Happy New Year!

To all those who visit this humble little blog:

Be at war with your vices; at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man - Benjamin Franklin.

Helen of Bollywood (Vol. 1) - at Mediafire!

The DVD that started it all is now available at Mediafire!

I'm making the Helen Of Bollywood (Volume 1) DVD available at Mediafire for the very first time. So, if you don't already have it you can grab it by clicking on the link provided below. If you're patient and persistent you should be able to get the DVD in a day or 2. :)

Mary Crimble to one and all. :D

Get the DVD Here.

Video of the week

Excellent scene and song from the film noirish Passport (1961). Helen and her sister serve an unsuspecting Pradeep Kumar a spiked drink. This is followed by Helen's wonderfully seductive "Ja Raha Hai Kyun Deewane" which is expertly sung by the marvelous Geeta Dutt. Music was composed by Kalyanji Anandji with lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi.

John Lennon - India, India

Here's a lovely and seldom heard song that John Lennon wrote in India when the Beatles were studying transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968.



And here's "India," a beautiful and unreleased gem from fellow Beatle Paul McCartney.



Finally, here is an early Crimble present for all Fab4 fans! It's a wonderful video of a very rare and unreleased Lennon song written in the late 1970's. The name of the song is "Now and Then."

Helen - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Here's video of Helen's 1998 Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony. The award was presented to her by her stepson Salman Khan and his 2 brothers Sohail and Arbaaz.

Night is Lovely - Lost and Found!

Night is Lovely, the long lost Helen video from Pyar Ka Sapna has been found on an old VHS tape. Long live Helen and her fans...and damn the VCD and DVD makers who butcher the films of our favorite performers.

Enjoy!

Sholay Remastered

 Tom Daniel's latest remaster has been released and it's superb. Video has been significantly improved and encoded in 16:9 widescreen as was originally intended by the filmmakers. Also, for the first time, subtitles have been added to all the songs. A must-have version of  an Indian film classic! Highly recommended!

 

Get it and the pdf  (which describes in detail what Tom has done)
Here

Helen Week - Happy Birthday Helen!

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 7

First of all, I want to wish on behalf of all the readers of this blog and fans all over the world a very, very happy birthday to Helen - the original Dancing Queen! We Love you!!!

Since this is the last day of Helen Week, I'm going to end it with two special posts rolled into one. First, I'm making the Helen Of Bollywood (Volume 2) DVD available at Mediafire for the very first time. So, if you don't already have it you can grab it by clicking on the link provided below. If you're patient and persistent you should be able to get the DVD in a day or 2. :)

Helen Of Bollywood (Volume 2) is now available for the first time Here at Mediafire.

Helen vs Vyjayanthimala - Dance Competitons
 
Coming up next are exciting videos of  Helen's two victorious dance competitions against the mighty Vyjayanthimala. Both videos were remastered by Tom Daniel.

First up is "Aaye Haaye Dilruba" from Dr. Vidya (1962). It now has subtitles and much improved video quality. This is followed by "Muqabla Humse Na Karo" from Prince (1969.)

So, enjoy the dance competitions as the underdog (our Helen) defies the odds and twice defeats the heroine (Vyjayanthimala). Long live Helen! And may she have many more birthdays to come! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed Helen Week. ;)








The End

Helen Week - Hong Kong (Special Edition) CD

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 6

We may never see a VCD or DVD release of Helen's tour de force performance in Hong Kong, but at least we now have a CD. This is a special edition CD of O.P. Nayyar's brilliant soundtrack for Hong Kong. The first 8 songs are not my rip and are shortened versions of the originals. The next 8 are the longer movie verions taken from the Youtube videos. The original vinyl soundtrack released in 1962 has yet to surface. O.P. Nayyar's soundtrack for Hong Kong can almost be thought of as an Asha Bhosle solo album. She sings on all 9 songs including the 2 duets with Mohd. Rafi and has never sounded better. Get the CD Here.

Helen Week - Videos from Hong Kong (1962)

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 5

Hong Kong is probably my most favorite Helen movie that I've never seen. I've only been able to watch the 8 videos taken from a VHS tape that were posted on Youtube. The videos are all excellent and Helen performs in 5 of them! The soundtrack was composed by O.P. Nayyar (The Rhythm King) and its magnificent. Hong Kong has never been released on VCD or DVD and its not even listed on IMDB.

