to practice the songs with Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore at his home before shooting ),Therefore the songs of Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna are enjoyed more than those of other stars including Big B and Shah Rukh khan. ( आज सुद्धा दुकानांत लोक देव आनंदच्या गाण्यांची सीडी मागतात... without mentioning the name of the films ! )

Dev Anand did not restrict his lively image to the screen, in fact it was his personality which more or less found reflection in the roles he played . Where others took the failures seriously and ran into depression, Dev Anand's interest never dried and though the film flopped he started with another one vigour and enthusiasm.
Once questioned by a journalist about the financial losses he incurred as his films flopped, he said " I came to Mumbai with Rs 30 in my pocket. As long as I am not left with Rs 29/- I am not a financial looser'. A positive and zealous attitude, Yoga, strict diet and a busy but regular schedule kept him physically and mentally fit till the last years of his life.

Mr Ganesh Anantharaman , a writer who interviewed Dev Anand in 2008 in his Anand Studios recalls ' Sitting in the midst of books and files, and dressed impeccably in formals, with the famous scarf round the neck, nothing about him suggested that he is touching 84. He got excited when I informed him about my book and wished me best of luck. He told me he is working on a new script for his new film. For the next 40 minutes I had a tough time keeping pace with the speed of his thought and articulation .. In his presence, I can comprehend, why he is called evergreen !

Remembering Geeta Dutt

(23rd November 1930- 20th July 1972 )

जाने क्या तुने कही जाने क्या मैने सुनी बात कुछ बन हि गई.......

Geeta Dutt got the first opportunity to sing for the film Bhakta Pralhad...in fact it was not a song but only two lines.But the sixteen years old Geeta mesmerised the entire studio by the liveliness she could bring in those two lines. Her first full song was for the film ' Do Bhai 'मेरा सुंदर सपना बित गया (which we still hear in Bhoole Bikhare Geet.) But Geeta Dutt and Geeta Bali both rose to the heights of popularity by the song तदबीर से बिगडी हुई तकदीर बना ले , a club song composed by S.D, Burman for the film Bazi. The film Bazi also happened to be the turning point in the life of Geeta Dutt as on the sets she first time met Guru Dutt, the director of the film with whom she tied the marriage knot afterwards.

Getta Dutt's ability to put in the required emotions and feelings in the song was just supreme. On the strength of this ability she could hold the fort against the Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar for about ten years. The logic for opting Geeta against Lata was simple. ...Lata was faultless but Geeta was marevllous....

Geeta Dutt's mainly sang for S.D. Burman, O.P Nayyar and for Hemant Kumar. वक़्त ने किया क्या हंसी सितम, नन्ही कली सोने चली ,बाबूजी धिरे चलना , मेरा नाम चिंचिंचू , हम आपकी आंखोमें , न जाओ सैया are some of her songs which portrays the emotions of the lyrics as well as of the situation.

Guru Dutt's behaviour and his involvement with Waheeda Rehman resulted in a discord between the couple. This also affected the professional life of Geeta Dutt. She refused to sing for Waheeda Rehman in Sahib Biwi aur Gulam and that paved the way for upcoming Asha to sing the song भंवरा बडा नादान है which was picturised on Waheed Rehman while all other songs of the film are delivered by Geeta Dutt. Guru Dutt's untimely death made the life worse for Geeta Dutt as Guru Dutt has contracted huge debts and Geeta had to rear three children. The Mangeshkar sisters are also getting too strong now to hold the fort any longer. Geeta started cracking.. turned to alcohol for solace and died at the age of 41....But before leaving , by her swan song .... मुझे जां ना कहो मेरी जान she caused everyone to remember that her talent to convey the feelings and passions will remain unmatched for ever !

Happy Birthday Ranjeet

( 12th November 1946 )

' The Rapeman '

It is very interesting to follow the career graph of Ranjeet and to peep into the life of this villain who has done about 200 rapes on screen !

