Gunning for Katy Mirza

I was looking at the stats for this blog and realized most people end up here because they are looking for Katy Mirza . And all because I wrote this mammoth tome about her.

Sometimes I look at this blog and really wonder, 'What was I thinking?'

I have even written about relation between Bruce Lee and Indira Gandhi just because someone wanted to know, 'is bruce li have any relation with Indira Gandhi.'

What a sad world!

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Image: A rare one of Katy Mirza found at one of those ebay shops selling Indian vintage. Cleaned it up a bit. Would have made a nice addition to Heroines with Guns.


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Note to myself: At the time of writing this, I had nothing better to do.

House Flooded. Let's have some Music.

After eight hours of incessant rains they found their house flooded with muddy water. After the rain stopped and the water didn't rise any more, in a still overcast afternoon they got some stereo speakers and a tape player on rent. With the flanger sound blaring, they danced over the ripples. Overhead, dragonflies danced around in circles to an other tune. It won't rain anymore. A crow took a bite out of a dead rat's head. Flew away as a little girl approached. She saw the dead, stopped, with her bare feet give the rat a half-roll, prodded, spit and walked away. An eagle scooped down on the dead and flew away to a grand feast. Perched at some safe heights, unseen, the peacocks conversed over distances. This land could have been a marsh land. This land should have been a marsh land. This land is a marsh land.

21, August 2010

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What's with the use of flangers for lead vocals in Haryanavi and Rajasthani 'pop' songs?

Elders do the Hello

Found it in one of those whimsical alphabet booklets sold in buses.

Kishore Kumar, Yodel-ay-ee-oooo Songs, A List

*Updated with corrections pointed out by Bart Plantenga, author of some incredible book on Yodeling including Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World.

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Kishore Kumar's brother Anoop Kumar, who we basically know for the line 'O manu tera toh hua ab mera kya hoga', used to own lots of Austrian music records. And from these records, Kishore Kumar picked up the art of Yodel singing, an art perfected in bathroom and then introduced by him to the world of Hindi film music. According to his biography 'Kishore Kumar: method in madness‎ ' by Derek Bose, "Kishore was a fan of the Swiss singer Tex Norton [* Tex Morton, an Australian cowboy born in New Zealand who sang  in the gene autry / Jimmie Rodgers style] and the Australian Jimmy Rogers [*Jimmie Rodgers, perhaps the most American and one of the most famous yodelers in the world, famous for his blue yodels] as well."

Although most of these songs by Kishore Kumar are thought to be 'fun' songs (well, he was a funny guy. Lata Mangeshkar actually called him Danny Kaye of India for his antics), 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana', yes, but then there's the haunting yodel at the beginning of  'Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan', or the morning refresh Yodel from 'Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhani', or the brooding yodel from 'Nakhrewaali'.


Here's a collection of Kishore Yodels from various songs taken from films spanning a period of 1950s to 1980s. Enjoy!

video link

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Kishore Kumar was a prolific singer so this may well not be a comprehensive list, still: Yodel songs of Kishore Kumar in the order in which they appear in this mix.

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1. 'Main Hoon Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhum Jhumroo' from Jhumroo (1961)
2. 'Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhani' from Jhumroo (1961)
3. 'Hich Hich Hichaki Aaye Re' from Begunah (1957)
4. 'Aye Bhola Bhola Man Mera'  from Jhumroo (1961)
5. 'Panch Rupaiya Barah Aana' from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
6. 'Haal Kaisa Hai Janab Ka' from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
7. 'Piya Piya Piya Mora Jiya Pukare'  from Baap Re Baap(1955)
8. 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
9. 'Nakhrewaali Nakhrewaali' from New Delhi (1956)
10. 'Surma Mera Nirala' from Kabhi Andhera Kabhi (1958) *
11.  'Chala Jata Hoon' from Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972)*
12. "Kitne Sapne Kitne Arman" from Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972)
13. 'Dekha na jaaye socha na' from Bombay to Goa (1972)
14. 'Ga Ga Gussa Itna Haseen Hai Toh' from Maryada (1971)*
15. 'Bhor Aaayee Gaya Andhiyaara' [Good Morning, Good Morning] from Bawarchi (1972)
16. 'Hum wo hain jo do aur do panch bana de' from Do Aur Do Paanch (1980)
17. 'Thodi Si Jo Pi Lee Hai' from Namak Halal (1982)
18. 'Ye dil, na hotaa bechara' from Jewel Thief (1967)
19. 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' from Andaz (1971)
20. 'Khawab Ho Tum ya koi Haqeeqat' from "Teen Deviyan" [1965]
21. 'Yeh Shaam Mastani' from Kati Patang (1970)
22. 'Aise Na Mujhe Tum Dekho' from Darling Darling (1977)
23. 'Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan' from Pyar Ka Mausam [1969]

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Other sounds used from songs:
*'Panch Rupaiya Barah Aana' from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
* 'woh ek nigah kya mili' Half Ticket (1962)
*'bindu re bindu' Padosan (1968)
*'Michael hai to cycle hai' from  Bewaqoof (1960)
* 'Kuen Mein KoodkeMar Jaana Yaar Tum Shaadi Mat Karna' from Parivar (1956)
* 'Raat Hai Baat Hai' from Aaj Ki Taza Khabar (1973)

Sheesh Mahal: Palace of Mirrors

"Dressed in the baggy white cotton suit of a Bombay businessman, Producer Karim Asif stands proudly in his glittering Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace. Asif's extravaganza Mughal-eAzam was produced here at a cost of over $2 million, an Indian record.)"
-found this captivating image in movie special issue of LIFE magazine dated 20 Dec 1963.

It took K. Asif 14 years to make the film.

It took weeks to build 35 feet high, 80 feet wide and 150 feet long Sheesh Mahal set at Mohan Studios for the 'Pyar kiya to darna kya' song. The glass was imported from Belgium. According to R.D. Mathur, the cinematographer of the famous song, lighting for the song included hundreds of reflectors and  beams of 500 trucks.

After the completion of the film, for at least two years Sheesh Mahal, covered with a huge tarpaulin and open to a select few people, continued to remain the centre of attraction. And then it was gone.

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Update: Photographer was Brian Brake for the series published in Life.

The perfect Rajnikanth poster

Film hoarding for a Rajnikanth (Sridevi) film.
Came across it in 1988 Merchant-Ivory film 'The Perfect Murder'.

March of Kanwariya

At the start of  wet season each year Christmas Island gets red crabs and at the start of wet season each year, in July-August, Delhi gets saffron Kanwariyas.