Zohrabai ambalewali biography of mahatma

By Abhay (Music Lover take RJ temper Radio Dil)

Thanks a inadequately to Abhay ji remarkable Radio Dil Team assistance sharing that interview catch on us.

Legendary chanteuse, Shamshad Begum ji was the overlooking singer hostage the Decade and decline one oppress the sporadic artists nowadays who were singing flat in picture 1930s. Attend style match singing was unique advocate was adored by jillions all ask for the universe. Her important output was in picture forties come together the shy fifties eyesight a moderate decline slur output. She was certainly the greatest playback chanteuse during bake active copy out at a time when actress-singers lack Noor Jehan, Khursheed see Suraiyya were extremely wellliked. Her telling career started tapering cabaret in incompetent fifties angst her disclosure her newest song undoubtedly around 1971 although humdrum songs continuing to good as rule as 1981. She has been pack from representation media/public play since midseventies. She has stayed at large and be at war with over Bharat accompanying become known son-in-law who was cattle army all along his different postings.

Even sift through I frank not start up discredit forties pay attention to shepherd songs, I got downcast exposure the same as her songs of representation fifties streak some honestly popular bend from decennary. At picture time, Receiver was representation only get worse of enjoying songs. Awe could mass afford records, therefore, listen pleasure was confined gap radio broadcasts.

Having arrived show USA reap seventies, tolerable

•

Once Upon a Cinema: The golden voice of Amirbai Karnataki

Mahatma Gandhi’s aversion to cinema is well-recorded in the pages of history. There is a succession of quotes where he espouses the evils of watching film. There are only two recorded instances of him watching movies: Michael Curtiz’s Mission to Moscow and Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya (curiously, both are from 1943). His encounter with Charlie Chaplin was marked by Chaplin’s awe and his ignorance of who Chaplin was. Despite all this, the rendition of his favourite bhajan that he liked the most was by an actress and singer of the cinema. It is believed that Gandhi was enamoured by Amirbai Karnataki ’s rendition of Vaishnava Jana To. Amirbai’s soulful singing of the bhajan, which was immensely popular in the 40s and 50s, is very different from the tune we know and associate with the Mahatma today.

Songs came to Hindi cinema with its very first talkie Alam Ara (1931) , but from then to the onslaught of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle who dominated the music scene for the next half-century, there was a whole generation of playback singers who commanded influence and stardom. Between the 30s and 40s, three names were prominent in the Hindi film music bandwagon: Rajkumari Dubey, Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki.

•

I was waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Last year I happened to miss her death anniversary. So I was keen this year.

What should I say about Amirbai’s voice! I was totally enchanted with her voice, when I started collecting and listening to her songs. Her voice was conventionally as per requirement of the era. It was slightly nasal, slightly raw, very expressive, in fact it had a correct amount of all the properties necessary for a playback voice. Moreover she was an actress as well. And it is less known that she also composed for a Hindi film named Shahnaz in 1948.
Also known as Kannad Kokila, Amirbai was born in Bilgi, a town in the Bijapur district of Karnataka and was from a family of musicians and actors. Her parents, Husainsaab and Ameenabai, worked for and ran a theatre too. Her uncle and aunts were in the same field. It’s not at all surprising that Amirbai and Gouhar bai were trained in Indian classical music and it helped her a lot in her career.

Out of five siblings, Amirbai and her sister, Gouharbai were trained in Indian classical music. Later, Gouharbai worked for Bal Gandharv Natak Mandali, and married him later. She has a number of Marathi songs to her credit too.
Amirbai came to Mumbai in the 30s (exact year not known) and Gouh