AFI 100 YEARS .... 100 SONGS - HEART FILLED WITH JOY, EYES WITH TEARS OF JOY

Another post on songs? Blame it on AFI! 

I hadn't heard of the American Film Institute (AFI) and came across it while reading about 'As Time Goes By' for my post 'Kissa Kiss Ka.' That's how I found the '100 years...100 songs' list. Reading the titles was enough to play them in my mind and fill my heart with joy and eyes with tears of joy. What a memorable list it is with so many evergreens that have been delighting us through the years. 

First a little introduction. In 1998, the AFI started compiling a series of annual lists to celebrate the century of American Cinema. The first list published was '100 Years...100 Movies', maybe we will look at it someday. In 2004, it was the turn of '100 Years...100 Songs'.

Movies were silent to start with and so the songs considered were only from 1930s which contributed 11 songs. The numbers climbed up reaching 18 in the '50s and 20 in the'60s. Then the numbers declined steadily down to only 6 in the '90s strengthening my conviction that the music of my youthful days of '50s and '60s was the best. 

Some other general observations: "Singin' In The Rain", "The Sound Of Music" and "West Side Story" were movies that contributed 3 songs each, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were top composer and lyricist respectively with 6 songs each, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly topped the singers with 5 each although only 2 of Gene Kelly's songs were solo. Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Barbra Streisand have 4 each joined by a name I hadn't heard before, Marni Nixon. Little known Marni provided her voice to Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady", Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Deborah Kerr in "The King and I".

The oldest song in the list is "Isn't It Romantic" sung By Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in the 1932 film "Love Me Tonight". I do not know that song and the oldest I am familiar with is "Cheek To Cheek" by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the '35 movie, "Top Hat". The lovely first stanza-

"Heaven...I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so I can hardly speak,

And I seem to find the happiness I seek,

When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek".

Topping the 100 is "Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland from "The Wizard Of Oz" (1939). I saw the movie in School in early '50s screened on a 16 mm projector by our film pro, Father Cosgrove. Sung to perfection by Judy, the enchanting lyrics take you to dreamland-

"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue,

And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true.

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly,

Birds fly over the rainbow, why, then oh, why can't I."

After thoroughly enjoying the movie, I remember the walk back home to Hospital Road, Jaipur, with mates Yadu Sahai, Krishen Bhargava, Pramode and Suresh Pareek (not brothers) sashaying across the road singing, "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz." 

No.2  is the haunting "As Time Goes By" from "Casablanca" (1942). An unforgettable movie with brilliant acting by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Dooley Wilson's rendition of the song made it even more memorable. Some lyrics I can never get over-

"You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh....

The world will always welcome lovers

As time goes by."

"Singin' In The Rain", theme song of the 1952 movie with the same name, is listed in the third place. Gene Kelly sang and tap danced the number wearing his winsome smile. It's a cheerful song with the singer declaring that he has found his happiness again in 'living a life full of you'. 

At number four is a song many would consider to be worthy of no. 1. "Moon River" sung by Audrey Hepburn, composed by Henry Mancini and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, was featured in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" (1961). It was an instant hit and won the Oscar for the Best Original Song that year. Popular singer Andy Williams made it his theme song for his shows. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that it has been used as a test sample to study people's memory of popular songs. Travel buffs love its lyrics which also have a reference to Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn". My friend and colleague Kailash Kohli told me that some years ago, he had sent off his two daughters on a trip abroad giving them air tickets with a card carrying the following lines from the song-

"Two drifters, off to see the world, There's such a lot of world to see."

I might as well continue with the remaining lines of the stanza-

"We're after the same rainbow's end

Waitin' round the bend, my Huckleberry friend,

Moon river and me."

I also have a little story. I was very fond of the song and wanted to buy the record. In 1963, my ship Khukri visited Penang and I spent an afternoon looking for a record shop at the cost of sightseeing. Finally, I met with success and was delighted to buy the 45 rpm disc of Andy Williams' version. On board, I was showing off my new buy to my shipmates when I read the label, 'Made in India'! I was unaware that Polydor had in the meantime, started producing western pop music records in our country.

Number 5 is the popular Christmas song, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" from "Holiday Inn" (1942). Most of us know the words and love to sing it in the Yuletide season, so it needs no elaboration.

At number 6 we have Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's saucy "Mrs. Robinson" from "The Graduate" (1967), the story of the 'mother' of all affairs. Not only was the movie a winner but its music was outstanding and added to the popularity of Simon and Garfunkel. I am disappointed though, not to find "The Sound Of Silence" in the list, probably because it was released independently in 1964 and was included in the movie's soundtrack subsequently.

