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Whenever I point out to people that according to the 'official' website on her, she has sung most songs in the Indian film industry, even more than Asha Bhosle, some of my friends say that the information given there has problems. They point to duplicate songs, incomplete info (film year is not given) etc.
Since she has a huge output in Telugu Films, I decided to ask Dr Vutukuri who has worked with Telugu films information for decades and has written multi-volume encyclopedia on it.
Information on his books
He replied thus:
From Dr Vutukuri V S
The stats are unto the year 2000.
Susheela sang Telugu Film songs in 45 years (from 1953 to 2000).
The total number of Films is 2,096.
She sang songs of 182 Lyricists.
She sang songs for 148 Music Directors.
The total number of songs is 6,701.
The Solo songs are - 2,454.
The Duets are - 3,957.
With more than 2 Singers - 291.
Can somebody compare this info with the website to see
1. If the website indeed agrees with this.
2. And if not, has she sung even more (doubt very much) or
3. The website has exaggerated her output (by a lot, my guess).
Thanks in advance.
Now You Know!
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Note: In the cast please add this line at number 2.
Ramaa (wife) Uzra Mumtaz, Zohra Sahgal, Indumati
The inner title page of the book (published in July 1952).
Deevar
(Drama)
Writers:
Mr Prithviraj Kapoor
Mr Ramesh Sahgal
Mr Indraraj 'Anand'
Prithvi Theatres Logo
Art in the Service of the Nation
Published by Prithvi Theatres, Bombay
Now You Know!
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Just like Rajendra Bora Saab (from Jodhpur, now in Jaipur), I had also decided not to buy any more books. But my promise was about books ordered directly from India. I must have ordered scores of books until about 2010 from D.K. Agencies, New Delhi. They found books for me from obscure sources, like Narendra Shrimali's book and sent to me. And then suddenly, the postage rates from India became very high, almost 2 times the cost of the book. I still bought Indian books, but asked my brother or other friends to keep them for me in India.
But then I saw a book on Rajasthani Cinema, I had to have it and today! I wrote to University Book House, Ashish Jain replied, I sent them $30 ($11 book, $19 postage). I am very happy that ordered it.
Rajasthani Cinema: A Critical Study by Dr Rakesh Kumar Goswami (2020),
182 pages, Hard Bound, Black and White, Rs 795. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The author gives us a summary of world cinema, gives us a brief tour of Indian cinema before getting to the subject proper. He introduces Rajasthan and its languages, gives an overall history of Rajasthani Cinema, less than 150 films until 2014. Then follows a detailed filmography (everything except songs), with lots of posters and photos from booklets. Next chapter includes detailed analysis of some landmark films. Lots of references. Then, a very important Annexure Section, filled with biographies and interviews with many important people connected with the Rajasthani Cinema.
On the whole a very good book full of rare information not available elsewhere. I understand MD Soni provided a lot of meticulous information for the book. Thank you very much Soni Saab. Very deservedly, there is a 7-page chapter on MD Soni’s life and his services to the Rajasthani Cinema compilations.
Is there a shortcoming in the book? Yes, there is. It is well-known that Vol 4 (1961-1970), Vol 5 (1971-1980) and Vol 6 (1981-1985) of the world-famous Hindi Film Geet Kosh (HFGK) by Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, Bishwanath Chatterjee, and Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, respectively, have Geet Kosh type information on many regional films, including Rajasthani. It is customary in academic work (and the book is definitely academic) to include references to all the previous work on the subject and discuss them. Sadly, it has not been done in this book. One can only speculate why that is so.
I would definitely recommend this book for the filmographies and the interviews, but I would recommend getting HFGK volumes 4-6 also for the sake of completeness.
Now You Know!
- Musing 868. Miss Zubeida. New 50.
- Musing 882. Madan Theatres. New 62
- Musing 853: Barsat Ki Rat. New 35
- Musing 871. Sulochana (Ruby). New 53
- Musing 908. Madhu (unreleased). J 2
- Musing 864. Raajkumar Keswani (1950-2021). New 46.
- Musing 912: Sunita Devi, Mumtaz Ali. New J 6
- Musing 881. Chandrashekhar. New 61.
- Musing 1049. Ratan Gaurang. J 127
- Musing 946. Rama Shukul. J 35
- Musing 1067. Khurshid Anwar. J 141
- Musing 1056. Yashodhara Katju. J 132
- Musing 901.Who did music for Arzoo (1965)? New 80
- Musing 857: Rajkumar Keswani (26 November 1950 – 21 May 2021). New 39
- Musing 862. Mehru Kaka. New 44
