Ashwini's blog

KK has a special place in the hearts of millions of his fans from all over the world. With his soothing voice, vast vocal range and versatile singing, he has charmed everyone. KK’s full name is Krishnakumar Kunnath. He was born on 23 August 1968 in Delhi. He has recorded more than 500 songs in Hindi and more than 200 songs in various regional languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, and Gujarati languages. KK was a student of Mount St. Mary School, New Delhi. You will be amazed to know that he had not received any formal training in music. When he was in school he would listen to his mother’s Malayali songs recorded by his father on a small tape recorder. He used to hum his favorite song  “Mehbooba” from Sholay many times. He took singing seriously after his first public performance in school in 2nd standard. He began his career by singing for advertisement jingles, and in just 4 years he sang nearly about 3500 jingles in 11 different l

 Jaidev Verma was one of the most outstanding music composers of Indian film industry. He was born in Nairobi, (Kenya) on August 3rd 1918. His family shifted to Ludhiana in 1927 where his musical journey began. In 1933 he went to Mumbai to pick up acting. He acted in 8 films as a child artist initially but then he realised he was not made for acting. Jaidev assisted legendary sarod player Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and later music composer S. D Burman for movies made under Navketan banner. His first film as an independent music director was Chetan Anand’s Joru Ka Bhai (1955). He got noticed for his work with Hum Dono that came in 1961. He was the first music director of his time to receive 3 National Awards ( Reshma aur Shera, Gaman, Ankahee) . He also gave music to Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s legendary poem Madhushala which is sung by singer Manna Dey. I have listed some of his melodies. Hope you like them.  Allah tero naam Tu Chanda Main Chandni Abhi na jao Raat bhi hai kutch bheegi bheegi Ma

 C. Ramchandra was a multitalented Indian artist. He was a music director, playback singer, producer and actor too. He has composed songs for Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu movies. His full name was Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar though he used 5 to 6 names in his career. Chitalkar was born on 12 January 1918 in Ahmednagar, Maharastra, India. He received his training in music at “Gandharva Mahavidyalaya” under Vinayakbua Patwardhan. He also got trained under Shankarrao Sapre. His first debut movie as an actor was, Naganand. He made debut as a music director in Tamil movies, Jayakkodi and Vana Mohini. With Bhagwan Dada’s Sukhi Jeevan (1942), he gained popularity. He had a good friendship with Bhagwan Dada. Together they gave the musical hit Albela (1951). Though he composed songs in various ragas, his favorite raga was “Bageshri”. His songs , Shola jo bhadke (Albela), "ye zindagi usi ki hai"(Anarkali) and "Ina Mina Dika" (Asha) were outstanding. He also composed , “Ay

Tribute to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma will always be remembered amongst music lovers for his unparalleled perfection in playing the complex instrument, santoor. He was born on 13 January 1938 in Jammu and Kashmir, India in a musical family. His father was a famous vocalist and tabla player. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma developed interest in music right from his childhood. He started learning santoor when he was thirteen and in 1955 he gave his first public performance in Mumbai. In 1956, he also composed background music for one scene in the film, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. He collaborated with flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia and composed music for several hit films under the collaborative name Shiv Hari. I have listed some of the beautiful songs composed by Shiv Hari. Hope you like them. Dekha ek Khwab to ( silsila) Tere mere hothon pe ( Chandni) Megha re megha ( Lamhe) Kabhi Main Kahoon ( Lamhe) Tu mere samne ( Darr) Hum chup hai ( Faasle)  Sahiban meri Sahiban ( Sa

 Kaise din beete jiya na lage mora Jao re jogi tum jao re Jane kaise sapno mein Mai ri Baiyan na dharo kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya Jeevan dor tumhi sang bandhi Man Mohana O Sajna Barkha bahar ayi

 Kahe tarasaye Laga chunari me daag Madhuban me radhika  Jaa tose nahi bolu kanhiya Pawan Diwani Mose chal kiye jaye pankh hote to ud aati re Gori tori Paijaniya Dekho Kanha nahi manat batiya Tere naina talaash https://youtu.be/c8toCvPWz00

Roshan Music Director Born: Jul 14, 1917 Death: Nov 16, 1967 Music director Roshanlal Nagrath, known as Roshan was the father of  music director Rajesh Roshan and actor-director Rakesh Roshan, and grandfather of actor Hrithik Roshan. He had a brilliant ability to blend Hindustani classical with folk music. He was born in Gujranwala in modern-day Pakistan. Right from his childhood he had deep interest in Urdu literature and poetry. He got musical training from Pandit Ratanjankar, Ustad Allauddin Khan and from Pandit Manohar Barve. In 1940, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar hired him at All India Radio (AIR), Delhi to play instrument, "esraj," In 1948, Roshan came to Mumbai to become music composer. He assisted his mentor, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar for the film Singaar (1949). He gave music as a solo music composer for Neki aur Badi which was a flop. But his next film Baawre Nain (1950)  became a big musical hit. He worked with famous singers in 1950s but was not always successful.  “Barsaat K

