Playback Singers For The Uninitiated

[palacerani]

Of course she was not a film singer at all, though she acted and sang in a few films...

Guess who this is and from what movie.  For some of you this will be easy, of course. 

Not Tun-Tun (aka Uma Devi) by any chance?

[crazyone]

Not Tun-Tun (aka Uma Devi) by any chance?

It's M. S. Subbulakshmi from the film Meera, which was made in both Tamil and Hindi.   Of course she was a classical Carnatic singer but she also acted/sang in 3 or 4 films in the 1940s.

[palacerani]

Not Tun-Tun (aka Uma Devi) by any chance?

It's M. S. Subbulakshmi from the film Meera, which was made in both Tamil and Hindi.   Of course she was a classical Carnatic singer but she also acted/sang in 3 or 4 films in the 1940s.

Oh boy, now that you say it I recognize the face. She was a beauty in her youth. I know of her so much since both my parents love her music though my  mom's favorite is D.K.Pattamal.

[MeenaKumari]

Slightly off-topic question maybe, but when did playback singers replace actresses/actors singing? Like, around what decade?

According to the book Behind the Scenes of Hindi Cinema: A visual journey through the heart of Bollywood by Johan Manschot and Marijke de Vos, "When sound was introducted into Hindi cinema with the first talkie, Alam Ara (The Light of the World, 1931), the actors had to sing 'live'. Many actors lost their jobs because they could not sing, but those who could, like K.L. Saigal and Kanan Devi, were the stars of the day. The system of playback singing, or miming, was introduced in 1935, and involves actors lip-synching to songs pre-recorded in a studio. Because popular songs contributed to a film's success, playback singers became stars in their own right, and had their own fan followings." (p. 61)

Later on, they say that "towards the late 1930s the system of playback singing was introduced by the director Nitin Bose. Thus began the era of singers; their voices were used for popular actors such as Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Devika Rani and Moti Lal, most of whom were not comfortable singing." (p. 103).

According to this book, "film songs as a genre started to blossom in the 1940s" (p. 105),  the 1950s were the golden years of Indian film music, and the 1960s were when "popular cinema gradually shifted towards more romantic genres" (p. 108). Also in the 1960's, playback singers started to become "strongly associated with the on screen stars," creating "the illusion that the actors themselves were singing." (p.111) For example, Mohammed Rafi became associated as the voice of Dilip Kumar; Mukesh the voices of Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kapoor; Kishore Kumar, the voices of Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna; Lata Mangeshkar, the voice of most leading ladies; Asha Bhosle, the vamps and courtesans; and so on.(p.111)

[palacerani]

Thanx for the info Meenakumari. Rafi was associated with Dilip for sure but definitely Shammi too. In fact I read an interview where he says that anytime he knew he was singing for Shammi he'd make a special effort. Shammi would sit at the recordings too coz he had a keen ear for music.

[veracious]

Thank you, Meena! Very interesting. I think I'll look into somehow getting that book since it sounds informative and good. There aren't too many books about Bollywood in English that are that.

[piyaara]

Suraiyya:

 Wow, what a great pic. 

 Incidently folks, thanks for all the great pics that have been added to the thread.  Hope it is as useful and helpful to others as it is to myself.   

[MeenaKumari]

Thank you, Meena! Very interesting. I think I'll look into somehow getting that book since it sounds informative and good. There aren't too many books about Bollywood in English that are that.

The book *is* informative, but has too many typos for my tastes. 

[crazyone]

S. D. Burman, who was of course primarily a composer--but he also sang background philosophical songs in the movies he composed for. 

Some of my favorites are "Wahan Kaun Hai Tera, Musafir" and "Saphal Hogi Teri Aradhana"

[tabula rasa]

Wow, that's a great pic of SD! Just realised after seeing this I had no idea what he ever looked like. Thanks crazyone.

[crazyone]

Wow, that's a great pic of SD! Just realised after seeing this I had no idea what he ever looked like. Thanks crazyone.