So, what follows are all the Youtube videos plus the audio of one lovely song (Honolulu) whose video wasn't uploaded. First up is a swingin' Nayyar song called "Hong Kong China Meena." And its a superb showcase for showing Helen's dancing and comedic abilities. Enjoy!






Another favorite of mine is the snappy "Kenya Uganda Tanganyika." Helen shows her Latin roots and plays a little bit on the conga drum at the beginning of the song. Look for a very young Sanjeev Kumar among the dancers.









And here's the audio of the song that wasn't among the 8 videos that were uploaded to Youtube. Its a beautiful song called "Honolulu" and it features a flawless vocal by Asha Bhosle.

Helen Week - Helen in Indonesia

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 4

Helen didn't perform only in Bollywood films. She danced in a couple of songs for an Indonesian Aladdin film in 1982. Enjoy!





And here's a bonus video. This time, Helen dances in a Tamil Aladdin film.

Helen Week - 2 rare And groovy videos

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 3

In this video, Helen and Jeetendra dance the Frug (a popular dance of the 60's) while a version of one of the biggest surf music songs of all-time "Walk Don't Run" by the Ventures plays! Can anyone guess the name of the movie?





The second video is a rare Helen song edited out of the VCD for Maharaja (1970) - Kitni Haseen Hai Mere Pyar Ki Nazar. Its an ultra cool song that borrows the intro from one of the top surf music classics of the 60's - "Pipeline" by the Chantays!...and then around 1:20 into the song we hear Pipeline's famous guitar riff! Nice! Many thanks to shafims72 for uploading this to Youtube. :). Btw, the high quality picture at the top of this post is a movie photo still from the song.

Helen Week - Movie Mahal: Helen

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 2

Movie Mahal:Helen was telecast in the UK on Channel 4 in 1989. A very, very special thanks goes to our friend Asli Jat for making it available after all these years for this blog.

During the course of the show, Helen looks back fondly at her life and career and shares many interesting stories:
How did she break into the business?
Who was her favorite dancer?
What movie revived her career?
Watch Movie Mahal:Helen and find out. :)

Helen Week - Night is Lovely (Slideshow)

Welcome to Helen Week - Day 1CHEERS!
"Night is Lovely" is a Helen song (vocal by Asha Bhosle) from Pyar Ka Sapna (1969) that has been edited out of the the VCD and DVD releases. So, I decided to create a slideshow using a mp3 of the song with screenshots (color enhanced and denoised) of Helen's scenes from the movie. Lets hope that one day the missing video surfaces. Until then, this is the next best thing. Those who have been lucky enough to have seen the excised video say it's one of Helen's best. Update: The long lost video has been found on an old VHS tape and is available for all to see Here

For her role in Pyar Ka Sapna, Helen has long blond hair and light blue eyes and looks beautiful. See screenshot below.


Night is lovely and so is Helen

So, without further ado, here is the Night is Lovely slideshow. Hope you enjoy. :)

Helen Week - October 15-21

In anticipation of Helen's upcoming birthday on October 21, I will celebrate it everyday for a week with special posts that I'm sure everyone will enjoy. Why a week? Because, for Helen, one day simply isn't enough :D

Video of the week

The adorable Mumtaz at her sexiest.

Lets see...can anyone guess the name of the song and movie?

Mumtaz - Bollywood Sex Kitten from Mister Naidu on Vimeo.

And here's a song that may have been the inspiration for Mumtaz's song - "Christine" by Miss X. Thanks to Geoff for pointing this out.

Bollywood Movie Title Music CD

This collection contains movie title music from the 60's, 70's and 80's. Most, if not all, of the music is unavailable on CDs or vinyl LPs. The music was taken from the opening credits of DVDs and converted to mp3 at 256kbps.  

I previously released  a DVD of videos of movie title music called Bollywood's Best Movie Title Music  from which most of the music for this compilation was taken. For this mp3 collection, I added 4 really cool tunes that weren't on my DVD: Kaalia by R.D. Burman, Shankar Dada by Sonik Omi, Faraar and Chor Ke Ghar Chor by Kalyanji-Anandji.

All of the music was normalized, corrected, and edited to the best of my ability for optimal listening pleasure. :D

This is the extended, improved and final version. Now with 36 tracks and 78 minutes of music! :)

So play it on your computer (sounds great on Itunes or Winamp), portable media player or burn it on a CD and play it at home or in your car!
Get it Here at Mediafire or at Bwtorrents in the "Music Torrents - Audio Compilations" section.

