Shakti Samanta

 He was a director whose film launched Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar around 1969. I saw the film and was captivated. By the hero and the music. Every song is a work of genius. 

Then came Amar Prem and Kati Patang, again with Rajesh Khanna and music by RD Burman. The songs were truly Amar- Chingari koi bhadke, Kuchh to log kahenge in Amar Prem, and Pyar deewana hota hai and Ye shaam mastani, (from whose second line this blog got its name).

Before that, Shammi Kapoor starrers An Evening in Paris, and Kashmir ki Kali were also great for their songs and picturisation, as was Howrah Bridge- Mera naam Chin chin choo was my favourite from that film.

Your Best Hour

 I am not even sure there is such a thing, but maybe it's a period longer than an hour. When you were at your best. I have a few nominations for music directors and lyricists, when according to me, they did their best work. 

SD Burman- Aradhana, where almost every song is so good, you hum it even today. His second best for me is Teen Deviyaan, and next, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi.

RD Burman. Aandhi is his finest hour, for the classy duets. Of course, Amar Prem also, for the solos. And for sheer entertainment, Yaadon ki Baraat and Teesri Manzil.

Neeraj, lyricist. Dil aaj shayar hai from Gambler. It's too good. Second, Phoolon ke rang se from Prem Pujari.

Anand Bakshi. Amar Prem, any day. Chingari koi bhadke, Kuchh to log kahenge and Yeh kya hua.. second would be Kati Patang- Yeh jo mohabbat hai, Yeh shaam mastani (from where this blog gets its name), and Pyar deewana hota hai..

Sahir Ludhianvi. For me, his song from Gumrah- Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaayen hum dono is worth its weight in Gold.

Asha Bhosle by Raju Bharatan- Book Review

A must read for fans of a great singer. I am happy that the musical journey of a country has been captured by a serious writer like Raju Bharatan. Being interested in Hindi films and music, I have read several biographies/autobiographies such as those of Dev Anand, but the singers' and music Directors' biographies are special. Having read RD Burman's life story earlier, it is interesting to read about the role played by them in each other's lives.

It was actually OP Nayyar who brought her individuality to the fore, though other music composers played their roles (SD Burman among them). After a split with him, she teamed up with RD Burman and created many songs that shattered records and won them lifelong fans. Some also had RD Burman singing with her (Piya tu ab to aaja, in which he mostly said, Monica, O my darling), and the picturisation of some of the others (the Teesri Manzil songs like Aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera, and O Haseena zulfonwali are good examples) brought her a lot of attention. She was actually good at all types of songs and sang some ghazals for Umrao Jaan impeccably. Her duets with Kishore Kumar and Rafi are among my favourites.

Though she played second fiddle to Lata Mangeshkar, who was the first choice of most music directors, the number of songs Asha sang are a few thousand, and she left an impact in many of them.

A lovely read, if Hindi music interests you.

Live Concerts

I have been to a few- Shankar Mahadevan, Sudesh Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar-RD Burman-Asha Bhosle, Pandit Ravishankar, Pankaj Udhas (aka Punk Rock of India- just a joke), Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ghulam Ali+Mehdi Hasan, and a couple of them dedicated to people no more- SD Burman, and Mohammed Rafi, for instance.

I enjoyed all of them, because hearing music live, specially from the artist himself, is a different feeling, and he/she brings some story about the music or songs to the event.

Kishore Kumar Memorial in Khandwa

 A bust of the singer..

 The sign on the road in Hindi..(below).
On his birth and death anniversaries each year, a commemorative event is hosted by the M.P. government here.

One of my favourite singers is Kishore Kumar. I have been a fan since I first heard him sing the songs of Aradhana and Kati Patang, and of course countless other films before and after these. This blog is named after a line from his Yeh shaam mastaani.. so it was a great pleasure to visit his Memorial at  Khandwa recently, in the company of my brother and a long-time friend Anil. These are some pics from there- some more follow.

 SD Burman, who gave him his style, and unique songs to sing- Dil aaj shaayar hai, and Phoolon ke rang se are just two examples. (above left)..
Below, a memorable role in Padosan, left, and with Rajesh Khanna on the right. Middle, with Lata Mangeshkar..again, many memorable songs..I particularly like the Aandhi duets.

