Amirbai Karnataki was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema and was famous as Kannada Kokila. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song Vaishnav Jan To.
Tun Tun was the screen name of Indian playback singer and actress-comedienne, Uma Devi Khatri, who was called "Hindi cinema's first-ever comedienne".
Rajkumari Dubey, better known by her first name, Rajkumari, was an Indian playback singer who worked in Hindi cinema of 1930s and 1940s. Best known for her songs, "Sun Bairi Baalam Sach Bol Re" in Bawre Nain (1950), "Ghabaraa Ke Jo Hum Sar Ko Takraayan" in Mahal (1949) and "Najariya Ki Maari" in Pakeezah (1972).
Baiju Bawra is a 1952 Hindi musical romantic drama film directed by Vijay Bhatt. Produced by Prakash Pictures, with story by Ramchandra Thakur and dialogues by Zia Sarhadi, Baiju Bawra was a musical "megahit" which had a mighty 100-week run in the theatres. Bhatt's decision to make a film based on classical music was met with scepticism by the Indian film industry due to its "lack of mass appeal", but the film and music turned out be an "overwhelming success".
Mela is a 1948 Indian Hindi-language romantic tragedy film. It was produced by and directed by S.U. Sunny for Wadia Movietone. It starred Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Jeevan, Rehman and Nur Jehan. The film's music was composed by Naushad. Mukesh gave playback for Dilip in this film and one of the "Mukesh hits" was "Gaye Ja Geet Milan Ke". Mohammed Rafi's voice was used just once, for the popular song "Ye Zindagi Ke Mele", set in a fairground and picturised on a wandering mendicant at the start of the film. The lyrics of the songs were written by Shakeel Badayuni with story and dialogue by Azam Bazidpuri.
Hulchul is a 1951 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by S. K. Ojha and written by Hasrat Jaipuri. The film was produced by K. Asif with Mohammed Shafi-Sajjad Hussain as music directors and film song lyrics by Khumar Barabankvi.
Anmol Rattan is 1950 Bollywood drama film directed by M. Sadiq. The film was produced by Jaimani Dewan for his Dewan Productions banner, with music composed by Vinod. The film starred Karan Dewan, who was known as a "jubilee star" with most of his films becoming box-office successes. He was the younger brother of producer Jaimani Dewan. Karan's co-stars were Meena Shorey, Nirmala, Gope, Madan Puri and Gulab.
Ghulam Mustafa Durrani was an Indian radio drama artist, playback singer, actor and music director.
Husn Lal and Bhagat Ram were the first legendary music directors duo in Bollywood. They are two brothers, Husn Lal and Bhagat Ram.
Diwana is a 1952 Bollywood romantic drama movie directed and produced by Abdul Rashid Kardar. It was written by S. N. Banerji and edited by M. S. Hajee. It narrates the tragic love story of a prince and a nomadic woman who marry each other, become separated and when they finally reunite together they find themselves bereaved at the loss of their only son. It stars Suraiya, Sumitra and Suresh in the leading roles, with Shyam Kumar, Ramesh, Madan Puri, S N Banerji, Amirbai Karnataki, Mumtazbai, Neelambai and Amir Bano in supporting roles. The dialogues of this film were written by Jagdish Kanwal. The music was composed by the renowned musician Naushad, with lyrics penned by Shakeel Badayuni.
Zeenat is a 1945 Indian Muslim social melodrama film directed by Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and starring Noor Jehan, Yakub, Majid, Himalayawala, and Karan Dewan. It was produced by Shirazali Hakim and Ramzanali S. Lakhani. The film's story and dialogue was written by Wajahat Mirza Changezi. The music was composed by Meer Saheb and Hafiz Khan while the background music was provided by Rafiq Ghaznavi.
Vidya (transl. Knowledge) is 1948 Bollywood family drama film directed by Girish Trivedi, starring Dev Anand, Suraiya and Madan Puri. The film marked first of the many films where Suraiya and Anand were paired together.
Ghar Ki Shobha is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1944. The film was directed by Harshadrai Mehta and Ramesh Saigal. The music was composed by Allahrakha Khan with lyrics by Roopbani. The cast included Karan Dewan, Swaran Lata, Jagdish Sethi, Dixit, Yashodhra Katju and Fazlu.
Parbat Pe Apna Dera is a Bollywood film directed by V. Shantaram. It was released in 1944. The story, dialogues and lyrics were written by Dewan Sharar. The music was composed by Vasant Desai. The film was produced under the Rajkamal Kalamandir banner and starred the "sensitive actress" Vanmala. Ulhas, cited as an actor known for his "melodramatic histrionics and a sonorous voice" was chosen to play the lead role of an "ascetic turned playboy". The cast included Shantarin, Madan Mohan, Kanta Kumari and Baby Nalini.
Zohrabai Ambalewali was an Indian classical singer and playback singer in Hindi cinema in the 1930s and 1940s. She was considered one of the most popular female playback singers of early and mid 1940s.
Bharat Ki Beti is a 1935 Hindi social film directed by Premankur Atorthy. The cast included Rattan Bai, Gul Hamid, Yasmin, Amirbai Karnataki, Gope, Dadabhai Sarkari and Hari Shivdasani. The music direction was credited to Jhande Khan and Anil Biswas. This was actor Hari Shivdasani's second film, having begun his career with Dharma Ki Devi (1935) the same year. Produced by Eastern Arts, Bharat Ki Beti focused on the nationalistic viewpoint while India was still under British rule.
Dina Nath Madhok was a prominent lyricist of Bollywood in the 1940s to 1960s. He started his career with the 1932 film Radhey Sham. He wrote over 800 songs in his career spanning four decades and was regarded as one of the top lyricist in the 1940s earning himself the soubriquet "Mahakavi Madhok". Madhok is cited as one of the three "First Generation" of lyricists along with Kidar Sharma and Kavi Pradeep. Apart from writing lyrics, he wrote screenplays and directed films. He directed almost 17 films like Baghdad Ka Chor (1934), Mirza Sahiban (1939), Biwamangal (1954) and the Madhubala-starrer Naata (1955).
Teen Batti Char Raasta is a 1953 Hindi-language comedy drama film on national integration directed by V. Shantaram. The film was made under the Rajkamal Kalamandir banner and produced by Shantaram. The story and dialogue were by Diwan Sharar while the cinematography was by G. Balkrishna. With music composed by Shivram Krishna, it had lyrics by Pyare Lal Santoshi. The star cast included Karan Dewan, Sandhya, Shashikala, Nirupa Roy, Sheila Ramani, Dewan Sharar and Lalita Kumari.
Karan Dewan was an Indian cinema actor in Hindi films. He worked in over seventy films from 1941 to 1979. He started as a journalist while still in college, editing a film-based magazine in Urdu. His brother was the film producer and director Jaimani Dewan.