Click to enlarge
Enjoy!

Govinda - Radha Krishna Temple

Produced by Beatle George Harrison in 1970, he also played guitar and harmonium. His lush production and arrangement added greatly to the enjoyment of this immensely infectious and beautiful song. It was released as a single and spent 8 weeks on the British charts and eventually reached number 23.

Hare Krishna!




And here are 2 more lovely YouTube slideshows of the song:

Kismat - Opening Credits

Enjoy the cool movie title music by O.P. Nayyar that plays during the opening credits for Kismat.

More movie title music can be found on my Bollywood's Best Movie Title Music DVD compilation.



Visit Music From The Third Floor for the original vinyl soundtrack album!

The Laxmi Chhaya DVD

Here's the latest DVD by Tom Daniel. Its an excellent compilation of Laxmi's best songs and is available for all at Mediafire. Highly recommended!

Get the DVD Here.
Read all about the making of the DVD in the PDF file. Get it Here.

Jhuk Gaya Aasman - Title theme

Here's one of the best Bollywood themes ever: "Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya" from "Jhuk Gaya Aasman"  by Shankar Jaikishan. Thanks to eratini for alerting me to the song. I would have put it on the Bollywood's Best Movie Title Music DVD if I had known about it earlier. Its an inspired adaptation of Elvis Presley's "Marguerita." Enjoy!

Helen Dhamaka - Mediafire

Now available, for the first time, Here at Mediafire. This is an upgraded version of the original release.




This DVD contains 40 rare Helen songs from VCD, video tapes, Youtube and various web sites. To the best of my knowledge, none are available on commercial DVDs...and may never be. The original quality of some of these videos was very poor. So, I remastered them to the best of my ability.

5 videos have been upgraded from the first version. Here's what was done:

2 videos have been replaced after finding a better source:

31. Oonchi Edi Waalon Ne - Bedard Zamana Kya Jane (1959)
37. ? - Allaaudin & Wonderful Lamp (1982)

And 3 videos were redone:

26. Gam Gaya To Gam Na Ker, Gam Naya - Gyrayah Hazar Ladkiyan 1962)
36. Ab Nazar Ho Jaati Hain - Mulzim (1963)
40. Pyar Layi Hain - Baghi (1964)



Here's the video list:

01. Tauba Tauba Ho - Passport (1961)
02. Ye Jo Dil Mangte Hain Bade - Killers (1969)
03. Mera Naam Jinnee (Genie) - Sinbad, Alibaba & Alladin (1965)
04. Aa Meri Aakhon KIi Gehayee Me - Pyar Ka Bandhan (1963)
05. Dil De De Dil Le Le - Jaal (1967)
06. Mere Dil O Meri Jaan - Love & Murder (1966)
07. Ae Naazneen, Ae Gulbadan - Ek Nanni Munni Ladki Thi (1970)
08. Ja Re Gokul Ke Natkhat Chor - Lal Quila (1960)
09. Dil Janab Ke Kadmo Me Ham Nisaar To Ker Dege - Killers (1969)
10. Ja Raha Hai Kyun Deewane - Passport (1961)
11. Log Kahen Mujhe Pagla Kahin Ka - Pagla Kahin Ka (1970)
12. Aalj Hain Gulfam - Sinbad, Alibaba & Alladin - (1965)
13. Kahiye Ji Kya Loge - Man Mandir (1971)
14. Das Gayi Nagin Banke Jawani - Bhagwan Parshuram (1970)
15. Dil Lenaa Hai To Lo - Elaan (1971)
16. Main Bhi Ek Raaz Hoon - Raaz (1981)
17. Club Music - Deewangee (1976)
18. Balam Teekha-Teekha,Tu Kya Jaane Tere Aage Chand - Hong Kong (1962)
19. Hoga So Hoga - Pistolwali (1972)
20. Title Music - Pagla Kahin Ka (1970)
21. Ae Hey Dilruba (Pa Pa Jamaar Lo) - Dr. Vidya (1962)
22. Gulshan Pe Ghata hhayee, Bahar Aaye Jara Dekh - Golden Eye Secret Agent 077 (1968)
23. Majnu Ke Chhilke - O Tera Kya Kehna (1959)
24. Mohabbat Ki Daastaan - Mayurpankh (1954)
25. Suni Suni Hai Bahar - Hatim Tai Ki Beti (1955)
26. Gam Gaya To Gam Na Ker, Gam Naya - Gyrayah Hazar Ladkiyan (1962)
27. Nazar Ho Jaati Hain - Mulzim (1963)
27. Kaisi Bekhudi Ka Samana - Oomar Qaid - (1961)
28. Nazre Mila KE Aapne Ehsaan Ker Diya, Phir SE Hamare - Killers (1969)
39. Ho Jaye Qurbaan - Baarish (1957)
30. Mil Ke Bhi Hum Mil Na Sake - Talat (1963)
31. Oonchi Edi Waalon Ne - Bedard Zamana Kya Jane (1959)
32. Ye Zulfe Awara, Luta Zamana Sara,Dil Walo M Shor - Hong Kong (1962)
33. Mara Re Mara - Aab-e-Hayat (1955)
34. Kam Nahin Sharab Se... - Aag Aur Daag (1970)
35. Hong Kong, China Minaa Singapur, Ud Gayi Dil Ki - Hong Kong (1962)
36. Ab Nazar Ho Jaati Hain - Mulzim (1963)
37. ? - Allaaudin & Wonderful Lamp (1982)
38. Raaten Pyaar Ki Beet Jaayengi - Alif Laila (1953)
39. Main Hoon Lilly - Bond 303 (1986)
40. Pyar Layi Hain - Baghi (1964)


