Chand taught romance to Bollywood: Sahir Ludhianvi-Majrooh Sultanpuri-Gulzar made lyricists, but filmy Chand cheated the audience

The relationship between Chand and Bollywood is very old. When the hero of Hindi films had a desire for Chand-si Mehbooba, someone wanted to take his heart across the moon.

Movies and songs from the time of black and white are incomplete without Chand. The moon also appears in the names of films. So on this International Moon Day let’s walk on the moon of Bollywood.

Many songs made on the moon

Songs made on the moon in Hindi films were always a hit. Chand and Chandni Raat always enthralled the audience from the director to the audience. The song ‘Yeh Raat Ye Chandni Phir Kahan’ from the film ‘Jal’ in 1952 is still on people’s tongue. This song written by Sahir Ludhianvi is sung by Hemant Kumar. In 1957, in Devanand and Nutan’s film ‘Paying Guest’, Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote ‘Chand Phir Nikla’ which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. The string of songs written on the moon is very long.

Dheere Dheere Chal Chand Gagan Mein (Love Marriage – 1959), ‘Khoya-Khoya Chand, Open Sky’ (Black Market – 1960), ‘Chaudhvi Ka Chand Ho Ya Aftab Ho’ (Fourteenth Ka Chand – 1960) and ‘ There are many songs like Chalo Dildar Chalo Chand Ke Paar Chalo (Pakeezah – 1972), Chandni O Meri Chandni (Moonlight) which are not forgotten.

If it weren’t for the moon, maybe the butterflies wouldn’t be ‘butterflies’

Lyricist Gulzar is active in Hindi films since 1956. He wrote his first song ‘Mera Gora Ang Lai Le’. In this, he also added a few lines on the moon ‘Badri hata ke chanda, chupke ke jhanke chanda’. He wrote this song for the film Bandini in 1963. Gulzar has written more than 50 songs on the moon so far.

In an interview, he told that Asha Bhosle had told him that if there was no moon, he would not have been able to find his inner writer. At the same time, once Gulzar even jokingly said that he is thinking that he should claim his copyright on the moon.

Thermocol moon hanging on the set of the film

Art director Sriti Banerjee told Woman Bhaskar that in earlier times the moon was made on the set according to the need of the scene. To make the moon, metallic paint was used on it using thermocol. However, seeing this cut out, it was clear that this moon is fake. Earlier outdoor shooting was not in trend as the cameras were not of advanced technology. Extra lights were used to illuminate the moon.

In a close up shot, it would have been easy to show a fake moon in the background, but when it was a wide shot, it would have been difficult to deceive the audience. The difference between real and fake is clearly visible on the screen.

However, technology has advanced a lot in today’s era. Shooting is done even at night with hi-tech camera. Now with the help of many effects in post production, the scene looks real. In earlier times these facilities were not available.

In 1609, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered for the first time that the moon was not flat, but had mountains and trenches on it. According to NASA, the internet speed on the moon becomes 20 Mbps.

Bollywood did not do justice to Chand

According to film expert Chandra Mohan Sharma, Bollywood has never been able to do justice to the scenes shot in the name of Chand. Plate-shaped flying saucers or pits were seen in the dark in the name of the moon on the screen. The moon was not seen scattering moonlight in the sky.

In 1967, Dara Singh’s film ‘Chand Par Chadha’ came out. In this, the moon was not visible, but the artists wearing strange clothes were seen roaming around the barren land and pit. The audience felt cheated after watching these films.

Actually, the film makers always considered the moon as a symbol of the beauty of the heroine of their film. The moon of Guru Dutt’s film Fourteenth had nothing to do with the moon till far and wide. Except the title song of the film.

Film makers like Yash Raj, Karan Johar, Vasu Bhagnani remembered Chand in the scene of Karva Chauth.

Chand means ‘Moon’ derived from the English word ‘Mona’. ‘Mona’ is derived from the Latin word ‘metri’. Which means to measure. The moon was used to measure the month. That is, 15 days were counted for the rise of the moon and 15 days for its decrease.

That’s why International Moon Day is celebrated

On 20 July 1969, man reached the moon for the first time under the Apollo 11 mission. It was a NASA mission. American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the moon.

Edwin Aldrin also went with him. He was the second man to land on the moon. Because of this achievement, International Moon Day is celebrated every year on 20 July.