 RD Burman, with whom he had many of his hits, and Mohammed Rafi, an equally talented contemporary..below, right to left.

Something I am pretty kicked about accomplishing!

Live Shows- Music

I remember the following concerts vividly-

Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and RD Burman. Three of my favourites live at Brabourne stadium, Mumbai, around 1985. It was great fun, with Kishore and RD fooling around in between some marvelous songs.

Hariprasad Chaurasia did a SPIC-MACAY show at IIM Bangalore when I was a student. I remember being amazed by the size of his flute!

Ghulam Ali and Mehi Hasan live in Atlanta..this was a rare treat, to have two maestros of ghazal on the same stage. Their styles were contrasting, with Ghulam Ali more conscious of the public, and talking to us often, and Mehdi Hasan was a lot more serious.

Shiv Kumar Sharma and Zakir Husain together in Atlanta. Their jugalbandi was divine, with the Santoor and Tabla sounding out-of-the-world.

Pankaj Udhas singing his melodious ghazala, again at Atlanta, USA.

Shankar Mahadevan recently did a show at Pune just after he had acted in and composed for the Marathi film Katyaar Kaljaat Ghusli. A great show, with lots of tracks composed by him with Ehsaan and Loy. Dil Chahta Hai was the standout film album for me, along with the Marathi film.

Sudesh Bhosle doing a Kishore Kumar special in Mumbai a couple of years ago. Outstanding mimic, he sounded exactly like the original.

S.D. Burman special, done recently by a group from Pune, which recounted most of his hit songs. He is a favourite music director, and I first became aware of him through the music of Aradhana around 1970- both Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar owe him one for that album.

SD Burman- Biography

He was born Comilla (now Bangla Desh). He was from Tripura's royal family, but the brothers fell out, and one moved to Comilla, till they later went back. Anyway, he studied in Agartala and Calcutta, and started with singing Bengali songs of various kinds. His influences were Baul and Bhatiyali songs. He made a name for himself, but for further growth, moved to Mumbai. He stayed with Harindranath Chattopadhyay initially, and struggled.

Success came slowly, and he once even considered moving back. Ashok Kumar managed to delay his departure- for ever, thank God. We may otherwise have missed out on his superb music from later films. My own favourites are all his Dev Anand films- from Paying Guest Check out this song.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YXCTKubQLg from the film as an example.

Or Tere Ghar ke Samne Check this out too.. Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMMGb4xMQQ what a melody.

Later songs from Gambler (Dil aaj shayar hai..), Tere Mere Sapne (Hey, maine kasam li), Prem Pujari (Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye), or Guide (Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain), or others like Ek ladki bheegi bhagi si (Chalti ka Naam Gadi), O meri, o meri o meri Sharmeelee from the film Sharmeelee are a testimony to an abundant talent that gave Rajesh Khanna his superstardom in Aradhana. To me, SDB was a superstar too.

The book details the contributions of his assistants Jaidev, and arrangers/players like Basu, Manohari and Maruti Rao Keer, who assisted him throughout. Pandit Shiv Kumar played for him, and so did Hariprasad Chaurasia.There was also a professor Gopal das Saxena aka Neeraj who wrote many beautiful songs for him.

He composed (for Mili) till his last breath, and turned out superb numbers. In Abhimaan too, before that. Stories about various songs abound, and are thrilling to read. I read the translated book in Marathi, from HQ Chaudhary's original.

Burman Jalsa- A Musical Show

Had the good fortune last evening, to attend a marathon four-hour concert dedicated to SD Burman. He was RD Burman's father, who left the royal family of Tripura, because he was crazy about music. He established himself as a singer in Bengali, but we non-Bengalis know him because of his film songs in Hindi. And what a range of songs! From folksy to the sensual (Roop tera mastana, for instance), he has it all. Was also the mentor for Kishore Kumar Khandwewala, that great singer who gave us great delight with his superbly crazy singing.

