Ten of my favourite ‘Who’s that lip-synching?’ songs

Posted on by

240

If the title of this post stumps you, let me explain.

Anybody who’s seen Hindi films (especially from the 1940s onward, when playback singing became widespread) knows that most actors and actresses onscreen weren’t singing for themselves. Occasionally, as in the case of artistes like Suraiya, KL Saigal, Noorjehan or Kishore Kumar, they did sing for themselves, but more often than not, the recording was done off-screen, and the actor lip-synched to the song onscreen. So we have all our favourite actors, warbling blithely (or not, as the case may be) in the voices of our greatest singers.

And just now and then, while the song may reach the heights of popularity, the person on whom it is filmed may be, to most people, a non-entity. Sidharth Bhatia, author of Cinema Modern: The Navketan Story (as well as a book on Amar Akbar Anthony, which I’m looking forward to reading) pointed this out to me the other day, with a couple of examples in support of his point. Jaan-pehchaan ho, and Tum apna ranj-o-gham. Sidharth made a request: would I compile a list of songs of this type? Famous songs, but lip-synched by not so famous faces?

So here it. And, Sidharth: thank you. This was challenging, and fun.

O re maajhi, from BandiniBefore I move on to the songs, let me explain the criteria. All the songs in this list, are (of course, considering the focus of this blog) from pre-70s films that I’ve seen. Songs I count as ‘famous’ are those which are well-known even today; the sort of song that you may well find remixed. And faces I count as ‘unknown’ are those whom the run-of-the-mill (read ‘not fanatical about old Hindi cinema’) film fan might not be able to identify without help. Also, the face of the ‘singer’ should appear in at least enough of a close-up for him/her to be identified (which is why, regretfully, I have left out O re maajhi, since the singer is really too much of a figure in the background for me to even try to identify him).

Here we go, then.

1. Jaan-pehchaan ho (Gumnaam, 1965): Sidharth really picked the right song to illustrate his point, and since I love Jaan-pehchaan ho too, why not begin with this? It’s a fabulous song, famous and well-loved, and possibly the Hindi film song most familiar to Westerners who’ve never seen a Hindi film in their lives. (All courtesy Ghost World, followed by the Heineken date commercial). Even the music video of British band White Lies’s song There goes our love again uses costumes and choreography undoubtedly inspired by Jaan-pehchaan ho.

But: who’s lip-synching to Mohammad Rafi’s voice? While a lot of people can recognize Laxmi Chhaya as the belle of the ball, relatively few know who the ‘singer’ is. Dancer and choreographer Herman Benjamin, as those of us who’ve read Edwina’s mini-biography know by now.

Herman Benjamin, in Jaan-pehchaan ho, from Gumnaam
2. Ae mere pyaare watan (Kabuliwala, 1961): A few months back, talking about Balraj Sahni, a blog reader commented that Balraj Sahni had lip-synched to a fair number of very good songs. Such as Ae mere pyaare watan. Which just goes to show; we tend to associate big names with songs, sometimes our memory playing tricks on us. Because while Balraj Sahni’s character, the eponymous Kabuliwala, is indeed one of the men sitting in the room and reminiscing about his homeland, the person who is actually supposed to be singing the song isn’t Balraj Sahni at all. Or even anyone I know. Can anybody identify this actor?

Note: On September 24, 2014, I got a mail from a reader, identifying this actor as WM Khan. Now that I look closely (and try to visualise him without the beard etc), I think I see.

? in Ae mere pyaare watan, from Kabuliwala

3. Aage bhi jaane na tu (Waqt, 1965): This song is becoming, to my blog, something like Yeh mahalon yeh takhton yeh taajon ki duniya—it pops up every now and then, in some post of the other. Till now, it’s appeared in posts on Ravi’s music, on Sahir’s lyrics, on Asha Bhonsle’s voice, and on the song’s sheer splendidness as a ‘dance party’ song. I also featured Aage bhi jaane na tu as a song that is, in its classy stylishness, very representative of the 60s in Hindi cinema.

And here it is again, because while people recognize Asha’s voice, Ravi’s music and Sahir’s lyrics—and they recognize the all-star cast that appears during the course of the song—relatively few people know who the crooner is. The lady lip-synching to Aage bhi jaane na tu is Erica Lall. Not an American married to an Indian, as rumour has it, but (and this is information I’ve gleaned from a second cousin of the lady herself), a North Indian. Erica, to my knowledge, did not otherwise work in the cinema industry; this was her sole appearance.

Aage bhi jaane na tu, from Waqt
4. Jaanewaalon zara mudke dekho mujhe (Dosti, 1964): Or Raahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyon sataati hai, or even Chahoonga main tujhe saanjh-savere, for which both Mohammad Rafi and Majrooh Sultanpuri won a Filmfare award each). But Jaanewaalon zara mudke dekho mujhe is my favourite song from Dosti, so this is the one I’m listing here.

Despite the fact that I’ve seen Dosti—and have loved this song from well before I watched the film—I will confess I invariably have trouble remembering the name of the actor who lip-synched to all these hit songs from the film. Sudhir Kumar, that’s his name. He seems to have been a bit of a one-film wonder, since he acted in very few other films, and none of them too well-known.

Sudhir Kumar in Jaanewaalon zara mudke dekho mujhe, from Dosti
5. Hansta hua nooraani chehra (Parasmani, 1963): Parasmani was one of those unintentionally hilarious fantasy films from the 60s which had a fairly low-profile cast (Mahipal was one of the very few names in the cast whom I was familiar with when I watched the film a few years back). But, even if it had really cheesy special effects and a corny plot, Parasmani could boast of a stellar musical score. Woh jab yaad aaye is a great song (but, since Mahipal isn’t a total non-entity, I couldn’t list that). Then, there’s this one—a good female duet featuring I don’t know who. Yes, even the dancers in Parasmani weren’t the easily identified Helen-Madhumati-Sai-Subbu category. They’re good dancers, but who are they?

? in Hansta hua nooraani chehra, from Parasmani
? in Hansta hua nooraani chehra, from Parasmani
6. Hoke majboor mujhe (Haqeeqat, 1964): Haqeeqat was, when it came to casting, the very opposite of Parasmani: this was chockfull of names that were either already well-known (Balraj Sahni, Vijay Anand, Jayant, Achla Sachdev) or were destined to become famous (Dharmendra, Sanjay Khan, Priya Rajvansh). Along with them was a panoply of lesser-known but familiar actors: MacMohan, Ruby Myers, Indrani Mukherjee, Chand Usmani, and Sudhir.

This song, a touching and beautiful one picturised on a group of soldiers sheltering near a battlefield, however, is full of unknown faces—especially among those singing. True, Balraj Sahni and Sanjay Khan are shown in a brief shot each, but the ‘singers’ are mostly people I don’t know. Bhupinder begins the song, lip-synching to his own voice:

Bhupinder in Hoke majboor mujhe, from Haqeeqat
… but who are the men lip-synching to the voices of Rafi, Talat, and Manna Dey? I don’t know.

? in Hoke majboor mujhe, from Haqeeqat
7. Aaj sajan mohe ang lagaa lo (Pyaasa, 1957): Pyaasa had one memorable song after another—most of them picturised on people easily identifiable (Waheeda Rehman, Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha, Johnny Walker). Aaj sajan mohe ang lagaa lo is an exception. Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), through a small, seemingly insignificant moment, comes close to expressing her love for the embittered, beleaguered poet Vijay. Her indecision, the hesitation and hope, is mirrored in a devotional song sung on the nearby street by a wandering jogan. A classic song, beautifully sung by the inimitable Geeta Dutt—but who’s lip-synching to Aaj sajan mohe ang lagaa lo?

