"Minor league" singers in Binaca geetmala finals

Having discussed the "major" singers, viz singers who had ten or more songs in Binaca geetmala finals, now let me discuss "minor" singers who sang less than 10 songs in Binaca geetmala finals. It is a crowded field really, and as many as 59 singers will be discussed here.

Singers with nine Binaca geetmala final songs

Talat Mahmood- He had only 9 songs in Binaca geetmala finals. But a song sung by him topped in the very first Binaca final of 1954, which was "Jaayen to jaayen kahan" from "Taxi driver".

Suman Kalyanpur- Though a talented singer, opportunities were few and far between as most music directors shied away from working with her, fearing the wrath of Lata Mangeshkar. And as a result Suman Kalyanpur finally ended up singing regional language songs. She finished as high as number 2 in the Binaca geetmala final of 1963 for the song "Dil ek mandir hai" from the movie of the same name. In all, nine of her songs appeared in Binaca geetmala finals.

Nitin Mukesh- Son of Mukesh, Nitin Mukesh managed to sing 9 songs, and his songs finished second in Binaca geetmala finals of 1979 and 1981."aaja re mere dilbar aaja " from "Noorie" in 1979 and "Zindagi ki na toote ladi" from "Kranti" in 1981 were these two songs.

R D Burman- In addition to his music, R D Burman sang some foot tapping songs as well. And though he sang only occasionally, he ended up singing as many as 9 songs that managed to appear in Binaca geetmala finals. His best finish was number 6 position in the Binaca geetmala final of 1976. This song was none other than "Mehbooba mehbooba" from Sholay.

Singer with eight songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Anuradha Paudwal- She became a leading singer in the 1980s, but as far as Binaca geetmala was concerned, she had just 8 songs in Binaca geetmala finals. Her best performance was in 1984, where the title song, "too mera Hero hai" for "Hero" was the number one song of Binaca geetmala finals that year.

Singer with seven songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Amit Kumar- Kishore Kumar's son, though blessed with a voice similar to his illustrious father, failed to emulate the success of his father. He had 7 songs in all in Binaca geetmala finals.He debuted in Binaca geetmala from "Laila main Laila" from Qurbani which was 6th in 1980 Binaca final. He was selected as the voice of Kumar Gaurav and it was in Kumar Gaurav's debut movie "Love Story" that Amit Kumar sang "yaad aa rahi hai" and this song was 4th in the Binaca geetmala finals of 1981. Alas, the failure of Kumar Gaurav subsequently not only affected the prospects of Kumar Gaurav, but also Amit Kumar, among others.

Singers with six songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Salma Agha- Salma Agha, the singer cum actress from Pakistan had 6 songs to her credit in Binaca geetmala finals, and her debut year and debut movie Nikaah in 1983 brought her most of her success, when her songs from this movie took second and third positions in Binaca geetmala final of 1983. Second position song was "dil ki ye aarzoo thi koi dilruba mile" and the third placed song was "dil ke armaan aansuon mein bah gaye". After that, it was all downhill for her, though she managed to have 3 of her songs in next year's Binaca geetmala final.

Singers with five songs in Binaca geetmala finals

S P Balasubramanyam- A playback great in South, he had only 5 songs in Binaca geetmala finals in the period under discussion. His best performance was in his debut year 1981, when his song, "tere mere beech main" for "Ek dooje ke liye", that introduced Kamal Hasan to Hindi movies, finished 5th in Binaca geetmala final of 1981.

Usha Uthup- Usha Uthup rode on the disco craze that engulfed India in late 1970 and early 1980 and she had 5 songs to her credit in Binaca geetmala finals.""Hari Om Hari" from "Pyara Dushman", so blatantly plagiarised from a western tune, was in 11th position in Binaca geetmala final of 1981, and this was her best performance in Binaca geetmala finals.

Manhar- Manhar had 5 songs ( assuming Manhar and Manhar Udhas are one and the same person) in Binaca geetmala finals. He topped the Binaca geetmala final of 1984 for the title song of "Hero" viz "Too mera hero hai".