The list is 100 songs and I have just covered 6. So now, I have to apply the guillotine and cover briefly the ones I really like. I shall also ignore rankings as I feel it is tough enough to choose 100 songs out of thousands and then to rank them is a contentious task.

So we move on to "Stayin' Alive" by the Beegees in the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever" that all of us from Staff College rushed to see in Ooty. Spectacular dancing from John Trovolta and disco music with Barry Gibbs' signature falsetto voice made the movie and its songs immensely popular.

"The Sound Of Music" mesmerised us in 1965 with a thrilling story based on the real life of the von Trapp family. Rodgers and Hammerstein composed and wrote the songs and the list has three numbers from the movie, all by Julie Andrews: "The Sound Of Music", "My Favourite Things" and "Do Re Mi". I have lost count of the number of times I have seen the movie in theatre and on VCR and DVD. I have also been fortunate enough to have taken the fabulous "The Sound Of Music" tour twice in Salzburg.

From other musicals, there is the joyous, "I Could Have Danced All Night"(1964) from "My Fair Lady" performed by Audrey Hepburn on the screen but with the voice of Mani Nixon who could be termed as Hollywood's Lata Mangeshkar! Marni also sang "Tonight" and "Somewhere" for Natalie Wood in the modern Romeo and Juliet like tale, "West Side Story" (1961). Maurice Chevalier's delightful song from "Gigi" (1958), "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" is rightfully there....'for without them, what would the leetil boys do'! And to complete this list, "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific" (1958) acted by Rosanno Brazzi with the voice of Giorgio Tozzi...'once you have found her, never let her go'.

There are some songs which remind me of our Singapore days of '80s when Ruchir and Shumita were entering their teens and would play music all the time at home. Irene Cara's "What A Feeling" from "Flashdance" and "The Time Of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from "Dirty Dancing" are two of them. Both the songs are snappy and captivating and the dancing of Patrick Swayze, who left the world too early, and Jennifer Grey in the latter film, was superb and unmatched.

Title songs from movies include "High Noon" by Tex Ritter (I like the Frankie Laine version better), "The Shadow Of Your Smile" by The Sandpipers, and "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey.

Some other outstanding songs. Celine Dion's highly emotional "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic" (1997) is high on the list and will always bring to mind the scene of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet with outstretched arms on the prow of the ship; one of the best love songs ever. A big favourite of mine is The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" from "Ghost". "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" from "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" by BJ Thomas, "Que Sera Sera" by Doris Day from "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "Windmills Of Your Mind" by Michel Legrand from "The Thomas Crown Affair " are perennial favourites. To remember my school days and Father Mackessack's singing class, I was rewarded by the list having Paul Robeson's "Ol' Man River" from the 1936 movie, "Showboat"....'I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'', but ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along.'

Some songs not included that I would have liked to see in the list-

A. "Lara's Theme" or "Somewhere My Love" from "Dr. Zhivago", composer Maurice Jarre.

B. Theme from "Born Free", composer John Barry.

C. "I Will Wait For You" from "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", Catherine Deneuve with the voice of Danielle Lican.

D. "The Harry Lime Theme" from "The Third Man" by Anton Karas with its unique zither music.

E. Theme from "A Man And A Woman", composer Michel Legrand.

F. Theme from "Love Story", composer Francis Lai.

G. "We Have All The Time In The World" from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" by Louis Armstrong.

H. "Al Di La" from "Lovers Must Learn" or "Rome Adventure" by Emilio Pericoli. 

J. "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin from "Top Gun".

Am sure you would have your own favourites to add. To get you going, think of "To Sir With Love" by Lulu! 

"So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, good night."

 

KISSA KISS KA

When I was in my 20s, the ultimate in a love song was a kiss. The crude desire of "Let's Spend The Night Together" came much later. Early on, The Beatles were content with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" but later advanced to 'Close your eyes and I'll kiss you' in "All My Loving", asking for just a kiss even while going away for quite a while.

The best 'kiss' song on my list is "Kiss Of Fire". Georgia Gibbs sang it first but the version that I love is Caterina Valente's. Her singing ignited the passion that the lyrics required. Listen to her sing, 'Give me your lips, the lips you only let me borrow, love me tonight and let the devil take tomorrow. I know that I must have your kiss although it dooms me, though it consumes me, your kiss of fire.'