? in Aaj sajan mohe ang lagaa lo, from Pyaasa
8. Aan milo aan milo shyaam saanwre (Devdas, 1955): Another Geeta Dutt song, and also a devotional one, this time sung as a duet with Manna Dey. The woman who lip-synches to Geeta’s voice is Dulari, an actress who became, especially in the 60s and later, a fairly familiar face as the quintessential maid, pathetic old lady, or general equivalent of Nasir Hussain or Nazir Kashmiri.

Dulari in Aan milo, aan milo, shyaam saanwre, from Devdas
The man, who lip-synches to Manna Dey’s voice here, I cannot recognize. Anybody?

? in Aan milo aan milo shyaam saanwre, from Devdas
9. Leke pehla-pehla pyaar (CID, 1956): A very well-loved and well-known song from a classic film that was (like Pyaasa) blessed with a fabulous score. This one, teasing and flirtatious and talking about an attraction that the miffed heroine would rather not acknowledge—though the hero is more than eager to support the idea—is in two versions. The second (lesser-known) version, the sad one, is a female solo in which Shakila lip-synches to Asha Bhonsle’s voice. This one, in the voices of Shamshad Begum and Mohammad Rafi, has—as onscreen ‘singers’—Sheila Vaz (no unknown, but surprisingly unfamiliar by name to many people)

Sheila Vaz in Leke pehla-pehla pyaar, from CID
and—who?

? in Leke pehla-pehla pyaar, from CID
10. Dheere-dheere machal ae dil-e-beqaraar (Anupama, 1966): A beautifully romantic and sweet song from the same film that had classics like Ya dil ki suno duniyawaalon and Kuchh dil ne kaha. Here, while the person being sung to—Tarun Bose—would be a fairly familiar face to lovers of old Hindi cinema, the singer is a little more hard to place. (I should know; I’ve watched this film a couple of times, and I still can’t remember the actress’s name without resorting to Google). She’s Surekha Pandit, who acted in films like Mere Huzoor, Aadmi aur Insaan, and Saat Hindustani, but never quite made a name for herself.

Surekha Pandit in Dheere-dheere machal, from Anupama
Which songs would you include if you had to make a list like this?

240 thoughts on “Ten of my favourite ‘Who’s that lip-synching?’ songs”

  1. Awesome list! By the way, Madhulika, I was, one day, thinking of asking you the name of that woman in ‘Anupama’. I got my answer today: Surekha Pandit.

    I will read this post again and check out all the videos on YouTube. Perhaps the credit sequence in each film should be of some help in identifying some of these faces.

    You can add one more song to this list. “Diye jalaye pyaar ke chalo issi khushi mein” from ‘Dharti Kahe Pukaar Ke’. You see, I’ve forgotten the name of the actress who played Sanjeev Kumar’s wife and who lip-synced to this song, though you had told me. :p

    You can have one other song here: “Main chali main chali dekho pyaar ki gali” from ‘Padosan’. There are a number of Saira Bano’s sahelis who catch our attention. I especially liked the one who replies “Na na na meri jaan…” towards the end of the song. She’s lanky and wearing a yellow shirt.

    Like

    Reply

    • Both the female prison songs from bandhini … O panchchi pyaare and ab ke Baras bhej Bhaiya ko Babul…. Very well known songs and cast but who is the lady ( female prisoner in the movie) on whom they are picturised ?

      Like

      Reply

    • Thank you, Hansda! Glad this was useful. :-) As you can see, some of my blog readers have been especially helpful in identifying people whom I’ve listed among the ‘unknown’ faces. So that’s been helpful for me too!

      “Perhaps the credit sequence in each film should be of some help in identifying some of these faces.”

      Not often, firstly because many a time extras weren’t credited (Erica Lall isn’t credited, if I remember correctly). Also, sometimes the credits are long lists of names, and unless you can identify the others and thus arrived – by a process of elimination – at the person you’re looking for, it’s a dicey business.

      The lady in Diye jalaaye pyaar ke is Nivedita, also known as Libi Rana. Sidharth had suggested a song of hers too – Tum apna ranj-o-gham – when he suggested this post. I didn’t use it because while I love the song, I didn’t think it reached as high a level of popularity as did the other songs on this list. And I don’t think I’d label Diye jalaaye pyaar ke as being in the same league either. Nice song, but not exactly highly popular. :-)

      Oh, yes. Some very familiar faces in Main chali main chali. I can’t put names to them, though.

      Like

      Reply

      • Thanks – always wanted to know who the very pretty one in Tum Apna Ranjo gam – but she is not the one in Sweekar, is she? I vaguely remember that one too was named Nivedita, or is that incorrect? And there is yet another Nivedita who had her first film with Rishi Kapoor (as did about fifty young heroines according to his count, as told by him), or am I wrong there too?

        Like

        Reply

          • I might have been incorrect about Rishi Kapoor having had a heroine named Nivedita, and was more sure about Sweekar heroine’s name when I wrote that post, and the latter might not be the same in Jyoti, since Jyoti came before and Sweekar had a new face. Jyoti I do remember mostly, sweet film with a very reasonable and human resolution of the couple’s dire opposite beliefs about whether or not there was anything above what materialistic view can evidently find. Love that song, even know it after all these years!
            in
            My computer has been threatening to conk out and connection not so good, so shall mention it here – the face in “Ae Dilruba” of Rustom Sohrab is the same as one in Batwara’s Yeh Raat Yeh Fizaayein, which you might know already, but I am trying now to use that to see if her identity can be ascertained – the one in Jaane Kahaan Mera Jigar with Johny Walker is Yasmin who is Vinita Butt in real life but you seem to think that is not this one. Similar, but not same, perhaps.

            Like

            Reply

            • I could only find the name of Jabeen Jalil (with biography and formidable family background) on the internet for the face in Batwara and the face is either the same or far too similar to the one in Yeh Raat Yeh Fizaayein, the latter being without a doubt the same as one in Ae Dilruba. Have not seen Batwara yet, that might clear up if ae Dilruba is Jabeen Jalil. She was one of the four close friends group of those days by the way, Nanda Waheeda and Shakeela (or was it Saeeda?) being the others.

              Like

              Reply

              • Thanks – most pages are confused and think the two are same. I could not find Jabeen Jalil credited with the role in Rustom Sohrab, so that made it difficult, too, but there is no doubt the two women in those two songs are same. Vinita Butt is similar but not that much.

                Like

                Reply

                • Actress singing Tum apna ranjo gum apni tanhai mujhe dedo is Nivedita. She also acted in movie Dharti Kahe Pukarke and song Diye Jalao Pyarke chalo isi khushi is picturised on her.

                  Like

                  Reply

    • This one is a lovely song, among my favorites. The version on CD is nice, but I like the version from the film where Vasant Desai has layered Lata’s voice over her own since the character is singing along with a record that is playing her own song. I cannot recall any other situation similar to this one and have always loved the way it was done and the effect. Old Hindi films often had different versions of songs in the film as opposed to on record, usually because the song had to be cut to fit on a record (78rpm or 45rpm). But this was an unusual variation on that.

      Like

      Reply

    • While both these songs are good, I wouldn’t put them on my list. If you note, the criteria I’ve defined for the list include “Songs I count as ‘famous’ are those which are well-known even today; the sort of song that you may well find remixed.”