Singers with four songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Sushma Shreshtha- She began her singing career with a bang as a child singer, when her "Hai na bolo bolo" from Andaz (1971) finished 8th in Binaca geetmala final of 1971. Her best performance was five years later when her song "Ik din bik jaayega" sung with Mukesh for Dharam Karam, fetched her second position in Binaca geetmala final of 1976. Two yeras later, her "kya hua ter waada" sung with Rafi finished third in Binaca geetmala 1978.Later, after the Binaca geetmala days, she resurfaced again under the name Poornima, and her song "Too Too, too too tara, todo na dil hamara" became a block buster in 1990s, but obviously that was after the time frame that I have set for this discussion. In all,she had a total of 4 songs in Binaca geetmala finals.

Bhupender Hazarika- I feel sorry for Bhupender. Though he has been around from 1960s, he got very few songs to sing, and his appearances in Binaca geetmala finals were confined to just four songs. His best performances were in 1968 and 1978, when songs sung by him were adjusted 6th best in the Binaca geetmala finals of those years. The songs being-"Honthon pe aisi baat" (Jewel Thief) and "Dil dhoondgta hai phir wahi" (Mausam), both regarded as landmark songs in Bollywood movies.

Yesudas- Yesudas, another playback singing great from South, had just 4 songs in Binaca geetmala finals, which seems a bit surprising. Quite a few of his popular songs from Rajshri production movies failed to make it to Binaca geetmala finals. 8th positions in Binaca geetmala finals of 1978 and 1979 was the best that he achieved. "Mohabbat bade kaam ki cheez hai"(Trishul) and "Madhuban khushboo deta hai" (Saajan bin Suhaagan) were the two songs, respectively.

Amitabh Bachchan- Amitabh Bachchan is a surprise entry who sang as many songs as some specialist singers, and even more than some regular singers in Binaca geetmala finals. And in fact, he did better than them in the Binaca geetmala rankings too. All his four songs finished very high in the finals. In 1979, his singing debut gave him 5th position for "Mere Pass aao" (Mr Natwarlal). His song "Mere angne me( Laawaris ) topped in 1981, whereas another song " Chal mere bhai" (Naseeb) sung with Rafi was 3rd. "Jahan char yaar mil jaaye", a 1984 song from Sharaabi,( where it was basically Kishore Kumar singing and Amitabh uttering a few words), finished second in the 1984 Binaca geetmala final.

Nazia Hassan- Nazia Hassan had created quite a bit of sensation for fans( as well as consternation for many in the industry), finally ended with a whimper, finishing with just four songs in Binaca geetmala finals. Her debut in "aap jaisa koi" (Qurbani) fetched her 4th position in 1980 final and that was her best performance. She too was affected badly by the failure of Kumar Gaurav as a hero.

S Janaki- S Janaki, a singing great from South had just 4 songs in Binaca geetmala finals in 1980s. 5th position in 1986 for "Sun Rubiya tumse pyar" (Mard) was her best performance in Binaca geetmala finals.

Kavita Krishnamurthy- She made her debut in 1980s towards the fag end of Binaca geetmala and she sang 4 songs that figured in Binaca geetmala finals.Her debut year saw her achieving her best ranking, when her song "tumse milkar na jaane kyun" from "Pyar jhukta nahin" earned her second position in Binaca geetmala final of 1985.

Singers with three songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Subir Sen- Subir Sen, a highly regarded singer during 1950s-60s, managed just three appearances in Binaca geetmala finals. His best performance was fifth position in 1961 Binaca geetmala final where he sang "Dil mera ek aas ka panchi" from "aas ka panchi". Another of his song, "main rangeela pyar ka raahi" from "Chhoti Behan" was 8th in 1959 final.

Mehmood- Mehmood is a surprise entry in the 3 song group of singers. Unlike the other specialist singer mentioned above, Mahmood would just utter a few words or so in the midst of the song. But that was enough for an actor to get the credit for "singing" that song. One such song, "Saj rahi gali meri maan" (Kunwaara baap 1975) earned Mehmood fourth position in Binaca geetmala final of 1975. Of course, most of singing in this song was done by Rafi. "Mehbooba mehbooba, banale mujhe dulha" (Saadhu aur Shaitan) was 25th in 1969, whereas "Muthukodi kawadi hada" (Do phool) was 15th in 1973 Binaca final.