An unforgettable song is "As Time Goes By" from the timeless classic movie "Casablanca". In fact, this song is No. 2 on the American Film Institute's 100 years...100 songs which is a list of the top 100 songs in American cinema of the 20th century. The 'kiss' connection- 'You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh, the fundamental things apply, as time goes by.' Sheer bliss.

Another popular oldie was "It's Been A Long Long Time'. A host of famous singers like Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Louis Armstrong sang it. Some lines, 'Kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again, it's been a long, long time.'

Louis Armstrong in his pleasant, cheery way asked for no more than "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" to let his imagination thrive upon that kiss and feed his hungry heart. 'Oh, give me your lips for just a moment, and my imagination will make that moment live...A kiss to build a dream on.' Our Hindi filmmakers were so taken up by this song that they copied it as "Kaisi Paheli Zindgani" for Sunidhi Chauhan to sing in "Parineeta". I must admit Sunidhi sang it very well and the song became a great hit.

Shirley Bassey burst on the music scene in 1959 with "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me". In the song, she starts out with 'I'd like to play a little game with you, a little game especially made for two. If you come close then I will show you how.' But soon the teacher becomes a pupil, 'You kiss so well my lips begin to burn, and I can tell I've got a lot to learn.' This song with its catchy lyrics was a popular number at parties in my younger days.

Don Everly was so stirred by a personal experience that he wrote a song, "(Till) I Kissed You" describing how one kiss could change a life forever. The song was a hit for The Everly Brothers. These lines tell it all:

"Never felt like this until I kissed you,

How did I exist until I kissed you,

Never had you on my mind, now you're there all the time....

Now I can't live without you,

Never knew what I missed until I kissed you, uh-huh,

I kissed you, oh yeah.'

"Sealed With A Kiss" was a song by Bobbie Vinton which probably is out of date because nobody writes a letter these days. But in 1972, it was a romantic thought-

"Though we gotta say goodbye for the summer,

Darling I promise you this,

I'll send you all my love every day in a letter

Sealed with a kiss."

Someone away from his loved one has fantasies of what he will do when he meets her. This is vividly emoted by the group "Exile" in "Kiss You All Over."

"When I get home, babe, gonna light your fire,

All day I've been thinkin' about you, babe, you're my one desire....

I want to kiss you all over and over again,

I want to kiss you all over 'til the night closes in,

'Til the night closes in."

And now, since I am writing this on a Sunday, it is appropriate to end with Melina Mercouri's hugely popular song we were all singing in my youth, "Never On A Sunday."

"Oh you can kiss me on a Monday a Monday a Monday is very good,

Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday a Tuesday a Tuesday in fact I wish you would,

Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday a Thursday a Friday and Saturday is best,

But never never on a Sunday a Sunday 'cause that's my day of rest." 

FLY INTO THE PAST WITH VINTAGE MUSIC IN "ROCKY AUR RANI KI PREM KAHANI'

 

Akhila and I are fond of movies and before the onset of Covid, used to see at least 2-3 movies every month in a Cinema hall. Then, from February 2020 to July 2023, movie watching was confined to TV and our visits to a theatre could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

 

End-July changed that. Suddenly, there were so many movies that had to be seen in a theatre. “Oppenheimer” was the first. A brilliant movie, it will surely land a few Oscars and other international awards in time to come. Next was “Barbie”, an eye-pleasing movie straight out of a doll house. The colour pink is in great demand and the movie is minting money. And the third in that movie crazy week was “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani”.

 

“Rocky And Rani” is an all-round good production with a nice story and great acting. But what is exquisitely appealing about it is the way vintage Bollywood music is used to intertweave two love stories, an old romance of Kanwal and Jamini played by Dharmendra and Shabana Azmi, and the fresh, burgeoning love of Rocky and Rani played by Ranveer and Alia Bhatt.

 

Karan Johar is experienced in this art as displayed in his movie “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” seven years ago. So is Pritam, music composer of  “Ae Dil…” as well as “Rocky Aur Rani” who has said that the music album of the latter is his homage to Hindi film music of the 1960s-70s. The songs chosen by Pritam were all outstanding hits in their time and would blissfully transport people of my generation to those days in a state of nostalgia.