      Would either of the songs from Aashirwaad fit that? Jhir-jhir barse is probably a little better-known than the other, but I still wouldn’t call it one of those wildly popular songs…

      Like

      Reply

    • If the question is about who is shown in Jhir Jhir Barase, it is Sumita Sanyal, the lead younger female of the film which is about her parents, their relationship in context of feudal village, and her life framed by it and more. She played Jaya Bhaduri’s sister in law in Guddi, and Amitabh Bachchan’s fiance in Anand.

      Is the man lip synching Jeevan Se lambe a son of V. Shantaram? He looks somwhat familiar.

      Like

      Reply

    • Yes, Rut jawaan-jawaan is a lovely song, and my favourite of Bhupinder’s songs from the 60s. If I’d seen Aakhri Khat, I might have included it in this list. On the other hand, I might not, considering that (while it’s a superb song) it isn’t that well-known.

      Like

      Reply

  5. And isn’t this the same lady again….seems to be a favourite of the hrishikesh mukherjee movies , possibly more known in the Bengali cinema…again a very famous song..

    Like

    Reply

  6. Beautiful post about “unsung” faces from famous hindi film songs! Dulari and Surekha Pandit were quite common faces as they appeared in quite a number of films.
    The man lip synching “Ae mere pyaare watan” is W. M. Khan(at last I found it out :p )
    I recall a song from Khamoshi(1969)- “Humne Dekhi Hai”which I am quite fond of;but the actress who lip-synches it is not familiar to me.

    Like

    Reply

    • I believe this actress is Snehalata, probably one of very few films that she did (if she did any others). I have not seen the film in years, but her on-screen presence left a lot to be desired, especially when she is in a film with people like Waheeda Rehman.

      Like

      Reply

        • “her on-screen presence left a lot to be desired, especially when she is in a film with people like Waheeda Rehman.”

          LOL! Well said. :-) Honestly, with someone like Waheeda Rehman in the film, Snehlata really didn’t stand a chance.

          Like

          Reply

      • Snehalata had more than just this very fleeting role in Khamoshi, she did have a little more to do in a few films and perhaps a main role or two in small films, from what I offhand remember. Sumita Sanyal was known well when she did those few Hindi films, and is known more in Bengali. Many such people tried and either gave up to return to “normal” life, or went on to obscurity right in the industry. As shown extensively in Guddi. As for being forgotten today, many many of major stars of eras gone are unknown now as well.

        Who today knows, how very breathtakingly handsome Chandramohan and Prithviraj Kapoor were, for instance, or Naseem Banu? PK is known for playing Akbar, and his slim elegant persona of Sikandar was amazing eye opener discovery to young in early days of telecast of films, that is, as long ago as around ’70. And this is about films, not even theater. Shows power of media – people know about Shakespeare in India if taught in English medium schools, but not Valmiki and Bhavabhuti, another example. So “known” or “unknown” is of relative rather than absolute, much less permanent, quality.

        Like

        Reply

    • Thank you! I agree that Dulari (Surekha Pandit not so much, in my opinion) was a very familiar face in Hindi cinema, but surprisingly few people – unless they’re very clued into cinema and actually take the trouble of trying to find out the names of character actors – know her name.

      Humne dekhi hai ticks all the boxes! Lovely song, very well-known, and picturised on a relatively little-known actress (to be honest, I’d forgotten her name until I read sangeetbhakt’s comment below).

      Like

      Reply

  7. Excellent idea for a post, Madhu.
    I will come up with a few songs later but I just wanted to share a childhood story with you.
    I was about 8 or 9 (not sure) and was once talking to my sisters about movies, actors and songs. Rajesh Khanna was then the rage, of course. I remember saying “He is so good, he sings so well”. My eldest sister corrected me “He is not the one singing. It is Kishore Kumar singing.” I was shocked.

    She then went on to say “And even the heroines don’t sing. It is Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosle or somebody like that who sings”.

    I was even more shocked.

    I asked “But why? Why should they not sing themselves? When they are acting, they can also sing, right? And if they are not singing, why are their lips moving? It looks like they are singing.”

    My sister said “They don’t have a singing voice. They just move their lips to make it look as if they are singing”.

    That day, I lost a little bit of my innocence. :-)

    This post reminded me of that time.

    Like

    Reply

    • Raja, that is such a cute anecdote! A coming of age, huh? ;-) I don’t remember if I ever thought that actors and actresses actually sang their own songs – for the reason that I saw very few Hindi films until I was about 10 years old and we got a TV for the 1982 Asian Games. By then I was old enough (and had been fed on a constant diet of loads of Binaca Geetmala and our own collection of LPs, to know of Geeta Dutt, Rafi, Lata, etc and that they sang playback).

      Like

      Reply

          • As I have mentioned before, we sort of came by a TV in 1972, when there was no Indian station within range and one installed a 50′ aerial to hopefully catch Lahore PTV, in waves of clearness alternating with “snow”.

            I seem to remember that prices came down a lot in the run-up to Asian Games (govt duties/policy?). Even remember the lady who used to come bartering your old clothes for her brand-new steel bartans (yes!!!), bought a TV for her kids for the Asian Games. I think that is when we switched to coloured tv? Anyone remember?

            Like

            Reply

            • For us, it was actually a slightly different way of acquiring a TV – my father had just been posted from Delhi to Srinagar, and when we reached Srinagar, we had to stay in the officers’ mess for a month or so before a house was allotted to us. The mess had a TV, so we watched the Asian Games on that. And then, when we shifted to our house, it turned out that my father’s office – since he was the DIG at Srinagar, and seniormost – was on the ground floor of the house; we lived above it. The office had a TV, which we were allowed to watch outside office hours (in any case, DD back then had very limited hours of operation). So we actually watched ‘the TV in the office’, nights on weekdays, and whenever we wished on weekends, until Papa was posted to Delhi and we bought our own TV. I actually never watched B/W TV – always colour.

              Like

              Reply

    • I love this song (and I am always amused by the fact that there are two versions of it – the only-audio one – supposedly with ‘innuendos’ and therefore turned down by the censors, and this one, more tame and eventually the one they lip-synch to). Jawahar Kaul, despite never being a major hero (though he did act in some fairly well-known films), is a favourite of mine. I don’t know who the woman is, though. I should try asking Edwina; she might know, since she’s one of the dancers in the song.

      Like

      Reply

          • Aargghh! Of course. I should have remembered. She looked so familiar. Incidentally, that reminds me: I have a Shammi Kapoor film (Raat ke Raahi) waiting to be watched – it stars him with Jabeen Jaleel.

            Like

            Reply

            • Unless there were two Jabeens in Hindi films, that would be the fourth of the close friends group of Nanda Waheeda Shakeela Jabeen – they used to manage to go out together despite risk of being recognised and mobbed, right in the town.

              Like

              Reply

              • I had no idea Jabeen was part of the group! I do remember reading about Nanda, Waheeda et al being very good friends, but hadn’t realised she was among them. Haven’t heard of another Jabeen, so I’m guessing it must have been her.

                Like

                Reply

  10. ooooh. This is a tough one, DO. :-)
    I like each and every song that you have chosen. Never thought about how I didn’t really know the lipsynching singer. Especially the song, hansta hua noorani chehra. Not having seen the film or the clip, ever, I took it for granted it must be the heroine.
    Of course the CID one with Shiela Vaz is among the best.
    Thanks for this challenging post DO.
    I was wondering if this would qualify, though half the song is sung by a well known Shashikala in Sujata.
    Edu told us her name, but I’ve forgotten :-/

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you, pacifist! This was an interesting challenge, and I liked tackling it. Initially, I was a bit reluctant, because I couldn’t think of too many songs that fulfilled all the criteria, but after some thought I realised that there are a good number of songs that do fit. (And I haven’t even put in songs from films I haven’t seen). For example. Rustom-Sohrab has this lovely qawwali, Phir tumhaari yaad aayi ae sanam, which is picturised on a group of men whom I can’t identify.

