For my favorite expert Tom has done what no dvd manufacturer has even attempted (and if they had, his would still be better because he actually cares about things like video and audio quality)—he has made a Bela Bose compilation dvd! Tom has gone to great pains to do justice to Bela’s delightful career, in collaboration with fellow blogger and friend Ava. She has beautifully translated the unsubtitled (or badly subtitled) songs for those of us who don’t speak Hindi but know that the poetry in every song is something we sadly often miss out on. Bahut bahut shukriya Ava!
You might have seen some of these thanks to Tom’s Dailymotion uploads which are linked in my favorite Bela songs post. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the work he puts into finding these songs and converting them to the best quality possible, and his generosity in making them available to us now as a download, is priceless to fans of old Hindi cinema. This dvd is a wonderful showcase of her talent and I’m really proud to announce it here for him. Some of the songs feature other favorites like Laxmi Chhaya, Helen, Feroz Khan and Dev Kumar, and at least one has Ted Lyons dancing in it with his sister Edwina too. See if you can spot them!
The link to the compilation download (and some other fantastic treats!) is at the end of this pdf document which details the songs selected and features lots of screencaps and other information about Bela. Enjoy and do let Tom, subtitler extraordinaire Ava and of course Bela herself—wherever she is—feel the love!
MemsaabStory 