                                              Enjoy!

Video of the week

Helen dances to an instrumental version of Ray Charles' biggest hit "What I'd Say" while card playing gamblers ignore her every gyration. Say What?!

Bollywood's Best Movie Title Music

Here's a DVD collection of some of the best movie title music from the 60's and 70's...except for Humse Hai Zaman (1983) and Rattan (1944).

I had thought about doing something like this for a while, but it took memsaab's excellent post about her favorite movie title music for me to get around to doing it.
Visit My ten favorite “title” tunes from memsaabstory for her selections! Most of the movie title tunes mentioned by memsaab and her readers are on this DVD and many good ones that weren't are on it, too.





Here's the movie title list:

01. Caravan
02. Zanjeer
03. Bombay Talkie
04. The Burning Train
05. Sholay
05. Teesri Manzil
07. Saazish
08. Anita
09. Seeta Aur Geeta
10. Victoria No. 203
11. Deewar
12. Professor Pyarelal
13. Brahmachari
14. Haseena Maan Jayegi
15. Johny Mera Naam
16. Don
17. Hum Kisise Kum Naheen
18. Saagar
19. Shaan
20. Dharmatma
21. Jewel Thief
22. Qurbani
23. Sharmilee
24. Yaadon Ki Baaraat
25. Ek Se Badhkar Ek
26. China Town*
27. Chunaoti
28. Kausati
29. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi
30. Benaam
31. Sachaa Jhutha
32. Inkaar
33. Night In London
34. Professor
35. The Train
36. Yakeen
37. The Great Gambler
38. Jaanwar
39. Bombay 405 Miles
40. Hare Kanch Ki Chooriyan
41. Manzil
42. Zakhmee
43. Junglee
44. Humse Hai Zamana
45. Gumnaam
46. Intaquam
47. Mere Sanam
48. Kaab? Kyoon? Aur Kahan?
49. Geeta Mera Naam
50. Sharafat Chhod Di Maine
51. Shareef Budmaash
52. Anamika
53. Baazi
54. Bandhe Hath
55. Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati
56. Parwana
57. Hawas
58. Kismat
59. Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche
60. Rattan*

*has subtitles.

My thoughts on some of my favorites...

I really like Shankar Jaikishan's lovely theme for Bombay Talkie. Its so contemporary it feels like it could have been written yesterday and it has such a soothing, lilting groove that it just grows on you with every listen. Kalyanji's Anadji's music for Zanjeer, on the other hand, has a classic seventies feel to it. I love the melody and the arrangement that accompanies the atmospheric video. R.D. Burman's haunting title music for Caravan has been a favorite of mine for years. It features a great wordless vocal by Usha Iyer as Asha Parekh helplessly drives a runaway car down a mountain. Yikes!


















Get the DVD Here
Or get the DVD at Bwtorrents Here