      I had thought of Tum jiyo hazaaron saal too (not surprising, considering how much I love it!), but gave it up because Shashikala ‘sings’ a good bit of it. The other ‘singer’ is Meena Fernandes, if I remember correctly.

      Like

      Reply

  12. Madhu, the dancers in Hansta hua noorani chehra are Nalini Chonkar and Jeevankala.
    Aye mere pyare watan is picturised on Wazir Mohammed Khan.
    Isn’t that Nana Palsikar in Aan milo aan milo?
    Leke pehla pehla pyar had Shyam, who was an assistant director to Guru Dutt, along with Sheila Vaz.
    I don’t remember the actress on whom Aaj sanam mohe ang laga le is picturised. :( I have seen her in one or two other films, in bit roles.
    Neither can I identify, at the moment, the two other actor in Hoke majboor chala; I do think you can spot Vijay Anand in the song as well…

    Like

    Reply

    • Anu, I was counting on you to be able to identify all of the people I didn’t recognise! :-D But you identified quite a few, much more than I could. Thanks for that. (And, I should have been able to put a name to Jeevankala – I have seen her before! *slaps forehead*)

      Yes, I suppose that is Nana Palsikar in Aan milo aan milo… I can’t see him too well behind all that shrubbery. Sidharth Bhatia, commenting on this post on Facebook, also identified the man in Leke pehla-pehla pyaar as Shaam Kapoor.

      Oh, I missed Vijay Anand while watching Hoke majboor mujhe. He isn’t one of those lip-synching to the song, though, if I recall correctly.

      Like

      Reply

  13. And in the interest in playing ‘spot the actors’, I completely forgot to doff my hat at this ingenious post. :) I can only imagine the research involved in pinning down songs which are picturised on relatively unknown actors/actresses. My additions to your fabulous post?
    1. Chale Radhe raani from Parineeta. The actor playing the mendicant is a man named Radheshyam.

    2. Toh maati sabhi ki kahani kahegi from Navrang But I think the actor is Mahipal… so that may not really fit your criteria.
    3. Muthu kodi kawari hadaa from Do Phool – the actress with Mehmood is Ramaprabha.
    4. One from a film that just misses your cut-off period: Deewane hai deewano ko na ghar chahiye from Zanjeer.

    It is lip synced on screen by lyricist/novelist Gulshan Bawra and an actress called Sanjana. (There is a lovely little story about the recording of this song.)

    Like

    Reply

    • Another one that is after the cut-off criteria of the post . It if the songs that adhere to the guidelines of this post are either wandering ministrel song who are proclaiming a homily or picturised on actors who did not attain much fame ….

      Like

      Reply

      • No, ‘wandering minstrels‘ was not one of the criteria for this post – just that the actor/actress lip-synching to the song should be relatively unknown. It just so happens, I suppose, that a lot of philosophical songs in Hindi cinema tended to be picturised on wandering minstrels (who weren’t major players in the story itself, so were often played by extras or other little-known actors).

        But if the 70s were included in the period I focus on, Aadmi musaafir hai would certainly fit. Famous, a good song, and picturised on little-known actors.

        Like

        Reply

        • yes , thats what i meant…not that wandering ministrels was a criteria but that so many of these songs (the ones for this post) are picturised on wandering ministrels and full of homilies on/about life in general :-)
          the second lot is performers (qawwals, dancers etc) and the third lot on artisits who did not make it very big in hindi cinema…

          Like

          Reply

          • Yes, I suppose Jaanewaalon zara would also count as ‘wandering minstrels’, though I think one criterion that would probably fit several of the others – Aage bhi jaane na tu, Leke pehla-pehla pyaar and Jaan-pehchaan ho – might be the ‘professional performer’ category. Hansta hua nooraani chehra would also be among those.

            Like

            Reply

    • “I can only imagine the research involved in pinning down songs which are picturised on relatively unknown actors/actresses.”

      I’ll have to make a confession: not much research, actually. I spent about 15 minutes scrolling through the list of my favourite songs, and mentally checking the picturisation of each one. Some – like Jaan-pehchaan ho or Aage bhi jaane na tu or Ae mere pyaare watan – had popped into my head as soon as Sidharth suggested this post.

      Thank you for the songs you’ve suggested. :-) I hadn’t known the actress from Muthu kodi kawari hada, so that’s a definite yes. The Mahipal one, probably not. He may not have been a big star, but he was a known face, after all.

      “(There is a lovely little story about the recording of this song.)”

      You’ve got me all curious! What?

      Like

      Reply

  14. Very original idea for a post.Well done Madhu!
    Here is a wierd one from me,(dont beat me).Rafi singing playback for the “Invisible Man” in Subah na aayee Shaam na aayee (Chachacha).
    Where is he?Who is he?
    Who did Lata playback for in “Dar Lage Garje Badariya”?Snehalata?

    Like

    Reply

    • Not my idea, Karthik. Sidharth Bhatia’s – he receives all the credit for thinking this one up. :-) True, I did compile my list, but he was the one who came up with the idea in the first place.

      Subaah na aayi shaam na aayi?! You are trying to pull a fast one here, aren’t you? The crux of this post is that someone should be lip-synching to the song (in fact, if you’ve read my post, you’ll see that I left out O re maajhi because even though there is an onscreen ‘singer’, he’s not really in enough of a close-up for him to be easily identified). In a song like Subaah na aayi shaam na aayi, where there’s nobody lip-synching to the song… well, what can I say? You obviously haven’t read my post. :-( Boo hoo.

      I’ve never seen Dar laage garje badariya (actually, I hadn’t even heard the song before, but that may be just me). So, don’t know on whom it’s picturised. And don’t know how massively popular it was.

      Like

      Reply

    • As far as I know “Dar Lage Garje Badariya” is from Ram Rajya and Snehalata would be too small around that time if even born, the heroine being Shobhana Samarth, the mother of Nutan and grandma of Mohnish Behl and Kajol (Mukerjee).

      Like

      Reply

  15. Here is another relatively recent but well known one. Yes, considering it is a rajesh-sharmila starrer, the lady lip-synching it ( nandita, I think her name is and she did cameos in later movies also) doesn’t get much screen space !

    Like

    Reply

    • I wish I’d remembered this song, AK! I’d completely forgotten that this was a ‘sung-in-a-studio’ song. Hum thhe jinke sahaare is a beautiful song. Plus, famous. Plus, picturised on someone not many would recognise, I think. I have to admit I didn’t know her name, either.

      Like

      Reply

  17. A superb idea for a list.
    Anu gave most of the answers to the questions posed and I also think that it is Nana Palsikar in aan milo shyam sanware. Since he sports a beard here, he is a bit difficult to identify.
    I was sure, I knew who the actress is in aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo, but I was mistaken.
    Speaking of Guru Dutt, he was famous for giving songs to supporting actors and actresses.
    like this song in Mr. & Mrs 55

    or this song in Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam

    Like

    Reply

    • Harvey, that’s an interesting point you make about Guru Dutt giving songs to supporting actors and actresses in his films. Ab toh ji hone laga and Meri jaan o meri jaan are good examples, as is Aaj sajan mohe ang lagaa lo. Also, these two songs had been part of my shortlist; both are from Guru Dutt films:

      Meri duniya lut rahi thhi from Mr & Mrs 55:

      And the title song from Aar-Paar, Kabhi aar kabhi paar laaga teer-e-nazar:

      (The latter, by the way, actually has been made into a rather foul remixed version too!)

