Rajesh Thakur's Podcast Show | Retro Rewind: Bollywood Legends, Iconic Films & Global Moments

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Madan Mohan on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Madan Mohan Kohli (25 June 1924 – 14 July 1975), better known as Madan Mohan, was a popular and unparalleled Indian music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is considered one of the most melodious and skilled music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly remembered for the immortal ghazals he composed for Hindi films. Some of his best works are with singers Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Meena Kumari on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano, 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian film actress, singer and poet under the pseudonym Naaz, who starred in classic films of Hindi Cinema. Popularly known as The Tragedy Queen, Chinese Doll and Female Guru Dutt, she is often remembered as Cinderella of Indian films. She was active between 1939-1972. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Raj Kapoor on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Raj Kapoor (14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988) was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Indian cinema. Born at Kapoor Haveli in Peshawar to actor Prithviraj Kapoor– he was a member of the Kapoor family which produced several Bollywood superstars. Kapoor is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of cinema and known as "the greatest showman of Hindi cinema". He received multiple accolades, including 3 National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. The Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award is named after Raj Kapoor. He was a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time by Time magazine. His films attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in Asia and Europe. He was called "the Clark Gable of the Indian film industry". The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 for his contributions to the arts. India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was bestowed on him in 1987 by the Government of India. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of R D Burman on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is regarded as one of the most influential composers of the Indian film industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work with Asha Bhosle (his wife) and Kishore Kumar and scored many of the songs that made these singers famous. He has also scored many songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Nicknamed Pancham, he was the only son of the composer Sachin Dev Burman. He was mainly active in the Hindi film industry as a composer, and also provided vocals for a few compositions.He served as an influence to the next generation of Indian music directors, and his songs continue to be popular in India and overseas. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here is Rajesh Thakur talking about Sufi songs in Bollywood Sufi music is the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow and Khwaja Ghulam Farid. Qawwali is the most well known form of Sufi music, and is most commonly found in the Sufi culture in South Asia. However, music is also central to the Sema ceremony of the whirling dervishes, which is set to a form of music called Ayin, a vocal and instrumental piece featuring Turkish classical instruments such as the ney (a reed flute). The West African gnawa is another form, and Sufis from Indonesia to Afghanistan to Morocco have made music central to their practices. Some of the Sufi orders have taken an approach more akin to puritan forms of Islam, declaring music to be unhelpful to the Sufi way. Sufi love songs are often performed as ghazals and Kafi, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Sahir Ludhianvi on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet and film lyricist who wrote in the Hindi and Urdu languages. His work influenced Indian cinema, in particular Bollywood film. Sahir won a Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963). He won a second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for his work on Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. On 8 March 2013, the ninety-second anniversary of Sahir's birth, a commemorative stamp was issued in his honour. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Sanjeev Kumar on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian film actor. He won several major awards including two National Film Awards for Best Actor for his performances in the movies Dastak (1971) and Koshish (1973). He acted in genres ranging from romantic dramas to thrillers. Kumar did not mind playing roles that were non-glamorous, such as characters well beyond his age. Movies such as Arjun Pandit, Sholay and Trishul, along with the remakes of Tamil films into Hindi such as Khilona, Yehi Hai Zindagi, Naya Din Nai Raat, Devata, Itni Si Baat and Ram Tere Kitne Naam exemplify his talents. He also did suspense-thriller films such as Qatl, Shikar, Uljhan and Trishna. Kumar also proved his ability to do comedy in films such as Manchali, Pati Patni Aur Woh, Angoor, Biwi-O-Biwi and Hero. He is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. His double role in the film Angoor was listed among the 25 best acting performances of Indian cinema by Forbes India on the occasion of celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Ghazal King Jagjit Singh on his Tune India Radio's classic show. Jagjit Singh’s voice is a voice of a broken man, a man who was broken repeatedly by hardships of life and yet almost every time he rose up stronger and more determined. He never let tragedies of his life obstruct his passion for singing. One of the silken voices of all times, Jagjit Singh’s popularity traversed continents and multiple generations, making Ghazal a house hold genre, in the days when the form was almost on the verse of extinction. He gave his own thought, rhythm and simple prose to the art of ‘Ghazal’ singing making it reachable to the lamest audiences, who once thought it to be quite an intellectual affair. His form of music made its own impression, which did not depend on Bollywood to widen his mass appeal. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of Kishore Kumar on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. There are singers and then there is Kishore Kumar. An unschooled singer who had no classical training, Kishore Da was truly a master of all trades — be it his beautiful voice that could make any song come alive, his quirky antics while recording those songs, or his charismatic onscreen presence that gave him the epithet of an actor who excelled at comedy. Though he is best known as one of Indian cinema’s greatest playback singers, the multi-faceted Kishore Kumar was also a lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenplay writer and scriptwriter. Apart from donning many hats in his successful career, Kishore Kumar lived an enigmatic life. His four marriages, eccentric behaviour and histrionics behind the scenes bear testimony to this. Tune India Radio Sydney Australia

Here’s Rajesh Thakur talking about Life Journey of O P Nayyar on his Tune India Radio’s classic show. Omkar Prasad Nayyar or O.P., as he was famously known, was born in Lahore on January 16, 2016. Largely because of not having any formal training in classical music, he was met with a string of failures and was almost ready to pack his bags when an unexpected opportunity came his way. He got a call from the great Guru Dutt to compose music for his film ‘Aar Paar.’ All the songs became a great hit and established OP as a music director. Tune India Radio