The show in Pune brought forth the brilliance of his compositions, from films such as Jaal, Baazi, Kala Pani, Guide, Prem Pujari, Jewel Thief, Teen Deviyan, Lajwanti, Sujata, Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool, Sharmilee, Aradhana to name a few. The organisers also released a book on SD Burman in a Marathi translation.

My favourites from the show were Ga mere man ga, Paanch rupiah barah aana, Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar, Khwab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat, Are yaar meri tum bhi ho ghazab, Suno gajar kya gaaye, Rangeela re, Jalte hain jiske liye, and the one in his own voice, Wahan kaun hai tera, musafir, jaayega kahan, dum lele ghadi bhar, yeh chhaiyyan paayega kahan.....immortal.

The musicians, especially the flute and tabla players, were outstanding. Out of the four singers, I liked Vibhavari the best, followed by Jitendra. A wonderful surprise was the presence of Enoch Daniels, who released the book on Burman. He is a well-known accordionist and arranger, who has done instrumental versions of most good Hindi film songs. He mentioned that he got his first break as a musician with SD Burman.

Bollywood Music Directors

Lots of music directors in Hindi had a signature style, or a favourite way to compose songs-maybe an instrument, or beat, or orchestration. Here is an attempt to list out a few.

C. Ramchandra- Shola jo bhadke, dil mera dhadke exemplifies his style- melody, beat, simplicity..dance by Bhagwan and Geeta Bali is just too good.

Hemant Kumar- His signature style can be found in Bees Saal Baad; the two outstanding songs for me were Zara nazron se kehdo ji, and Beqaraar karke hamen yun na jaiye-melodious, minimalistic.

SD Burman- Folksy music/tunes, but very hummable. Yeh dil, na hota bechara from Jewel Thief, or O meri, o meri, o meri Sharmeelee are examples. All the Chalti ka Naam Gaaadi songs too.

OP Nayyar- had a thing for tanga (horse-carriage) beats, and used them well. Unique use of instruments, his tunes are very recognisable. Aaiye meherbaan from Howrah Bridge and Leke pehla pehla pyar from CID (Dev Anand film) are typical OPN tunes.

Ravi- The way I remember him is by the superb mellow songs he composed for BR Chopra films Humraaz and Gumraah- like Neele gagan ke tale, dharti ka pyar pale, and Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jayen hum dono. Used Mahendra Kapoor in many of these.

Kalyanji Anandji- The Johny Mera Naam songs are my favourites- Pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyar kar le, and Ooo mere raja in particular.

Jaidev- Relatively fewer films, but some classics- Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya from Hum Dono and Yeh dil aur unki nigahon ke saaye by Lata Mangeshkar in Prem Parbat stand out.

Rajesh Roshan- from Julie (Dil kya kare jab kisi ko kisi se pyar ho jaaye) to Des Pardes (Tu pee aur jee), he is one of my favourites. Sounds very different, recognisable, like Chhokar mere man ko, kiya tune kya ishaara, in Yaarana, and Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha, from Baton Baton Mein.

Shankar Jaikishen typically used a lot of musicians/orchestration in their songs. Some songs that I liked were Badan pe sitare lapete hue from Prince and O mere shah-e-khuba from Love in Tokyo.

Laxmikant Pyarelal were not my favourites, but they had some excellent tunes, like in Parasmani (Hasta hua noorani chehra), and Shagird (Dil wil pyar vyar main kya jaanu re)

Kishore Kumar produced some classic tunes when he gave music in some films- the Door ka Rahi song sung by him and Sulakshana Pandit -Beqaraar dil, tu gaayeja- is one.

Dev Anand Birth Anniversary

This guy had an indomitable spirit- at any age. Something one can learn from. One of my favourite actors until Des Pardes-I saw only one film of his after this- he went on making films and introducing actors until his last breath.

He acted with Hema Malini in her first big hit, Johnny Mera Naam, though she was introduced earlier. He introduced Zeenat Aman, in a role full of 'dum' in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. He also introduced Tina Munim, among others. She went on to do many hit films.

