Mehfil Completes 7 Years! – Mehfil Mein Meri

I can’t believe it’s been seven years! Feels like it was just yesterday that I was thinking of starting my own blog after being immensely inspired by the Hindi cinema blogs, SoY and Dustedoff. And both these blogs and the bloggers continue to inspire me. Their enthusiasm, hard work, dedication and friendly, cooperative nature is awe-inspiring. So automatically in every anniversary post I express my gratitude to them.

I want to mention my sister, Anagha, for her unconditional help. I also want to mention Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh. He is so helpful and kind, ready to be with you always. Ask him any question about old Hindi films, and he’s there with the answer. Truely a living encyclopedia of Hindi cinema.And every blog reader is a supportive pillar of the blog, so all readers are my great supporters. I am thankful to all of them. Blog readers, Dr Ravindra Shrikhande, Dr Rajesh Deshpande consistently comment on the posts, encouraging me always! But I’m missing a few readers, Pramod Godbole and N Venkataraman. They were regular readers in the past. I miss their enthusiastic and encouraging comments.I thank you all for your love, support and encouragement.

I’ve been relatively more busy off late and that also has reflected in my posts as well. I’m finding it difficult to think of new ideas or themes for posts due to my stressful schedule. I wanted to coincide the anniversary post with the 280th post on the blog. But I couldn’t achieve that. Still it’s the 277th post on the blog, averaging around 40 posts a year! ! 3 posts per month is not an easy task. It might sound very manageable, but it’s not! I think my fellow bloggers would agree with me.

Now without a further ado, let’s see what today’s topic is!In the month of July, on the 14th, we celebrate Roshan’s birthday, while the same day also marks the death anniversary of Madan Mohan. Also Geeta Dutt’s death anniversary falls on 20th July.Blog’s anniversary on 16th July always makes me miss these occasions. So to hit all these days in a single stone, I thought of coming up with a post on Geeta Dutt’s association with these two composers.

So here I’m with today’s theme for celebration!

Geeta Dutt sings for Roshan and Madan Mohan

The task was relatively easy as I could find her 20 (10 solos and 10 duets) songs for Roshan and 20 (12 solos and 8 duets) songs again for Madan Mohan, making a total of 40 songs and giving me a limited but still quite a fair chance to choose 15 songs for today’s list.Geeta Dutt was never the first choice for these composers. Roshan started his career in 1949, and Madan Mohan in 1950. Actually Geeta Dutt was already a popular singer then, but both were more inclined to Lata Mangeshkar. In my observation, I remember and like her songs with Madan Mohan more than those with Roshan. The former are more popular in my opinion, though the number of songs with each of them are the same.

Geeta Dutt’s association with Roshan started with the superhit song, ‘Khayalon Mein Kisi Ke’ from Baware Nain (1950) while her first Hindi film song with Madan Mohan was for Ada in 1951. While the former was a superhit song, the latter is not so popular.

Roshan continued with Geeta Dutt in Bedardi (1951) with four songs. After a long gap, she sang for him again in 1956 for the film, Rangeen Raatein. She sang six songs for the film, Agra Road (1957) which was her highest number of songs in a single film with Roshan. Though their association continued in the 60s, she had only two songs with Roshan, the last being for the film, Dooj Ka Chand (1964).

After Ada (1951) Geeta Dutt sang a few more songs for Madan Mohan. But those songs were not very popular. With Geeta Dutt singing Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De for Bhai Bhai (1956) which became a superhit song and the film also celebrated Jubilee, she sang a few more hits for Madan Mohan in the forthcoming years. She sang three songs under his baton for the film, Samundar (1957) which was her highest number of songs for a single film with Madan Mohan. Their association lasted till 1959 with films, Jagir and Baap Bete. I observed that Madan Mohan mainly offered club songs to her in the later years of their association.

It’s during the years 1956 to 1958 that Geeta Dutt sang many songs for both the composers.

It’s time now for the feast of the anniversary post. I’ve arranged the songs chronologically, so it’s a mixture of popular and non popular songs.

Let’s go………

1. Khayalon Mein Kisi Ke – Bawre Nain (1950) with Mukesh / Roshan – Kedar SharmaGeeta Dutt sang for Vijayalaxmi, while the main lead Geeta Bali received Rajkumari’s playback. It’s her only song for the movie, but we still remember it well. In fact it’s one of her most popular duets. Unfortunately Geeta Dutt’s songs in the later years couldn’t recreate the magic.

2. Aankhon Se Poochh Lo – Bedardi (1951) / Roshan – S H BihariWith Bawre Nain, Geeta Dutt also sang 4 solos for the movie Bedardi in the next year. The Nimmi and Geeta Bali starrer movie and the songs are not very popular. But still it wasn’t easy to choose a song for the list.

3. Meri Naiya Hai Majdhar – Anjaam (1952) / Madan Mohan – Qamar JalalabadiThe song is not a typical Madan Mohan composition. But still, it has a good tune that appeals to the listeners. And Geeta Dutt has poured her heart out to instill emotions. The result is phenomenal!

4. Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De – Bhai Bhai (1956) / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanHere comes the most popular song on the list! I take this song as the most popular song of their association and the movie is still remembered for the fabulous and joyous rendition by Geeta Dutt. The opening lines are so full of energy and enthusiasm that the listener’s mood gets instantly elated. Picturised on beautiful Shyama playing the piano, the song is indeed one of the best songs by Geeta Dutt.

5. Aji O Gokul Ke Gwale – Rangeen Raatein (1956) with Lata Mangeshkar / Roshan – Kedar SharmaI wasn’t aware of this beautiful bhajan picturised in Mala Sinha and Chand Usmani. What a sweet tune and such a wonderful sync between the singers. Lata Mangeshkar sings for Chand Usmani while Geeta Dutt sings for Mala Sinha. Both the actresses look beautiful and act well too. It was after a gap of almost 5 years that Geeta Dutt sang for Roshan. Though not popular, it’s a good song.

6. Duniya Ki Nazar Hai Buri – Agra Road (1957) with Rafi / Roshan – Prem DhawanGeeta Dutt was the main female playback voice of the movie. She sang one solo, four duets and one trio. The most popular song is Unse Rippi Tippi Ho Gayi which has appeared on the blog already and is my favourite. But for today’s post, I chose a lesser known but beautiful romantic duet picturised on Shakeela and Vijay Anand. However after this movie, Geeta Dutt was never the main singer for Roshan in any of his movies. Enjoy the song!

7. Yeh Raah Badi Mushkil Hai – Gateway of India (1957) / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanI have been a fan of this song since I heard it more than a decade ago. Geeta Dutt has sung a lot of club songs and this is one of her bests for me. The song is picturised on Anita Guha and her expressions are wonderful. She seems to know Pradeep Kumar and his evil intentions and hints innocent (and beautiful) Madhubala about him by the song. The tune, the lyrics, Geeta Dutt’s rendition all is very much perfect according to me.

8. Hum Panchhi Mastane – Dekh Kabira Roya (1957) with Lata Mangeshkar / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanYet another favourite of mine! The song is so youthful, cheerful and innocent. It’s picturised on two beautiful ladies, Shubha Khote and Anita Guha. It’s a treat to watch them sing and dance in a simple attire along the beautiful Marine drive. Geeta Dutt sings for Shubha Khote and Lata Mangeshkar for Anita Guha. The singers have captured the perfect mood! I must someday watch the movie as well.

9. Jhoom Jhoom Ke Jaam Chhum Ke – Coffee House (1957) / Roshan – Prem DhawanGeeta Dutt had three songs in this movie, and this one is certainly the best among those. Beautiful and mesmerizing musical arrangement, intoxicating voice of Geeta Dutt all perfectly create an aura of club song. It’s indeed one of Geeta Dutt’s best club songs.

10. Le Gaya Dekho Dekho Dil Bhi – Samundar (1957) with Rafi / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanThe song is picturised on Prem Nath and Nishi. Rafi captures more attention as he sings for the drunkard Prem Nath, being slightly offbeat but not off key. But Geeta Dutt also adds her magic to it. She sang three songs for the movie including a solo and a couple of duets with Rafi, her maximum number of songs for a single film with Madan Mohan.

11. Chanda Se Bhi Pyara Hai – Ek Shola (1958) with Asha Bhosle / Madan Mohan – MajroohThe song sounds very interesting where Asha Bhosle, singing for Mala Sinha, has Indian styled music and Geeta Dutt singing for Shubha Khote has a completely western tune. The contrast is so interesting and enjoyable. Geeta Dutt excels in her rendition, the style being her forte.In addition to this song, the film also has her duet with Rafi, which is also good.

12. Aankh Milane Ke Liye – Chandan (1958) / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanI don’t know anything about the film, except that the film featured the Rafi song, Bada Hi C I D Hai, which was picturised on Johnny Walker. But this song by Geeta Dutt is also my favourite. It reminds me of the song, Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De. Their tunes and orchestration sound similar in my opinion.

13. Dupatta Mera Malmal Ka – Adalat (1958) with Asha Bhosle / Madan Mohan – Rajendra KrishanA stage performance picturised on Nargis and Meenu Mumtaz. Geeta Dutt sings for the latter and Asha Bhosle for the former. Though the song is good, it’s overshadowed by the other popular songs of the movie. The song has a typical Punjabi flavour and has a catchy rhythm m. Both the singers excel in their performances.

14. Kahan Phir Hum Kahan Phir Tum – Night Club (1958) / Madan Mohan – MajroohYet another club song by Geeta Dutt. Good song to listen to. The song is lip synched by Helen and I could recognise Nishi, Kamini Kaushal among the others. It was Geeta Dutt’s only song for the movie, all others had Asha Bhosle.Just watch the chain of events that takes place during the end music. Oh my God! I actually just couldn’t get what exactly happened!

15. Nigahon Mein Yeh Mastiyan Kyun – Warrant (1961) / Roshan – Prem DhawanAnd to end the list, I’ve a beautiful club song again! The song starts impressively with typical club song type orchestration that is easy on the ear.

Would you like to add a song?

Disclaimer –Mehfil Mein Meri, claims no credit for any image, screenshots or songs posted on this site. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting. The images and screenshots are the copyright of their original owners. The song links are shared from YouTube, only for the listening convenience of music lovers. The copyright of these songs vests with the respective owners, producers and music companies.