      Like

      Reply

        • Very true. In fact, I had three songs on my shortlist that sort of met the criteria I’d specified, but which I ended up not using because I thought they weren’t as famous as some of the other songs which eventually made up my list. All of these are from RK’s films:

          Us paar saajan is paar dhaare from Chori-Chori:

          Ki main jhooth boliya from Jaagte Raho:

          and Chalat musaafir moh liya re from Teesri Kasam (okay, not RK-as-director film, but still).

          Like

          Reply

          • JAGTE RAHO – Teki Main Jhooth by: Mauji Singh + ??? – name is
            eluding me (was married to Madhumati, the dancer and they
            appeared in many films together. I think he was also one of
            the dancer [no lip-synch though] in Hazoorewala, Jo Ho Izzat

            TEESRI KASAM – Chalat Musafir by Krishan Dhwan

            Mauji ji has a spot of his own at Dr. Surjit’s Singh’s
            compilation

            http://hindi-movies-songs.com/actor-photos/Actor_Photos2.html

            Sudhir

            July 2015

            Like

            Reply

    • The person visible in Meri Jaan O Meri Jaan above looks very likely the same as the one who did lip synching for Ae Ishk from Mughale Azam – which I found is Sheila Delaya; itwas not easy to find out, and finding anything about her further is even more difficult.

      Like

      Reply

        • Welcome – am enjoying reading this and finding who is who amongst all those fleeting but familiar faces. Still think Aan Milo is not Palsikar, though – he can be sometimes confused with Harindranath Chattopadhyay, the brother of Sarojini Naidu, and they are more distinguishable from one another more by the way the face moves, some regional characteristics too, but neither have the softness of this baul face. Would be very surprised if it were Palsikar.

          Like

          Reply

  18. Great Idea for a list and very well done too – giving an extra minute to those who had only three and a half minutes of fame!

    Song no. 4: Sudhir Kumar was at least a two film celebrity. He played the title role in ‘Sant Gyneshwar’ in 1964. The song ‘Jyot se jyot jagate chalo’ became quite a hit: http://youtu.be/6hNZNaWoYZQ and spawned a very famous parody too – ‘Note se note kamaate chalo, kale dhane ko pachate chalo!’

    Like

    Reply

    • ‘Note se note kamaate chalo, kale dhane ko pachate chalo!’

      Haha! I’d never heard of that one before. :-D I’ve heard of the original before, but had never seen it – so didn’t know it featured Sudhir Kumar. Thanks for that bit of information.

      Like

      Reply

    • Subodh Agrawal, thans for that – I suppose the two versions Marathi and Hindi were not only shot separately but had different performers, as Sant Tukaram did. Haven’t seen the Hindi version of film about Sant Jnaneshwar (Jna rather than gya is the real Sanskrt pronunciation of the last letter of Devanaagarie), so it was nice to know. Wonder which role came first for Sudhir Kumar.

      Like

      Reply

  19. Haven’t read all the comments here but I’ve got a song too that might just qualify (if you consider it famous enough).

    “Zindabad zindabad, aye mohabbad zindabad” from Mughal-e-Azam? with lip-synching by M.Kumar.

    Like

    Reply

    • Zindabad zindabad ae mohabbat zindabad is definitely a famous song. Very famous. (And I’ve just learnt something new. I didn’t know who lip-synched to that song, so thank you for that, Raja!) :-)

      Like

      Reply

  23. I do not know why but you Madhu evoke the child in me but at the same time make me feel old. If you are wondering, Now What? Well when I saw the post I was gleefully rubbing my hands, you know like a child eager to please her teacher with the correct answer, but then I am as usual late here, I was deep into my latest post on my father, digging up some old and probably rare photos taken by my father while location shooting. So most of the answers have been given by your readers.
    You make me feel old when you say, but that song is not that popular and I think, ‘Hey wait a minute it was on the radio a through out the day everyday’ and then I just give myself a shake and admonish myself and say,’Wait a minute she belongs to a different generation.’ So I guess I cannot blame you. I also cannot blame you for not recognizing Jeevankala, a very well-known dancer of our childhood days.
    Since nobody has been able to identify the actress lip-synching to Aaj Sajan Mohe, well here is a short introduction to her. I do not know her full name but I used to here her friends who also happened to be my mum’s friends refer to her as Ashita. She was married to Daljeet who acted in Dekh Kabira Roya, he was one of the the three male leads along with Anoop Kumar and Jawahar Kaul, Master Satyajit of Auraag and Hare Ram Hare Krishna fame is their son, one of her daughter’s Satyjit’s sister is married to Puneet Issar.
    Going through the comments I noticed a mention of Tarla. Tarla is Tarla Mehta. She is Dina Pathak’s sister and Ratna and Supriya Pathak’s aunt.
    Incidentally Surekha Pandit is actor Badri Prasad’s daughter, He was I think also a choreographer earlier, he acted as Zaheeda’s grandfather in Anokhi Raat.
    Ok after this long sermon or is it a thesis I do not have the energy to put my choice of songs, I have to go back to my post.
    Yes before I forget a wonderful post and a wonderful effort- Shilpi

    Like

    Reply

    • “You make me feel old when you say, but that song is not that popular”

      Ah, but the point isn’t that you and I are of different generations so the songs popular in one era may not be popular in another… because my criterion was that the song should be popular now. Basically, songs which have such staying power that they’ve remained popular all these years.

      (Incidentally, the songs that were contemporary to my growing-up years were pretty awful. By the time I knew enough of what was happening around me – what films were being released, etc – it was the 80s, and films were going downhill).

      Thank you for identifying all those people, Shilpi! I had no idea Ashita was Daljeet’s wife or that Tarla Mehta was Durga Khote’s sister, or even that Surekha Pandit was Badri Prasad’s daughter (he also acted in another film which featured your father – Chhoti si Mulaqat).

      I am all admiration for you, Shilpi. You know so much! (How you remember it, I don’t know!) I should have remembered Jeevankala since I’ve seen her before and even knew her name, but I’d forgotten).

      Like

      Reply

      • Not Durga Khote Madhu, Dina Pathak, Supriya and Ratna Pathak’s Mum. In fact, Tarla, Shanta and Dina were three sisters who were popular stage artistes, that is why you find Ratna Pathak still so devoted to the stage. Actually this topic is so interesting, in my brief connection with the film industry, I have met and seen several people, some of these people were people working in the production who would come over to discuss dates and so on and then there were others who were either heroes’ chauffeurs or PAs and suddenly you would see them doing a fleeting scene in the film they were connected with. Rajesh Khanna’s driver during his superstar days was always seen in at least one scene in Rajesh Khanna’s films. I think Rajesh Khanna put in a condition in his contract, this was quite a common practice those days, it probably is now as well. For instance actor Hari Shivadasani was seen in every film that starred Sadhana and later his daughter Babita.
        As for my memory actually it is unfortunate that I have actually forgotten many names, what I do remember is what was often discussed at home.
        Incidentally I am cringing, I was typing the comment late at night, I notice I have spelt hear as here. Oops!