 

Early into “Rocky Aur Rani”, Kanwal, wheelchair confined and suffering from amnesia, comes face to face with Jamini, his week-long lover of 40 years ago, recognizes her, gets up and walks up to her singing ‘Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar’, the unforgettable song from “Hum Dono”, the Dev Anand-Sadhana starrer of 1961. The Mohd. Rafi-Asha Bhosle song with Sahir Ludhianvi’s superb lyrics flowing from desire to desperation was brilliantly brought to the screen by Dev Anand in his typical charming and flirty way with Sadhana as the demure lover in a dilemma to stay or leave before it got too dark. The song is regarded as one of the best love songs of all time. It took me back to my days on the ship Gomati in Bombay watching the movie with my shipmate and friend Jack Suri who perished with Khukri in 1971 and left this world too soon.

 

For “Rocky Aur Rani”, Pritam composed a number, ‘What Jhumka’ which is adapted from the enormously popular song ‘Jhumka Gira Re’ from the 1966 movie “Mera Saaya” also starring Sadhana. People might have forgotten the movie but not the Asha Bhosle song. Mention ‘Bareilly’ or ‘jhumka’ or even ‘bazaar’ and the song comes to mind. Its impact can be gauged from the fact that in 2020, 54 years after the release of the song, a brass and copper ‘jhumka’ weighing 200 kgs was installed on a 14 ft-high pole at the entrance to Bareilly on National Highway 24 and the T-point named ‘Jhumka Tiraha’. Ignoring historical and mythical facts like being the birthplace of Draupadi, Bareilly is now 'jhumka' city thanks to the song.

 

The origin of ‘jhumka’ story dates back to 1941 when Harivanshrai Bachchan first met Teji Suri in Bareilly at a new year's party and both fell in love with each other. Sometime later, the poet Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Mr. Bachchan’s friend, asked if they were a couple. Miss Suri is believed to have said, “Mera jhumka toh Bareilly mein hi gir gaya tha’ thus confirming her falling in love. Mr. Khan recalled this while working for the film “Mera Saaya” and wrote the song ‘Jhumka…’ along with the music composer Madan Mohan.

 

In 1966, I was Flag Lt to Commandant, National Defence College, New Delhi, and Wing Cdr Suchanti was Junior Directing Staff (Air Force). In parties, people would ask Mrs Suchanti to sing a song. With a little persuasion, she would sing and coyly act out the single line, “Jhumka gira re, Bareilly ke bazaar mein, jhumka gira re’. No more, no less! Years later, I was in Wellington doing my Staff College Course and Air Commodore Suchanti was Chief Instructor (Air Force).  Recalling the NDC days, I would urge Mrs Suchanti to sing ‘Jhumka’ and she would charmingly oblige with the same line.

 

‘Yeh Shaam Mastani’ from “Kati Patang” features too. Rajesh Khanna with Kishore Kumar’s voice was in his prime in early ‘70s. In 1972, Akhila and I were in Vishakhapatnam just after our wedding. “Kati Patang” had been running in the naval base cinema for some time when we decided to see it. At the hall, we saw Surg Lt Cdr NP Mukherjee (Doc Mukko), my old shipmate on Gomati, standing at the back with a glass of whisky in his hand. Mukko said his wife was away in Calcutta and although he had seen the movie on the very first day, he had been walking across from the Wardroom nearby for every show just to hear ‘Yeh Shaam…’

 

Then there is ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’. This song from the film “Qurbani” in 1980 introduced the Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan to Bollywood and everyone was fascinated by her singing. We had just moved from Wellington, where I was a Directing Staff, to Delhi and were staying in Kotah House awaiting allocation of regular accommodation. Ruchir was 6 and Shumita 3. One day, we were walking outside when colleague Soli Contractor and his wife Jeroo met us. Soli picked up Shumita and started swaying to the rhythm of 'Aap Jaisa Koi' playing in the background. Now Soli had a bald pate as smooth as a baby’s bottom and Shumita stared it for some time and then started patting it with the beat of the song saying, “Takloo, Takloo”. Embarrassed, Akhila started to admonish her but Soli laughed and Jeroo said Shumita was only stating a fact! 

 

To list a few others, there are romantic ones like ‘Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain’, ‘Pyar Ka Nagma’ and ‘Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai’ to lighter ones such as ‘Haal Kaisa Hai Janab Ka’, ‘Aaj Yeh Mausam Bada Beyimaan Hai’ and ‘Aaja Meri Gaadi Mein Baith Ja’. Towards the end, ‘Dola Re Dola’ from “Devdas” is used for a kathak dance by Ranveer and Tota Roy Choudhury.

 

All that makes for a melodious journey into the past refreshing sweet memories.