The Golden Year of 1954 with Javed Akhtar

With its core proposition ‘Woh Zamaana Kare Deewana’, Zee Classic aims at reigniting nostalgia while promising to bring home the timeless magic of classic Hindi cinema. With this core thought, the channel is celebrating the music of The Golden Era (1950-1975) in an exclusive twenty-six part series titled, ‘The Golden Years 1950 – 1975, A musical journey with Javed Akhtar’. This Sunday, 3rd April at 8 PM, it’s time to look back at 1954 which was one of the landmark years for the Hindi film music.

In 1954, Hindi cinema saw a deluge of social dramas made around realities and relevant issues that prevailed in India then. Nastik, Amar, Mirza Ghalib, Boot-Polish, were some of the epic films of 1954 with powerful narratives, heartfelt music and much more.

This year was also about the success of two artists whose stories have inspired generations to come. Javed Akhtar shares “Ace wrestler Mohammad Ali says in his biography that a true champion is one who snatches victory from the shackles of defeat. Hindi Cinema has seen many such champions and two of them emerged in 1954 itself with Aar-Par. Guru Dutt and O.P Nayyar, a filmmaker and another composer were  in critical stages in their careers before the film released. Dutt’s last film had failed and Nayyar was yet to strike the right chords. He had even thought of leaving Mumbai when Aar-Par happened.” The 8-song album including tracks like Kabhi Aar Kabhi Par, Babuji Dheere Chalna and Ye Lo Main Haari Piya topped the charts and have remained evergreen even today when cacophony means hit music.

Another musical legend of this year was Mirza Ghalib, based on the life and times of the well-known poet. Based on instances shared by Ghalib in letters to his friends, ace writer Manto mounted the film which had memorable songs like Dil E Nadan Tujhe Hua Kya Hai and Ye Na Thi Hamari Kismat that continue to engage us even today. With many such classics, 1954 saw songs rendered by Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi.

~So get ready to walk down the memory lane through Dettol presents ‘The Golden Years 1950 -1975, A musical journey with Javed Akhtar’ co-powered by State Bank of India and Good Knight Fast Card, this Sunday, 03rd April at 8 PM only on Zee Classic~