Alisha Chinai- Riding the crest of Bappi Lahiri led Disco wave, Alisha Chinai managed three songs in Binaca geetmala finals. Her first song "Tarzan, my Tarzan" from the movie "Tarzan" took 3rd position in Binaca geetmala 1986 final. One more song "Jeelele jeelele" from Tarzan was in 11th position that year. Her third and last appearance was in 1987, for a song called "zooby zooby zooby" from a movie called "Dance Dance".Did I tell you that Bappi Da was the music director for all these songs ?

Singers with two songs in Binaca geetmala finals

Suraiyya- A Rajesh Khanna/ Amitabh Bachchan kind of celebrity in her heydays, Suraiyya was a singer cum actress, and her best days were before the advent of Binaca geetmala. Two of her songs figured in the inaugural Binaca geetmala countdown show year viz 1954 finals at 5th and 15th positions. These were her only appearances in Binaca geetmala finals. "Rahi matwaale tu ched ek baar (Waaris) at fifth position and "Saare mehfil jo jala parwaana" (Shama parwana) at 15th position were these two songs.

Shamshad Begum- She has sung a large number of popular songs, especially under O P Nayyar's baton, so it comes as a great surprise to note that her songs appeared in Binaca geetmala finals only twice. Her first appearance was at 6th position in Binaca geetmala in that blockbuster song- "leke pahla pahla pyaar, bhar ke aankhon me khumaar" from CID in Binaca geetmala final of 1956. Her second and last appearance was 13 years later in 1969, under the same music director in the song "Kajra mohabbatwala" (Kismat ) in 13th position. It is obvious that such a measly tally of two songs in Binaca geetmala does no justice to her singing prowess.

Mubarak Begum- Another unfulfilled talent that was starved of opportunities, she sang just two songs in Binaca geetmala finals in 1960s. "Mujko apne gale lagaa lo " from "Hamrahi" earned her 7th position in Binaca geetmala final of 1963."Kabhi tanhayion me yoon", a superb song from "hamari yaad aayegi" was 20th in 1961 Binaca geetmala final.

Kamal Barot- Kamal Barot, who sang in a unique husky voice had two Binaca geetmala finals appearances to her credit."Dadi Amma dadi amma maan jaao" (Gharana) at 26th position in Binaca geetmala final of 1961 was her first appearnce. She made her second and final appearance in 1962 at 6th position in the blockbuster "Parasmani" song- "hansta hua noorani chehra". It was the first movie of Laxmikant Pyarelal as independent music directors and this song launched Laxmikant Pyarelal as music directors of note.

Sharda- I am not complaining if only two of her songs made it to Binaca geetmala finals. Promoted by Shankar Jaikishan as an alternative to Lata, she was the worst possible choice that Shankar jaikishan could have made for such an onerous task.Her first appearnace was in 1967 and her second and final appearance in 1970 was in a popular song "wo pari kahan se laaoon, teri dulhan jise banaoon" from "Pehchaan", which finished as high as 4th in Binaca geetmala 1970 final countdown.

Dilip Kumar- The thespian, who uttered a few words in two songs, thus got credited with singing two songs. His debut as a "singer" was way back in 1957 in the song "lagi nahi choote Rama (Musafir) at 12th position. His second and last appearnce was three decades later in 1986. And surprise, surprise, this song finished second in Binaca geetmala 1986 final. The song was "Har karam apna karenge" (Karma)

Usha Mangeshkar- The younger sister of Lata and Asha, her singing prowess was on offer from 1950s itself, but there were hardly any takers. In her entire singing career extending as long as her two sisters, she just had two Binaca geetmala finals songs to her credit. Her Binaca geetmala debut in 1976 final in fact earned her a surprise 3rd position for the song "main to aarti utaroon re, santoshi mata ki" from the freak hit " Jai Santoshi Mata". Her second and final appearance was in 1980 at 15th position with the hummable song "Sultana, Sultana, mera naam hai Sultana" from "Tarana".