        Like

        Reply

        • My mistake, Shilpi! I did read your comment, but I don’t know what made me write Durga Khote instead of Dina Pathak (partly, I think, because my net connection’s speed is really bad these days – it took me five hours yesterday to answer about 8 comments) :-(

          I didn’t know that, about drivers or PAs coming in on certain scenes (though I do recall, now that you mention it, that Hari Shivdasani appears in all of Sadhana’s films, as well as Babita’s). I remember, in the mino biography that Tom did of Edwina’s, there was one bit where Edwina talked of how her fiance (later her husband) had once come to the set to pick Edwina up after her scene – a club dance – was over. And the choreographer, discovering that Edwina’s fiance knew how to do basic ballroom dancing, roped him into dancing with Edwina in that particular scene!

          Like

          Reply

          • Actually Madhu these stars made it a condition that so and so would appear in the same film in which they starred. I can identify Rajesh Khanna’s driver in several films featuring Rajesh Khanna, I do not know whether you have had the time to see the clips on my blog and whether you know about Tube Chop, it is my latest toy, I have been using it in my last two posts and am using it for my current post. The best part is you can select, and share that exact portion you would like to draw attention to. Let me finish my post then I will try and see whether I can locate that driver from one of Rajesh Khanna’s films on You Tube and I will share it with you using my new toy . Maybe you could come up with another post this time on scenes featuring familiar faces but whose names we are not aware of

            Like

            Reply

            • I’d never heard of Tube Chop! You’re getting to be quite a tech whiz, Shilpi! :-)

              (And I’m looking forward to reading your next post).

              Hmmm… scenes featuring familiar (but usually not named) faces might be a bit difficult, because there would just be so many of them. I mean, Hindi cinema was full of people who sometimes even played important parts in films, but whom I cannot name (case in point: the man who plays Dev Anand’s havildar in CID – he always impressed me, because that’s exactly how havildars used to be, back then).

              Like

              Reply

              • I am no tech wiz Madhu, I read about it in Mumbai Mirror and I knew I had to use it. It made life simple, I used it in my last two posts, sadly I gathered from my friends that going by the thumbnail they assumed I had embedded the entire film and since everybody is short of time they did not bother to see the clips. This time I plan to explain it to everyone, it is very useful. The only problem I am giving into temptation and going on a tube chopping spree, I hope I do not overdo the clips. You know I go, hey, this is interesting let me chop this too and include it in my post and now I find I have quite a list of clips, I guess I can be forgiven considering I will be talking about three films..

                Like

                Reply

                  • Oh! how disappointing for me that nobody watched those short clips, barring a few, after all the trouble I took chopping them off. I remember my father particularly enjoyed riding the tonga in Choti si Mulaqat, he was in the driver’s seat that is why I had chopped it from You Tube and embedded it. In my remaining posts I will rectify the mistake and indicate that these are short clips.

                    Like

                    Reply

    • Shilpi, thanks – nice to know so many little details and connections about the various people you told about, Ashita and Tarla – I liked them both. Funny how Tarla had a major role with a beginner Dharmendra and went into obscurity while her sister went on to be a major well known face. About who is known and so forth I had the same reaction – but then relatively few know of Gauss and Hilbert, comparatively, yet they were major giants in science.

      Elsewhere someone has mentioned “O Panchhi Pyaare” lipsynch as done by someone named Dolly Kapoor, I was guessing it was a sister of Meena Kumari from the way the mouth moved and a slight similarity of face that is less obvious!

      Like

      Reply

  24. Hi, I’m a regular reader of your blog and loved this post. Apropos of a comment above about Raj Kapoor also using unknown singers, wouldn’t “Chalat musafir moh liyo re” qualify for a very famous song lip-synced by a relative unknown?

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you! I’m glad you liked this post. And yes, Chalat musaafir moh liya re would qualify. In fact, it had been on my shortlist too, but I eventually left it out because I thought the other songs on the list were more popular. But you’re right about it being a famous song lip-synched by a relative unknown. Come to think of it, I don’t recall Krishan Dhawan lip-synching to any other songs.

      Like

      Reply

      • FUNTOOSH – Dukhi Man Mere, starts with Krishan Dhawan lip-synching
        2 slow lines: ‘Kabira Is… … Sada Nagada Kooch Ka …. ‘

        He was a good actor (probably from stage) and was one of the
        evil charcater in JEEVAN MRITYU

        Sudhir

        July 2015

        Like

        Reply

        • I’ve forgotten Krishan Dhawan’s character in Jeevan Mrityu, but he’s a familiar face from several other films: Nau Do Gyarah, in which he acts as Lalita Pawar’s son; Chhoti-Chhoti Baatein (where he’s Nadira’s love interest), and of course Teesri Kasam, where he’s the man lip-synching to Chalat musaafir moh liya re pinjre waali muniya.

          Like

          Reply

    • Oh, yes. This fits the criteria, except for the fact that the camera doesn’t really provide enough close-ups of the ‘singers’ for us to identify them (which is the same reason why I left out O re maajhi). For much of the song, it almost becomes a ‘background’ song.

      Like

      Reply

  27. Great post!! In Barsaat ki ek raat the famous quawwali ‘na toh karvaan ki talash hai’, the other male singer (in Manna Dey’s voice) – I always thought it was Manna Dey himself. True? Don’t know.

    In Mr. Mrs. 55, ‘Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya’ – who’s that lovely lady with JW?

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you for commenting, and for the appreciation. :-)

      No, the man in Na toh kaarvaan ki talaash hai is definitely not Manna Dey. I don’t know who he is (though Anu suggests that he might be Balam), but I’m pretty certain he isn’t Manna Dey, at any rate.

      Johnny Walker’s co-star in Mr & Mrs 55 is Yasmin (that was the screen name given to her by Guru Dutt; her actual name was Veena Butt, and she married an American make-up artist named Jimmy Vining).

      Like

      Reply

  28. 1) Can you believe someone trying to copy 70’s Dev, his orange high collar shirt & his mannerisms, and even his last name (Vishal Anand)

    2) A man who usually did villanous roles, gets to sing a classic (Dheeraj)

    3) Jalal Agha crooning with a guitar, with a really youthful Rakesh Roshan in the background.

    A really great post, did not know that Ae Mere Pyare Watan was not filmed on Balraj Sahni.

    Like

    Reply

    • Yes, Humein toh loot liya milke husnwaalon ne is very famous, yet I’d never heard of Ismail Azad either (I’m still a bit unclear: is the singer Ismail Azad, or is the person lip-synching Ismail Azad? Or both?)

      I’m not sure which song you mean as ‘Song 1’ from Teesri Kasam. The link you’ve attached isn’t of any very famous song…

      Oh, come, come. Saaqiya aaj mujhe neend nahin aayegi is lip-synched by Minoo Mumtaz. :-D Not an unknown by any stretch of imagination. She had some fabulous songs picturised on her (including Boojh mera kya naam re) and acted opposite pretty big names, including Balraj Sahni. In case you didn’t know, she’s Mehmood’s sister. Not as huge a star as him, but pretty famous in her own right.

      Like

      Reply

      • You are right about Minoo Mumtaz, and the star family includes her father who began the business of films in the family, apart from her brother Mehmood, his sister in law Meena Kumari and his children, of which one is Lucky Ali. Minoo Mumtaz was less ubiquitous than Helen but had some interesting roles, for example one in Jahan Ara where she falls in love with the poet and becomes his messenger to the princess.

        Like

        Reply

        • Yes, I really liked Minoo Mumtaz’s role in Jahanara. Sadly, she often got saddled with playing the bad girl – in Mai Baap, for example, or Bank Manager.