He had some unique films, and was usually ahead of his time in his choice of subjects. Swami Dada about religious babas, Des Pardes about woes of immigrants, Hare Rama Hare Krishna about drugs, and even a few old films like Love Marriage which in the times of arranged marriages was quite a bold theme. He has acted with heroines ranging from Madhubala and Geeta Bali to Tina Munim many years later, spanning three generations!

His films were a bit tacky with his mannerisms, but he was loved by audiences of both genders. He was an incurable romantic, and this was reflected in his films and music, which were low on violence, and big on romance. Guide was a memorable film of his based on the story by R.K. Narayan, and was also a musical hit. SD Burman gave music to many of his films, and created unforgettable songs, many penned by Neeraj, such as Phoolon ke rang se from Prem Pujari, and Dil aaj shayar hai from Gambler.

Kishore Forever - A Show at Mumbai

Sudesh Bhosle was the star of this show, held in sync with Kishore Kumar's 86th birth anniversary. The hall was full of fans-most were in their 40s and 50s, and some in their sixties, with a few youngsters too.

And what a show it was. Kishore Kumar started with mimicry at his home in Khandwa when young, struggled to become a mainstream singer for many years until Rajesh Khanna happened (they both happened to each other) with Aradhana in 1969. His first break had come from Khemchand Prakash,  a music director who made him sing a Saigalish song- Marne ki duaen kyun mangoon. SD Burman brought him into his own and it was then that he took off like a rocket, zooming into a million hearts.

Sudesh Bhosle is also a great mimic, and he has a great stage presence too. He did the Jaane jaan song (with Bela Sulakhe) with aplomb, but also many others, diverse in range. From O Nigahen mastana, to Yeh raatein yeh mausam nadi ka kinara, to Chingari koi bhadke, and so on.

His son Sidhant joined him with a couple of songs, like Neele neele ambar pe, and then they both sang Ek Chatur naar-superbly. His wife also joined in and played the piano keyboard for two lovely songs- Khwab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat.., and Pyar diwana hota hai..his quip before she started was ..Main roz inki ungliyon pe nachta hoon..aaj main inki ungliyon pe gaoonga (I usually dance to her tunes..today, I will sing to her tunes). He also sang the rumbunctious Are rafta rafta dekho aankh meri ladi hai, with verve.

The orchestra was the next generation of Melody Makers, one of the best in the business, and I was able to appreciate the effort that goes into playing each instrument (and the arranger's contribution in making these play in tandem). A talented bunch it was, from the trumpet to the tabla, adding a charm to the proceedings.

Music to My Ears

Here are some people who are music to my ears, no matter when I hear their creations or voices-

Kishore Kumar Khandwewale (he was from Khandwa), who has magic in his voice. A sure cure for the blues is any song from Padosan or Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi starring him. Or in his voice from countless films. I used to like his yodelling a lot when growing up, but now I like any mood that he chooses to bring alive. Even his sombre songs are strangely uplifting!

SD Burman- I deliberately put him ahead of his peers and his son, because he was as original as anyone I heard composing tunes in Hindi films. In fact, many songs that I originally thought were tuned by RD Burman are in fact his creations-youthful, zesty, and a great combo of folk music plus creative use of instruments. Jewel Thief was a masterpiece, along with Teen Deviyan, Aradhana, ...

Rajesh Roshan- very soft tunes, always touching your heart-strings. Many of his songs as composer feature on my list of favourites- from the lilting Chhookar mere man ko kiya tune kya ishara (Yaarana), to the boisterous (by his standards) Tu pee aur jee (Des Pardes), to the lusty Jab chhaye mera jadu (Lootmaar).His Julie tunes were also outstanding.

Mahendra Kapoor- Some of my top favourites are sung by him. For instance, Lakhon hain yahan dilwale (Kismat), Tum agar sath dene ka wada karo (Humraaz), and Chalo ek baar phir se ajnabi ban jaaye hum dono (Gumraah).

RD Burman- His body of work brings out a positive feeling anytime you listen to it. For instance, any song from Teesri Manzil, Yadon Ki Barat, Kati Patang, Mere Jeevan Sathi, Jawani Diwani, Ghar, Amar Prem, Aandhi, Parichay, Namak Haram, and so on. He formed a great team with Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle (Dum Maro Dum still gives me goosebumps after so may years!)