Jaspal Singh- Ravindra Jain, the music director of Rajshri productions movies gave chances to many newcomer singers in his movies. Jaspal Singh was the one who was introduced in "Geet gata Chal" and people thought that a new singer star was born. But unfortunately he failed to impress much in future. He ended up with just two Binaca geetmala finals songs from this movie.These songs took 4th and 8th position in Binaca geetmala final of 1976. 4th position song was the title song "geet gaata chal" and the other song was "Shyam teri bansi pukare Radha naam, Log kare Meera ko yoon hi badnaam".

Hemlata- Hemlata was used as the standard female voice by Ravindra Jain in Rajshri Production movies, and it really comes as a great surprise that only two songs sung by her have appeared in Binaca geetmala finals. Unlike Jaspal Singh, she sang all the female lead songs in all Rajshri movies in 1970s, and those songs were popular too. Her first appearance was in 1978, when she took the top spot for the song "Ankhiyon ke jharokhon se" from the movie of the same name. Despite singing many superb songs, her next and final appearnce in Binaca geetmala finals was only in 1981 and it was at 23rd position. It was a superb song "Tu is tarah se meri zindagi mein shaamil hai" (aap to aise na the)

Alka Yagnik- Alka Yagnik, now a leading female playback singer would not complain much if she appeared only twice in Binaca geetmala finals, since she made her debut in 1980s when Lata and Asha still had a stranglehold on female playback singing. Her debut song in 1981, saw her claiming the top position ( like Hemlata in 1978) for the song "mere angne me " from "Laawaaris". Her second and final Binaca geetmala final appearance was in 1986 at 8th position for a song that went "peena harram hai" from "Chameli ki shadi"

Anupama Deshpande- She also managed two songs in Binaca geetmala finals. First appearance was "Sohni Chenab de kinaare" (Sohni Mahiwaal) in Binaca geetmala final at 27th position. Her last appearance was in 1987 for "O yaara tu pyaar se hai" from Kaash at 10th position.

Sadhana Sargam- She made her two appearances in Binaca geetmala in the 1987 finals at 9th and 16th positions for two songs of the movie "Khudgarz".

Bappi Lahiri-Bappi Lahiri tended to sing in his movies too, a habit he had copied from his idol R D Burman. But unlike Pancham who sang sporadically, Bappi Lahiri insisted on being the voice of Mithun da.But ironically, the two songs sung by him that appeared in Binaca geetmala finals were sung for other actors. His first apperance as a singer in Binaca geetmala final was a surprisingly hummable song "Yaar bina chain kahan re" from "Saahab", which was 21st in 1985. He also sang "Jeele Jeele" in Tarzan and this song was 11th in 1986 final.

Singers with only one song in Binaca geetmala finals

Pradeep- Known for writing motivational songs that roused the nation, he could also sing some great songs which would invariably become cult songs. His lone Binaca geetmala appearance was in the final of 1955 where he sung one such cult song " Dekh tere sansaar ki haalat kya ho gayi Bhagwaan, kitna badal gaya insaan" for the movie Nastik. This song was in the 6th position in that Binaca geetmala final.

V Shantaram- He too was known more for making great movies that were ahead of their times than singing, but he sang one song in his own movie "Do Aankhe barah haath". The song is very well known- "Ai maalik Tere bande hum" which was 20th in the Binaca geetmala final of 1958.

Ameer Khan- The classical singer appeared once in Binaca geetmala final in a well known song in 1961. This song, which occupied 14th position in the final was "Madhuban mein radhika naache re" from "Kohinoor".

Minoo Purushottam- She sang "Huzure aala jo ho izaazat" under the baton of O P Nayyar. This song from "Ye Raat phir na aayegi" was 5th in Binaca geetmala final of 1966.

Saira Banu- She was one of the many actresses who would utter a few words in the song andwouldthus be credited with singing a song. Her song "aaj ki raat ye kaisi raat" ( Aman) was 12 th in 1967 final. Of course, the fact that Rafi was her co singer certainly helped.