          Their father was a very good dancer, by the way…

          Like

          Reply

      • smail Azad and party were the qawwals, who sang this much loved
        qawwali. About 2 yeras ago, I saw the video (picturized in 2 parts)

        The on-screen artist is: SHAIKH (appeared in few Wadia brothers film and
        if if I recall it correctly, lip-synched the song (wearing a girl’s costume:

        HATIM TAI – Oyi Amma Main Kahe Ko Bazaar Gayi Thi

        Sudhir

        July 2015

        Like

        Reply

  30. I do have some pre 70’s songs —
    4) A really great song filmed on Anita Guha

    5) This should hopefully qualify as well, Kumkum & this little known male actor (probably Kamaljeet)

    Like

    Reply

    • I have to admit I don’t think of Anita Guha as an unknown face. She was really quite visible, and had acted even as the heroine in a fair number of films (like Chhoomantar and Dekh Kabira Roya). Dil todne waale is a lovely song, thanks for inserting it here. I had fleetingly remembered it, but decided not to include it in my list, because Kamaljeet is someone I knew well enough. But you’re right, he’s not really too well-known (most people anyway know of him only as Waheeda’s husband!)

      Like

      Reply

      • Yes, Anita Guha had some good roles (wasn’t she the Seeta in Sampoorna Ramayan, or was it in some other film?) and was working in both Hindi and Bangla, and I always thought her very beautiful – but perhaps she was too saatwik for heroinedom and was not interested in being mother-sister-bhabhi as many others did to go on to have a good career in those roles. I was interested in seeing this film ever since seeing this song several years ago, perhaps now internet would help. Kamaljeet was Shashi Rekhi in real life, right? HIs Shagun had the very popular Tum Apna Ranjo Gam (young males would quote this and another similar “Agar Mujhse Muhabbat hai” as exemplery ideal to the females they wished to bring under control to forget feminist ideas about one’s own thinking or career or choices) and after seeing it on television song programs I wanted to know who that very pretty woman was, which is also explained somewhere above in one post. I am so glad you did this!

        Like

        Reply

        • Thank you! I am not sure if Anita Guha was in Sampoorna Ramayan, since I haven’t seen the film. Kamaljeet, as you correctly point out, was Shashi Rekhi in real life. Before I saw him in Shagoon, I’d also seen him in Son of India. I think he was also the hero in Qawwali ki Raat.

          Like

          Reply

    • Hmmm. True, Archana wasn’t very well-known, but Naveen Nischal was, so I’d pass that up. Now, if Archana had been paired with someone of the likes of Dheeraj Kumar or Vishal Anand, maybe then, yes. :-)

      Like

      Reply

      • Those were the days for a short period no frills heroines came in like a fresh breeze, from Suhasini Mulay of Bhuwan Shome to Jaya Bhaduri, Vidya Sinha upto Zarina Wahab and Rameshwari Talluri – Jaya was the most delightful and empowering an icon of Indian womanhood with her simple attire most could identify with and yet jumping off walls or sitting in trees, huge laugh rather than hidden simper, and so on. I am glad Archana had this large success even if only in one film (she did do more, I am unsure now) and it is so very refreshing to see her being wooed by the chocolate hero so ardently, never mind how simple she is, Quite a change from the time just before when a heroine would be in bed with her hair in a huge do on top and get up with long hair streaming behind but the top huge intact, don’t know how the character was supposed to manage lying down to sleep on long hair and get up with faultless do on top!

        Like

        Reply

        • I have definitely seen Archana in one more film. I don’t remember the name now, but it had a very peppy song which went Sachcha pyaar chhup nain sakta dil ki umang yeh kehti hai, pyaar ka raahi ruk nahin sakta, dil ki umang yeh kehti hai. She, Vidya Sinha, Rameshwari, and Jaya Bhaduri were all like a breath of fresh air – so very easy to relate to. One particular Rameshwari movie I loved was Maan-Abhimaan: one of the most realistically romantic films I’ve seen, of a woman who gradually falls in love with the man she thinks is responsible for her sorrows. The very gradual, very logical progression from hatred to acceptance and finally love was very well-done.

          Like

          Reply

          • The film’s name is in the song itself – Umang. If I am correct, it was the film in which Subhash Ghai made his debut as an actor / hero. Or am I wrong there ?

            Like

            Reply

  34. What a unique idea for a post, and you had my curiosity aroused so I went through the post, read all the comments, thinking all the while, No one has mentioned Ae mohabbat zindabad … from Mughal-e-azam, and lo and behold, Raja mentioned it. So that was my one and only possible contribution and now I don’t have any others. But I am awed by the persistence shown by you and all the others out here in identifying all those people who would otherwise have remained unknown lip-synchers!

    Like

    Reply

      • She was known as big in south, but had only this one success in Hindi, I think – had to try as most southern successful ones did, naturally – and did not go unnoticed, far from it. But it did not lead to more, I suppose. The song was blaring on radio often enough those days. Tanuja was the other heroine (Dharmendra being in a double role, Rajendra Kumar did similar Gora aur Kala around the time too) and she had a lovely song, Yeh Dil Tumbin Kahin Lagataa nahin.

        Like

        Reply

        • Oh, yes, she was a huge success down south. But I don’t even know if she actually acted in any other Hindi films, let alone being a success. I thought Balraj Sahni’s role in this was very offbeat – not the usual sort of charater he played. And all those philosophical and well-educated conversations about Othello (between the characters of Dharmendra and Tanuja) were a refreshing change from the usual dialogues between romantic pairs in Hindi cinema.

          Like

          Reply

  36. ok another one ! can someone please recognize this lady…she is familiar , have seen her in later movies in incidental roles. actually discovered this while listening to Annu Kapoor on his radio show where he mentioned this song from the movie chaitali. He also is not able to place the lady and has aked for help..and what better forum than this! I am sure some one will know who the lady is.Otherwise it still is another song that fits into this post!

    Like

    Reply

        • It actually took me a couple of times to identify Beena Rai. Considering this film was released just 3 years after Taj Mahal, it seemed like she had aged quite a bit. Maybe Taj Mahal was several years in the making. She was not fresh looking in the film, but certainly did not seem mother-like :-)

          Like

          Reply

  38. Hello ! Another wonderful list ! Each of your list & the songs added by readers is becoming an excellent referance book .
    I am adding two songs –
    ” Na tum Bewafa ho , Na hum bewafa hai ” – Lata in 1968 movie “Ek kali Muskayi”
    The actress is Meera Joglekar , daughter of the director & only this movie to her credit.
    ” Hai kali Kali ke lab per tere husn ka phasana ” – Rafi singing for Lotun .
    I found out the name of the actor by chance .Yesterday after reading this list , I just googled for Surekha Pandit , to check her filmography. From clicking on one image
    I stmbled upon the following site .
    This turned out to be a treasure of Film history .The site is owned by
    Mr Surjit Singh .
    http://hindi-movies-songs.com/actor-photos/Actor_Photos2.html
    There is lot more stuff from the home page.

    Thanks for all the lists !

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you! I didn’t know of either Meera Joglekar or Lotun, though I’ve actually seen Lala Rukh (from which Hai kali-kali ke labh pe is taken).

      Thanks, also, for sharing the link to that page. I’ve come across it before, but hadn’t thought of bookmarking it. Am doing so now – it’s quite a treasure trove.