The Genius of RD Burman

Along with his dad SD, he is my favourite musician-almost a magician. Today is his death anniversary or punyatithi as we call it. A tribute is in order.

He made a mark in serious tunes as well as fun, dance-inducing ones, naughty as well as sombre situations. Some memories of memorable ones-

Aandhi and Amar Prem. Dripping in romance, but divine to listen to, and very slow, like good
romance.

O mere, dil ke chain...likewise.

Chura liya hai tumne, Lekar hum deewana dil and Yadon ki baaraat nikli hai..all in the same film and so different!

Kya hua tera wada, Tumne mujhe dekha hokar meherbaan, Aaja aaja, and O haseena zulfon wali - a surfeit of riches in Mohammed Rafi's voice. Another Rafi favourite is Gulabi aankhen, from The Train, that makes you want to dance.

Jaane jaan, an experiment with vocals in Jawani Diwani.

Kehna hai and Ek chatur naar in Padosan,..pure genius.

Musafir hoon yaaron, my adopted theme song for my life, from Parichay.

Aanewala pal, jaane wala hai,..another contender for it. (Golmaal)

Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga...one of his last compositions in 1942- a Love Story.

Truly, madhosh kiye jaaye..

SD Burman

I may be repeating myself (a consequence of being old and being a prof-double dhamaka) but SD Burman was a great music director. I once had a top ten song list (it's in my autobiography) and many of the songs there are tuned by this deceptively old-world guy. Though the current generation may be more familiar with his son RD, dada was truly a master. It's his anniversary today according to the radio people, so here's the repeat show.

My favourites of SD Burman-

Yeh dil, na hota bechara - a crooked-necked Dev Anand sings this with a fish hanging from a hook.

Are yaar meri tum bhi ho ghazab- Dev Anand again, in a haystack- I'm not kidding. Go watch the song. From Teen Deviyan.

O Meri, o meri o meri Sharmeelee, Shashi Kapoor swinging away in his unique style.

Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu- a zesty song, that launched Rajesh Khanna.

Dil aaj shayar hai, gham aaj naghma hai...a funny moustached Dev Anand, but great song.

Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar, pyar ka raag suno, from Tere Ghar ke Samne

Hum hain rahi pyar ke hum se kuch na boliye

Ankhon mein kya jee, rupahla badal..

Jeevan ke safar mein rahi, milte hain bichchad jane ko

Hey, maine kasam lee, hey tune kasam lee,  from Tere Mere Sapne

Mana janab ne pukara nahin, kya mera sath bhi gawaara nahin..you can sing this to your boyfriend/girlfriend anytime.

Hai apna dil to awara na jaane kis pe aayega, sung beautifully by Hemant Kumar.

Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se..my all-time favourite from Prem Pujari

Tribute to RD and SD Burman

On RD Burman's birth anniversary, my tribute to the incredible father and son duo. Naturally, by listing out some of my favourites from both. Here goes-

1. Ye dil na hota bechaara, from Jewel Thief
2. Ruk jaana o jaana hum se do batein karke chali jaana (with the road roller doing a cook, cook to go with the ruk, ruk,...minor genius!). Dev Anand at his neck-moving best in both these songs.
3. Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu,...worth it just for the mouth organ (harmonica?) in it.
4. Piya tu, ab to aaja, ..possibly the sexiest club dance ever.
5. Mehbooba, mehbooba, ..same as above, part 2. Rural setting.
6. Chala jaata hoon, kisiki dhun mein dhadakte dil ke taraane liye...romantic road song.
7. O mere dil ke chain ....oh so romantic, anywhere song.
8. Hey maine kasam lee, hey tune kasam lee, nahin honge juda humm..Tere Mere Sapne, Mumtaz and Dev Anand. Charming lyrics like "saans teri madir madir jaise rajnigandha, .."
9. Aane wala pal, jaanewala hai...meaningful, lyrical.
10. Musafir hoon yaron, na ghar hai na thikaana..one of my all time favourites.
11. Pyar diwana hota hai, one of the best piano songs.
12. Kehna hai, kehna hai, aaj tumse yeh pehli baar,....Padosan
13. Aaj unse pehli mulaqat hogi, phir aamne saamne baat hogi..Paraya dhan. Similar sentiments as above, in anticipation.
14. Kuch to log kahenge, ..chhodo bekar ki baton mein kahin beet na jaaye raina..classic advice.
15. Haal kaisa hai janaab ka,..a lovely duet from Chalti ka Naam Gaadi.
16. Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga..one of those dreamy numbers.. 1942- A Love Story.