Saara pyaar tumhara  Do Panchi do tinke Ghata Cha gayi hai Tumhe dekhti hun Yeh mausam aaya hai Hum dono milke  Gunche lage hai kehne Yeh raat yeh tanhaiya   Meri sanson ko jo mehka rahi hai Surmayi shaam is tarah aaye

Dheere jalna movie: Paheli Singer: Sonu Nigam  Aa Bhi ja movie: Sur Singers: Lucky Ali & Sunidhi Chauhan  Chup Tum raho movie:Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi singers: MM Kreem & Chitra Raat Sari Bekarari  movie: Zakhm singer: Alka Yagnik Tumko lekar chale movie: jism singer: Shreya Ghoshal Tum Mile Dil Khile movie: Criminal singers: Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu Kaun mera  movie: Special 26 singers: Papon Jadu hai Nasha hai movie: Jism singer: Shreya Ghoshal Tum Aaye to  Movie: Zakhm Singer: Alka Yagnik

Na tum hamein Jano https://youtu.be/AuF-N8V3JXg Ye nayan dare dare https://youtu.be/2gMhbWeo30o Yaad Kiya Dil ne  https://youtu.be/ojGRfcrdbfM Nain so nain https://youtu.be/L6kNKzN3zPo Teri duniya me jeene se https://youtu.be/XHuSP_uvL4o

I saw "83" on Disney+ Hotstar and after watching it I can only say, it is an outstanding movie that everyone should watch.  This movie celebrates India’s iconic World Cup win against the mighty West Indies on 25th June 1983, at Lord’s, London. Making a movie on a grand sports event that is already etched in the hearts of all Indians requires great courage. Director Kabir Khan has done an amazing job by recreating those glorious moments on screen. Splendid performance by Ranveer Singh. He has put his soul into Kapil Dev’s character. Whatever role he plays he owns it. In this movie right from Kapil Dev’s accent he has perfectly portrayed the patriotism, aggression, and anguish of Kapil Dev. He has aptly depicted the emotions that Kapil Dev went through during the World Cup series. All the actors have done a superb job. Pankaj Tripathi was excellent in his role of manager PR Man Singh, who was everything for the team. The team was not having any doctor, therapist, or coach al

Salil Chowdhury  (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995). Salil da was not only a music director but he was a writer, poet and lyricist too. He has composed music in 13 different languages but his major work is  seen in Bengali, Hindi, and Malayalam films. He had profound knowledge of musical instruments like Flute, Esraj, piano, violin etc. and is well reflected in his music. I have listed some of my favorite songs of Salil da in this post.  Song: Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne Movie : Anand  Singer- Mukesh Song: O Sajanaa Barakhaa Movie : Parakh Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Song: Ye Din Kya Aaye  Movie: Choti Si Baat Singer : Mukesh Song: Tasveer Teri Dil mein Movie: Maya Singers: Mohammad Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar. Song: Na Jiya Lage Na  Movie:  Anand Singer: Lata Mangeshkar Song: Itna na mujse tu Pyar badha Movie: Chhaya Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mehmood Song: Dil Tadap Tadap ke keh raha hai Movie: Madhumati  Singers: Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar Song: Rajani Gandh

There are very few actors who leave an impact on us. Shridevi was amongst them. I am sure there are innumerable fans of her. I am one of them. Credit goes to my elder sister. I was introduced to Shridevi's movies by my sister. She would made me watch every single movie of Shridevi. She being a diehard fan of Shridevi never missed any of her movies. Right from the hit movies like Majal, Mawali, Chalbaaz, Chandani, to the not-so-hit movies like Judai, Army, chand ka tukada, Chandramukhi, Mr. Becahra, we have watched all these movies in theatres. I remember, how I would come back from school, then eat my lunch in hurry and get ready for the afternoon show. Sometimes we would go with her friends and sometimes just two of us. In those days, my only driving force for going with her was the hot  samosas  and roasted peanuts that we used to get during the interval. Later on I started enjoying watching movies. Initially, what I admired the most was Shridevi's dancing skills. I remember