Ranjeet, born as Gopal Bedi in Punjab had an inclination to films since his youth. Being an ardent fan of Dev Anand, he used to mimic almost the entire ' Hum Dono' and 'Guide' line by line. With some connections he landed in Mumbai with a hope to get some work in Films. His first films were ' Sawan Bhado ' and ' Reshma aur Shera'. Sunil Dutta, the producer of Reshma aur Shera, gave him a screen name 'Ranjeet'. On the sets of Reshma aur Shera, on watching his acting caliber, Rakhee suggested his name for 'raping ' her in her forthcoming film Sharmilee. After the negative role in Sharmilee, Ranjeet shot to fame and after successfully undertaking the 'rape job' in a few films thereafter, he was crowned with the title ' The Rapeist Ranjeet ' in the Bollywood !

But Ranjeet had to pay the social cost for this success. Though a strict vegetarian, non- smoker, non- drinker and having the spotless moral character, Ranjeet used to be avoided in parties, especially by ladies who refused to shake hands with him. He also had strain relations with his parents for some time, who walked out of the Premier show of Sharmilee in interval after seeing him 'raping' Rakhee on the Screen.

But Ranjeet continued... raping the heroines, side heroines, hero's sisters, dancers, vamps whoever came in his way... Soon Rape became synonymous with Ranjeet !

Ranjeet's hit films include : Hulchul, Victoria no 203, Dharmatma, Rampur Ka Laxman, Khotey Sikkey, Aap Ki Kasam, Hath ki Safai, Amar Akbar Anthony, Vishwanath, Namak Halal, Sharabi and so on...

Ranjeet called it a day to his negative roles somewhere in 90s and switched to character roles. Presently he is busy in writing, direction and production of the films and tv serials.

In spite of 'raping' so many heroines Ranjeet's married life has remained a life long Honeymoon. His daughter is well known fashion designer and son is expecting a break in the film industry. Ranjeet's innings are long over, however even today I notice someone having shirt unbuttoned till the waist, the image of Ranjeet gets flashed in my mind !

Remembering Sachin Dev Burman

( 1st October 1906 to October 31, 1975 )

दिवाना मस्ताना हुआ दिल, जाने कंहा होके बहार आई .......

Yes, the only funda of this great music composer was to make the people crazy and happy by his simple and melodious tunes ....thats all ! His popularity across the nation was so vast that in 70s, one of his ardent fans named his son after this legendary music composer. The boy named after him, himself became a legend later on..... not in the field of music but in the world of cricket ! Well thats a different story to tell.......

Sachin Dev Burman's first film as a music composer was Shikari ( 1946 ). But his breakthrough came later with the song sung by Geeta Dutt मेरा सुंदर सपना बित गया which we hear quite often in Bhule bikhare geet.

He thereafter neither looked back nor stopped till his last breath. He is the only music composer who did not have any bad patch is his career of about 30 years. The list of his melodious songs is endless... to name a few : तेरे मेरे सपने अब एक रंग है, दिन ढल जाये,क्या से क्या हो गया, रंगीला रे ,शोखीयो मे घोला जाये, चूडी नही मेरा दिल, जलते है जिसके लिये, मित ना मिलारे मनका , खाई है रे हमने कसम संग रहने कि , पूछो ना कैसे मैने रैन बिताई , हम आपकी आंखोमे इस दिल को बसा दे तो etc.

S.D Burman had a long association with Dev Anand' s Navketan films and gave music to almost all the productions of Navketan. According to Dev Anand, S.D. Burman's music displayed the Spirit of Hope which was in tandem with the themes of all Navketan Productions. 

S D Burman throughout his life was in favour of easy and sweet tunes . According to him pure classical music has no place in films and therefore simple tunes should be derived from classical ragas. His this ability to draw lighter tunes from classical ragas was further developed by his son R.D.Burman who started a new era in Bollywood music. However had S.D survived after 1975, RD would have required to compete with his own father for the top slot in the industry ! When RD composed रैना बित जाये in 1971, SD at almost 67 and having two heart attacks to his credit, responded with मेघा छाये आधी रात indicating that even after giving music for last 25 years he is left with enough stock of creative compositions !

If you listen to Vividh Bharati most of Burmanda's songs are still aired in the programs like Man chahe Geet and so on. His popularity is unparalleled. In order to remain connected with the masses he used to get his tunes first approved from his driver, cook and other servants ! The secret of unprecedented popularity of S.D. Burman lies in this simple trick....