Maybe more in another post.

O Mere Shahe Khuba

This is about songs that begin with an O in Hindi. That roughly translates to an address in which you well, address somebody. Hindi films being eternally romantic, with a few exceptions, usually these songs are addressed to the love of your life.

O meri, o meri, o meri Sharmeelee was a classic sung very fast, tuned by S.D. Burman. Raakhee looked fetching, and was the addressee, and the singer was Shashi Kapoor.

O mere raaja, o mere raaja, khafa na hona, der se aayee, door se aayee, majboori thi phir bhi maine waada to nibhaaya..is another classic, from Johny Mera Naam, with Dev Anand and Hema Malini looking great in the surroundings, supposedly around Nalanda. Kalyanji Anandji had the zingy music, with quite a few good songs like Pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyaar kar le, and Nafrat karne waalon ke seene mein pyaar bhar doon.

O mere sona re sona re sona re, de doongi jaan juda mat hona re..was a lovely song sung by Asha Parekh in Teesri Manzil, a musical delight. Shammi Kapoor is the target in this one.

This movie had another "o" category number, O haseena zulfowaali jaane jahaan, one of the best club songs ever, with Helen and Shammi Kapoor outdoing each other. R.D. Burman scored the music.

O mere shahe khuba , o meri jaane jhanaana, tumne iqraar na kiya...was an Urdu beauty sung by Mohammed Rafi  from 'Love in Tokyo'. Joy Mukherjee and Asha Parekh were in it. There was another one, Sayonara, sayonara, in which we first saw a kimono in the sixties, in this film.

Another favourite in this category is O mere dil ke chain chain aaye mere dil ko dua keejiye, a moving, slow number from Mere Jeevan Sathi, starring Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja.

Hat Tricks- Movie Songs

I have no idea where the hat comes in, but it is customary to call it a hat trick when you have three successes in a row. But the context in which I am using it is that of a movie album. A typical Hindi film had about six songs, at least in the days that I watched them regularly. Out of these, if three were big hits, the album was a 'hit'. And the late sixties and seventies that I remember the most, had several such musical superhits. I shall attempt chronicling a few.

Kismat (1968) starring Biswajeet. It had Laakhon hain yahan dilwaale, and Aankhon mein kayamat ke kajal, and Kajra mohabbat wala..I think it was O.P. Nayyar who tuned the songs. O.P. also had Kashmir ki Kali, and Ek Baar Muskura Do in which he had Kishore Kumar sing most of the songs, unlike his earlier films. Roop tera aisa darpan mein na samaaye, the title song, and a Savere ka suraj tumhare liye hai were some of those hits.

S.D. Burman had one of his greatest musical hits (for me) in Teen Deviyan. The magical songs were-

Arre yaar meri, tum bhi ho ghazab, Likha hai teri aankhon mein kiska phasaana, and Khwaab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat kaun ho tum batlao. Of course, he then had Aradhana in which almost every song (at least five) were great. Roop tera mastana, Mere sapnon ki rani, Kora kagaz tha, bagon mein bahar hai, gunguna rahe hain bhanware were some sterling compositions.

Shankar Jaikishan had Love in Tokyo and An Evening in Paris during this period. Some of the songs- O mere shah-e-khuba, the title song Love in Tokyo, and Sayonara, sayonara from the first, and Akele akele kahaan ja rahe ho, Aasmaan se aaya farishta shot in a water-skiing scene in which Shammi hangs down from a chopper, along with the title song, were big hits.