In this post, I will be sharing my ideas on my favorite movie  “Lamhe” which is also regarded as one of the most remarkable films in Shridevi's career.  Lamhe (1991): Lamhe   is remembered as a classic cult amongst various Bollywood movies till today. It is said that the subject of the movie was ahead of time and so the movie couldn’t impress the audience at that time. I feel, it is the best romantic movie I have ever seen in Bollywood. I have watched this movie numerous times and I can still watch it again and again.  Yash Chopra had mentioned in his interviews how he got the idea of making Lamhe . While making Silsila in the year 80-81, he thought of making a film with a new subject (which was indeed lamhe) but everybody was scaring him saying that the movie was very dangerous to make. So he decided he’d make Lamhe only when he would have a hit movie with him. After the success of Chandni, he decided to make only Lamhe and nothing else. He said, Lamhe was a gamble for him. Ma

I started Dr. Dixit Diet in the month of July and since then I followed it without break. Initially, I aimed to lose weight so I started with 2 meals a day. I found amazing results after following this diet. Then somewhere I came across one amazing video of Dr. Pradip Jamnadas who is a cardiologist by profession.  His lecture was an eyeopener for me.   I  was so impressed by his lecture that I kept 24hours water fast. I had already left sugar and was having 2 meals a day daily, so it was not a big problem for me to stay hungry for 24hours a day. When I got more confident, I started keeping fast on "Ekadashi" twice a month. On Ekadashi, I keep water fast for 40 hours. That means, if I have dinner tonight at 8pm, I'll directly eat at 12noon, during my lunch which will be the day after tomorrow.  Keeping water fast on Ekadashi helped me a lot in many aspects. I was able to lose weight without much efforts. In these 8 months, I have lost 13 kg. Also, I have found something am

Today I finished reading “Becoming” by Michelle Obama. I enjoyed reading this book. Becoming is about the chronicle of experiences of  Michelle Obama’s  life’s journey right from her childhood to her days in the White House. It feels that you are entering into her world through this book.  This book cannot be finished quickly as there are about 426 pages to read, with 24 chapters and three sections named, Becoming me, becoming us, and becoming more. You can also go for the audio version of this book which is about 20 hours long. It took almost 15 days for me to complete "Becoming". The book is not an easy read because there are so many things that will compel you to ponder. You will smile and cry along with the author. The preface starts with a beautiful message that becoming is limitless. As per the author, “what do you want to be after growing up?” is the most useless question asked by adults to any child. She feels growing up is infinite and she followed the same princip

I have listed my favorite ghazals of Jagjit Singh. So many times I have listened to these ghazals, but every time I fall in love with them. These ghazals are so fresh that every time I listen to them, they sound new. Hats off to Jagjit Singh and the lyricists of these songs. My most favorite amongst these are " Jeevan kya hai " because it explains the philosophy of life.  These ghazals and the "shayari" in them teaches you a lot. The line "jo ashak na chalke aankho" se from the ghazal " gulshan ki fakat" is so motivating. "Ankhari hichki tere zano pe aaye"  from the song, "apne hoton par sajana" brings tears in eyes. Every ghazal touches the heart. Some are romantic, some are sad and some are philosophical. I have been listening to these ghazals since my childhood and there are so many sweet memories associated with them.  If you try to understand the meaning of every line of these ghazals, you will enjoy them more. Sham se

There are so many hits given by great music director Khayyam. I have listed some of my favorite songs composed by him. Gapoochi gapoochi gam gam (Trishul) Mausam Mausam Lovely Mausam (Thodisi Bewafaii) Pyar ka Dard Hai (Dard) Aapki mehki hui zulf ko kehte hai ghata (Trishul) Hazar rahe mud ke dekhi (Thodisi bewafaii) Zindagi jab bhi teri bazm mein lati hai hume (Umrao Jaan) Sham-e Gham ki Qasam (Footpath) Janeman tum kamal karti ho (Trishul)

1)     Monta re (Lootera) Bengali songs have special place in my heart. This song from the movie Lotera is truly brilliant.  All songs from this movie are awesome. My favorite numbers are Zinda and Monta re. This song is sung by Swanand Kirkire and Amitabh Bhattacharya. Composed by Amit Trivedi, this song gives a vibe of Bengali folk music. https://youtu.be/vge5JTkRGLQ   2)        Gungunati hai (Satta) A soft romantic song from the movie Satta, directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The song is picturized on Raveena Tondon and Atul Kulkarni. One of the best songs of Sonu Nigam but quite underrated. The female version of this song, sung by Asha Bhonsle is shown in the movie. This song is written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Raju Singh. https://youtu.be/LOICHARfT74  (Male) https://youtu.be/awhnZFFKT7g  (Female)   3)        O sathi re din dube na (Omkara) A very soulful song by Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Bharadwaj. When Gulzar and Vishal come together they create magic. This song is proof of t