I've shown pictures of him to my Chinese friends, and even they say he looks Chinese to them (in reality he is from the princely family of Tripura).  It goes to show what a diverse country India is. 

[palacerani]

Tripura is close to Assam and Manipur and Myanmar. The people there have chinese-like features.

[shanaynaywatson]

Can anyone find a picture of Sapna Awasthi? She's one of my favorites and I've never been able to find a picture of her.

[Dil Deewana]

Can anyone find a picture of Sapna Awasthi? She's one of my favorites and I've never been able to find a picture of her.

Sure, Google images has it right there:



Now, how does she sing? What have I heard from here? Will I like her?

[shanaynaywatson]

Can anyone find a picture of Sapna Awasthi? She's one of my favorites and I've never been able to find a picture of her.

Sure, Google images has it right there:



Now, how does she sing? What have I heard from her? Will I like her?

Thank you very much! Sapna has a booming, effective voice. I would say she's a louder Ila Arun. You've probably heard her in "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from Dil Se. She's also heard on the male/female version of "Sub Kuch Bhula Diya" from Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, "Patli Kumar" from Jungle, and she has a few lines in "Khallas" from Company. I haven't heard too much from her, but I love the aforementioned quality of her voice. She's not very popular, though, probably due to the harshness of her voice.

[Dil Deewana]

I like the voices of Sadhana Sargam the best, followed by Chitra and then Alka Yagnik and Anuradha Paudwal and Asha Bhosle

Here are some more pix of Sadhana Sargam:

[Charlie]

Great photos It's nice to see them so you can associate the singers with themselves rather than the actors

[palacerani]

We've all seen Mohammad Rafi in his middle years with some weight on him. I came across this pic recently and he looks so sweet and so young. 




A later picture...

[Chris750]

Thank you very much! Sapna has a booming, effective voice... she has a few lines in "Khallas" from Company.

Booming being the operative word. Khallas explodes, mid section when she sings. I wondered who she was. Now I can add her name to a few other favourite singers.

[khubsoorat]

i love Alka Yagnik's voice ..it sounds so romantic and sweet and most of my fave songs are the ones she sings in.

[**Sam**]

Hey, you forgot Anuradha Paudwal.

Ok, does anyone know what the deal is with the "controversy" surrounding her recording of the songs in Dil?  I heard something about a scandal because she recorded over another singer's voice or something like that?  Anyone?

[silent_stalker]

More recent pic recongnisable from every remix video of his, Himesh Reshammiya

[sweetfriend]

Hey, you forgot Anuradha Paudwal.

Ok, does anyone know what the deal is with the "controversy" surrounding her recording of the songs in Dil?  I heard something about a scandal because she recorded over another singer's voice or something like that?  Anyone?

Check this out.Think you will find your answer.

Anuradha Paudwal

Anuradha Paudwal
 
  Profession: Playback Singer, Bollywood.
Family: Husband Arun Paudwal

Anuradha Paudwal is one of the most talented playback singers in the history of Hindi films and perhaps one of the most controversial artistes. Her career started with the film Abhimaan starring Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, the music director was S. D. Burman, though Lata Mangeshkar claims that Anuradha was given a break by her brother Hridhaynath Mangeshkar for a Marathi film. But it was Burmandada's film that got her the recognition of a singer.

Anuradha Paudwal was a student of Xavier's college who participated in the college's cultural programmes, but she did not have a background of film music. She married Arun Paudwal who was the music arranger of S. D. Burman.

In 1976 Anuradha got her big break for the film Kailcharan starring Shatrugan Sinha and Reena Roy. This Subhash Ghai film had music by Rajesh Roshan. Her first solo number was for the film Aap Beeti starring Hema Malini and ShashiKapoor and music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Anuradha Paudwal got some good numbers from the duo who were churning out hits one after the other. She also sang intermittently for other music directors such as Rajesh Roshan (Des Pardes), Jaidev (Dooriyan, Laila Majnu), Kalyanji-Anandji (Kalaakar, Vidhataa) and Usha Khanna (Souten, Sajan Bina Suhagan). Meanwhile her husband Arun Paudwal in the pair of Anil-Arun gave many hit numbers in Marathi films for which Anuradha sang some resplendent numbers in Marathi like Disatein Mazlaa (Ashtavinayak), Raja Lalkaari, Kaalya Maatita Maatitaa, etc.

