Asha Bhosle & Shatrughan Sinha

Artist: Asha Bhosle & Shatrughan Sinha

LP: Jaani Dushman

Song: "Aasi Waise Na"

[ listen ]

While in Washington, DC for a conference last December, I came across this soundtrack for "Jaani Dushman," a popular 1979 Bollywood horror flick in which a bunch of brides are killed off by a furry, large-toothed, human-shaped monster just before each of their weddings. You can read about the movie here, and find lots of info about singer Asha Bhosle here and actor/singer Shatrughan Sinha here. When "Jaani Dushman" was remade in 2002, the horrifying wolfman costume was thrown out in favor of using monsters created with dazzling state-of-the-art computerized special effects. You can watch the entire 1979 version of "Jaani Dushman" with no English subtitles here, and go here to watch the 2002 remake.

[ Asha Bhosle ]

[ Shatrughan Sinha ]

[ monster ]

 

Prahba Devi

Artist: Prahba Devi

LP: Sitar Goes International

Song: "Georgy Girl"

[ listen ]

In my ongoing effort to make room for new vinyl acquisitions while still being able to walk upright through my apartment, I sold off a load of LPs to Jive Time Records in Fremont this past weekend. As usual, I wasn't able to leave the place empty-handed, and one of the things I took home was this lovely and bizarre Prahba Devi record on which she performs popular western hits of the era on her sitar. That's like learning Chinese in order to speak English! I'm sure nobody would have enjoyed hearing a sitar interpretation of this movie theme more than Georgy Girl herself. The talented Ms. Devi is accompanied by Girin Das on tabla and guitar accompaniment is provided by Barry Curtis, who was born in my hometown of Yakima, was a member of The Kingsmen, and now he's evidently living and performing right here in Seattle!

 [ Lynn Redgrave as "Georgy Girl" — 1966 ]

Geeta Dutt

Artist: Geeta Dutt

LP: 7" single
Song: "Jane Kya Tumne Kahi"
[ listen ]

Here's a pretty song from the 1957 Indian film [Pyaasa]. Singer Geeta Dutt was born in Bangladesh in November of 1930 and married up-and-coming film director Guru Dutt in 1953, but then she drank herself to death in July of 1972. You can read more about Geeta Dutt's life and career on Wikipedia [here] and there's another interesting article about the singer [here].

January 30, 2009 update: A Geeta Dutt fan named Parag wrote to let me know that he/she was involved in the recent creation of this terrific [Geeta Dutt tribute website], where you can find photos, trivia, songs and pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know about Geeta Dutt but were afraid to ask. Thanks, Parag!

[ Geeta Dutt ]