      Like

      Reply

    • Meera Joglekar’s parents were a well known and very successful pair, her mother Suman Joglekar (then Wagle? unsure now) known and successful before she married (Vasant?) Joglekar. Lot of heroines those days came and tried their luck and went on to return to personal life, including the beautiful one from Sweekar.

      Like

      Reply

  40. The face in the photograph for the Gumnaam song has a resemblance to Anwar Hussain, the brother of Nargis, is it possible he is a relative? Or could be one from the large Puri (lot of brothers between Madan and Amrish) clan. Or not.

    Like

    Reply

      • Mudhulika ji:

        You missed one GREAT song – Ik Bewafa Se Pyar Kiya from AWARA

        it is: Honey o’Brien

        it seems you have put this film in ‘Kudedaan’ On the other hand, I
        fee, this is the film, which made Raj Kapoor, a very good director.

        None of his later fim (as direcor or as producer) ome close
        to this one

        SUDHIR

        July 2015

        p.s.: I can not figure out, how to create a new thread.

        Like

        Reply

        • Well, that’s just my opinion. I don’t like Raj Kapoor, and that tends to colour my opinion of many of his films. Awara isn’t bad, but I can’t bring myself to rave about it like a lot of others do.

          I do know who Honey O’Brien is (she also appears in the effervescent Dilli se aaya bhai Tingu), but yes – you’re right, few people would be able to recognize her.

          P.S. If you want to begin a new thread, just scroll right to the bottom of the comments, and when you see the ‘Leave a Reply’ box, write a comment in that – it’ll appear as a new comment, and therefore a new thread.

          Like

          Reply

  42. One of the most interesting post Madhu. Tremendous effort from you and your readers. I am always searching for names of faces I do not recognize in the movies.
    For years I thought Aruna Irani was one of the dancers in “Hansta hua noorani chehra” wrong !( I had read it somewhere ) till I saw the video. Now I know the names thanks to your post. Same with “man bhawan ke ghar” and Aplam Chaplam now I know the names. A thoroughly enjoyable post. Learnt a lot today.. BTW, it is Anita Guha in Sampooran Ramayan.

    Like

    Reply

  43. Does your blog system allow editing ? If so, how does one edit ? Sometimes your mistakes glare at you just after you hit the post button :(
    Does “Ramaiyya vasta Vaisya” fit in your criteria. The female lead is Sheila Vaz, but who is the male lead ?

    Like

    Reply

    • No, Neeru. I’m afraid at least this theme of WordPress (I don’t know about other themes) doesn’t allow editing. So one has to live with one’s errors. ;-) Of course, if something’s really irking you, you could send me a mail, telling me what you want corrected, because I – as administrator – can edit all comments.

      I don’t know who’s the man with Sheila Vaz in Ramaiyya vasta vaiyya, either!

      Like

      Reply

  45. I just couldn’t help myself posting a comment on this lovely topic! What a great post and awesome additions. Jaan Pehchan Ho got me going as I remember watching it during the Heineken commercials a couple of years ago during US Open tennis. A complete make-over!

    Jaane Walon Zara from dosti is nice but the stars seemed to be one movie wonder. I also like so many other additions like Na Jiya Lage Na (Anand)

    Parasmani you mentioned has many good songs but I agree Manipal was not exactly a non-entity.

    Geeta Dutt songs were so well known and I hadn’t realized they were filmed on not so well known actors.

    While Navin Nischal was well known, his heroine (Archana?) in this movie (Buddha Mil Gaya) got two nice songs. One was mentioned earlier (Bhali Bhali Se Aek Surat). The other one was Kishore solo – Raat Kali Aek Khwab Main aayi..

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you, Ashish! Yes, Archana – I doubt if too many people would’ve been able to put a name to her. I only saw her in this film, and in one more. The two actors from Dosti I’ve seen in a couple of other films as well (the one who acted lame, I remember seeing in the Bharat Bhushan starrer Taqdeer) but – as you can see from the mere fact that I don’t even recall their names – they certainly never made it to the big league. Dosti truly was their three hours in the limelight.

      Like

      Reply

  46. Hi.
    I just happened to see this post while searching for actress who lip synced for “Aage bhi jaane na tu……” It is such an interesting post :) I enjoyed reading it. Thank you :)

    BTW, the actor in “Tere naina talaash kare……” is Shahu Modak & the one in “Hamari hi mutthi mein aakash saara…….” is Kamalakar Sontakke (he’s given his voice for “Baghira” in the famous animation “The Jungle Book”.

    Like

    Reply

  47. While I was searching for some other songs, I came upon these songs –

    TERI TASVEER TUJH JAISEE HASEEN LEKIN”BY MOHD.RAFI,M.D:JAIDEV-“KINAARE-KINAARE-1963”
    If one has not seen the song in the film, without the benefit of having been able to know the names of the protagonists from the film titles, one would not have been able to place the singer as Chetan Anand.

    “SALLE-ALLAAH ZULF KALI-KALI”BY MOHD.RAFI, – CHITRAGUPTA-“KABLI KHAN-1963”
    Here one can make out other actors as Mukri or Dhumal, but the actor who is actually singing the quawalli is not known.

    Aaye The Huzoor Ban Than Ke – Mohammad Rafi – Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964) – Chitragupta

    and its twin version by Asha Bhosle –

    The film was a remake of Tamil film Naanum Oru Penn. I distinctly rememeber that when we had seen the film in the cinema hall in those days, we hardly had taken cognizance of the credit titles to identify the actors as (possibly) A V M Rajan and Pushplatha

    Like

    Reply

    • Lovely songs, all of these, Ashokji – but my major criterion for this post was that it should be a very well-known song. I must admit the only one of these songs that I’d heard before was Sall-e-Alah zulf kaali-kaali, and it’s not exactly a popular song.

      Like

      Reply

  51. Don’t know the actor to whom this fabulous song is picturized, seems little familiar but not a mainstream actor definitely, any idea who is he?

    Like

    Reply

  52. I think the actors are as follows-
    Song no 2 kabuliwala actor madan puri.
    Song no 5 parasmani ragini and nalini chonakar
    Song no 8 devdas nana palshikar
    Song no 9 cid kammo and gulshan bawra, the writer
    Song no 10 anupama lalita phadke- screen name ashu.

    Like

    Reply

    • I don’t think that’s Nana Palsikar – it doesn’t look like him. And the woman in Leke pehla-pehla pyaar is undoubtedly Sheila Vaz, as I’ve mentioned. Similarly, I’ve also mentioned that the man singing Ae mere pyaare watan is WM Khan, who sang one of the first songs in Hindi cinema, in the movie Alam Ara.

      I didn’t know that was Ashu in Dheere-dheere machal. Are you sure? Because all my sources say (and as I’ve mentioned in the post) that’s Surekha Pandit.

      Like

      Reply

      • 1)in Parasmani the dancers are Jeevan kala and Nalini Chonkar
        2)in C ID it is Shyam with Sheila Vaz,(he is there in Gurudutt`s Pyasa also who acted in a role of Gurudutt`s room mate who hires prostitute in his room and send away gurudutt often out of his room)
        3)in Haqeeqat one of the guy without hat on his head must be Johnny Bakshi
        4)In Anupam it is Surekha Pandit, she acted in Mere Sanam as one of Asha Parekh`s friend, who occupy Biswjeet`s house with many other girls

        Like

        Reply

    • No idea. I found this copy of the song, but the video quality is so bad, I can’t tell.

      Besides which, I’m not too good at identifying minor actors and actresses from the 70s and after.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a reply to Anu Warrier Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.