Anuradha Paudwal became a singer to reckon with when she rendered some exceptional numbers for the film Hero, music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Her song for Mere Mann Bajaa Mirang Utsav won her the first Filmfare award in 1985.

She also came into focus when she challenged Lata Mangeshkar's claim to having recorded the maximum number of songs in a single day. She also accused the Mangeshkar sisters for indulging in monopoly. This outspoken nature at times landed her in trouble as the music directors of the industry feared to face the wrath of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle and they often avoided Anuradha Paudwal. Many a times Anuradha's songs were dubbed by Lata such as Main Teri Dushman (Nagina) and many such songs.

Since her career was not making any headway, she joined hands with Gulshan Kumar who was about to bring a revolution in the music industry. Her success streak began from the film Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka, Tezaab, Ashiqui, Meera Ka Mohan, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin , Ram Lakhan, etc. Her success in a way set a trend for the singers, such as Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik and Sadhana Sargam, who started getting better songs to sing and through T-series Anuradha Paudwal brought the playback singers into focus. Her new found status also got her involved in some controversies like dubbing songs of her contemporaries' (the infamous dubbing of Alka Yagnik's songs of the films Dil and more recently Itihaas), also her much rumoured affair with Gulshan Kumar. Her dominance in the T-series had fueled the rumours.

Despite the controversies, Paudwal continued to conquer new horizons and winning accolades (Anuradha has won three Filmfare awards in a row for Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin and Beta). She was on the verge of being the next Lata Mangeshkar. Even the legendary composer O P Nayyar commented, "Lata is finished, Anuradha has replaced her." During this period, everything seemed to be working for the singer who left her contemporaries far behind. Kavita Krishnamurthy has always stated that, "Among my counterparts (Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sadhana Sargam, etc.) Anuradha is the best singer." At her peak Anuradha Paudwal announced that she would exclusively sing for T-series only. This stand benefited Alka Yagnik who just zoomed to the top with her newfound association with Nadeem-Shravan and Anu Malik, who had stopped composing for Gulshan Kumar due to some differences. As she stopped singing songs for films and concentrated more on devotional and cover-version albums, she harmed her immensely successful career. For almost five years, Anuradha Paudwal did not sing for many films and for any other music company.

It is only recently that she started rendering songs for companies outside T-series. After the brutal murder of Gulshan Kumar, her hold over T-series diminished. Anuradha Paudwal has started singing outside T-series and met with lukewarm response. So far she has given a few hits like 'Kismat Se Tum'(Pukar), 'Akeli Hai Yeh Mis Khiladi' (Mr & Mrs Khiladi), 'Zara Aankhon Se Kajal' (Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehtein Hai), 'Chaha Hai Tujhko' (Mann) and 'Jogiya' (Deewane). But only time will tell if this talented crooner can regain her past glory. Yes she was on the verge of becoming next Lata ....

Awards:
Award Song - Movie
Filmfare Award - 1990  Nazar Ke Saamne - Aashiqui
Filmfare Award - 1991  Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin - Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin 
Filmfare Award - 1992  Dhak dhak - beta 
 
 

[ShahrukhsAngel]

Aaww Shreya Ghoshal is really pretty! As is Shweta Pandit. And they both have beautiful voices to go with those faces.

[bollyscot]

 Alka Yagnik




 Alisha Chinoy



 
Hema Sardesai




 Nazia Hassan 1965 - 2000





 Shweta Pandit

Such lovely faces behind the sweet voices.  Alka Yagnik has always been a favourite of mine and has been joined now by Alisha thanks to Bunty aur Babli.

As for Hema Sardesai, I'm afraid I have never come across her as yet, but I would say she should be in front of the camera as the heroine, not stuck away in a recording studio!!  What a lovely, sultry look!