Laxmikant Pyarelal had two hat tricks that I can recall (a hat trick being defined as a movie album with three or more hit songs).

Shagird which had the famous Dil vil pyaar vyaar main kya janu re.. and Bade miya deewane aise na bano, haseena kya chahe, hum se suno picturised on Joy Mukherjee and I.S. Johar. And, Woh hain zara, khafa, khafa,...

Bobby which brought in Dimple and Rishi Kapoor as a lead pair and captured the hearts of teenage lovers in the seventies, had great music from them, almost every song still remembered. HUm tum ek kamre mein band hon, ...Main shayar to nahin, Jhooth bole kauvva kate, Na maangun sona chandi with its Goan twist of Ghe, ghe ghe ghe re, ghe re saiba,.and so on.

R.D. Burman had numerous hits to his credit in the hat tricks department.

Mere Jeevan Sathi, Teesri Manzil, Kati Patang, Aandhi, Ajnabee, Jawani Diwani, The Train, Aap ki Kasam, Namak Haraam, Amar Prem, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, Yaadon ki Baaraat, were some. No wonder it was tough to forget RD anytime after the seventies. He was all over the decade. Hare Rama Hare Krishna with its landmark Dum Maro Dum, I Love you and the melodious Kanchi re kanchi re, and Phoolon ka taaron ka was in a class of its own.

Songs by Neeraj

His (pen) name was Neeraj. He wrote a few of my favourite songs from Hindi films.

1. Movie- Gambler

Songs- Chudi nahin yeh mera dil hai, dekho, dekho, toote na, and one of my all-time favourites,
Dil aaj shaayar hai, gham aaj naghma hai, shab ye ghazal hai sanam...one of the remarkable things about this one is the near-absence of music, the lyrics are so powerful that you don't notice the absence.

2. Tere Mere Sapne (Dev Anand, old) - a nice movie, incidentally.

Songs- hey, maine kasam lee, hey, tune kasam lee, nahin honge judaa hum..

and, Jeevan ki bagiya mehkegi, lehkegi, chahkegi, khushiyon ki kaliyan jhoomengi (the lead couple singing about their impending child)

3. Prem Pujari

Again, an all time favourite, Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se, tujhko likhi roj baati, kaise bataun, kis kis tarah se, pal pal mujhe tu sataatee..

and Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka shabaab, usme phir milai jaaye thodi si sharaab, hoga yun nasha jo taiyyar, woh pyaar hai..

Don't know if it's a coincidence that all these are Dev Anand (and SD Burman) films.

4. Sharmilee

Songs- Khilte hain gul yahaan, khil ke bikharne ko,..and

Kaise kahen hum, pyaar ne hum ko kya kya khel dikhaye

The Other Burman- SD

Amid all the adulation that RD Burman receives, we sometimes tend to undervalue the senior-SD Burman. He is a classic case of how looks can be deceptive. His music is completely youthful in tenor, even if he looked grandfatherly. His tunes encompass such lovely ones as Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechaara from Jewel Thief (which I can recognize from the music before the words come on), to the rumbunctious ones from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi- from Paanch Rupiah Baarah Aana, to Babu, Samjho Ishare, and from Hum The Woh Thi Aur Samaa Rangeen Samajh Gaye Na..to Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka.

Teen Deviyan saw him in his element, with Khwaab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat, and Are Yaar Meri Tum Bhi Ho Ghazab. Guide had many hits, among which Gaata Rahe Mera Dil and Wahaan Kaun Hai Tera, Musafir, Jayega Kahaan (sung by him) stand out. Sharmeelee had some great songs, like Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan, Kaise Kahen Hum Pyaar Ne Hum Ko,Kya Kya Khel Dikhaye. Aradhana had a line of super hit numbers that catapulted Rajesh Khanna to the top, like Roop Tera Mastana, Mere Sapnon Ki Rani and Kora Kagaz Tha. Gambler had the classic Dil Aaj Shaayar Hai, and Chudi Nahin Yeh Mera Dil Hai.

I am sure there are countless others, but this small sample illustrates what a terrific composer he was. And his songs were mostly based on either folk or classical music.