Pankaj- There was a cheapstakes song at 27th position in Binaca geetmala 1970 final sung by Dharmendra and Rajindernath on screen. The song went "Munne ki amma ye to bata tere munne ke abba ka naame kya hai". The song was sung by Kishore Kumar ( for Dharmendra) and Pankaj ( for Rajindernath).

Pratibha- Child singer who sang "hai na bolo bolo" in 1971 for Andaaz ended up with only this solitary song, unlike her fellow child singer Sushma Shreshtha, who was a bit more successful. This song was in 8th position in Binaca geetmala and it continues to be a well loved song among kids and their parents.

Vani Jayram- Though she was quite a prolific singer in the south, her forays into Bollywood movie singing and Binaca geetmala was limited to just a solitary, but memorable song "Bole re Papihara"(Guddi) which was 21st in Binaca geetmala final of 1972.

Rekha- Another actress who would utter a line and got credited with singing a song. Her contribution in this song was uttering "maine aisa to nahin kaha tha", and this song rose to 5th position in Binaca geetmala final of 1974. Of course, the credit for such a popularity should rightfully go to Kishore Kumar the singer, Rajinder Krishan the lyricist and Kalyanji Anandji the music director. If Ekta Kapoor ( not yet born then) would name her serials with "K", the moviemaker of this movie would name his movies with three Ks. And this was the first movie in which he successfully tried that. This movie was called "Kahani Kismat Ki".

Hema Malini- This song was played just minutes before the earlier song in Binaca getmala final of 1974, one rung lower at 6th position. Male ( and main) singer was once again Kishore Kumar who sung with Gusto "Peene waalon ko peene ka bahana chahiye" in "Haath ki Safai". Hema would say " Main Chandramukhi nahin Paaro hoon" to which Kishore Kumar would say " par main bada dukhi hoon". A great fun song, really.

Jaani Babu Quawwal- Sang just one song, and the song topped the chart in Binaca geetmala final of 1975. It went " Mahngaayi maar gayi" from Roti Kapda aur makaan.

Narendra Chanchal- The quawwal in the above song was accompanied by the Bhajan Singer called Narendra Chanchal too.And Narendra Chanchal, like Jaani Babu would never appear in Binaca geetmala again.

Aziz Naazaan- Another quawwal, he not only sang,but also composed the music for this song from Five rifles, and the song was very popular indeed.In fact, the lyricist called Nazaan Sholapuri could well be the same person too, who knows ? This song, an anthem from drunks went "Jhoom barabar jhoom Sharaabi" and the bewdas of the nation made it number 9 song of Binaca geetmala final of 1975. Like the quawwal and bhajan Singer mentioned above, this was the only time this particular quawwal would have his moment under the Binaca geetmala sun ( or should it be moon ?).

Aarti Mukherji- she made her debut in "Geet gata chal" alongwith Jaspal Singh and the 8th position song "Shyam teri bansi pukare Radha naam" of Binaca geetmala 1976 final remains her sole appearance in Binaca finals.

Runa Laila- The singer from Bangladesh charmed all, including Lata Mangeshkar, till Lata came to know how much the producers were paying her vis a vis her own singing fee. She was not amused. And as happened, if Lata was not amused, that was the end for the career of that singer. Runa Laila's sole appearance in Binaca geetmala final was this lovely song "Do deewane shahar mein" from Gharonda which was 6th in 1978 Binaca geetmala finals.

Master Ravi- Not just grown up actors, even a child artist can become a singer in Bollywood by just uttering a few words. Master Ravi speaks "Off Oh, Aage bhi to bolo" and "phir kya hua" and the song finishes 5th in Binaca geetmala 1979. Of course, it was Amitabh Bachchan, also debuting as a singer, who was mainly responsible for the popularity of this song which has become an all time favourite among kids and grown ups alike.

Kanchan- "Laila main Laila" from Qurbani, which was 6th in 1980, was the sole appearance for Kanchan in Binaca geetmala finals.

Sulakshana Pandit- Sulakshana Pandit, daughter of music director Chitragupta was an actress cum singer and she sang some nice numbers. Too bad her singing and acting career was shortlived. Her sole appearance in Binaca geetmala finals was in 1978 in the 21st positioned song "Somwaar ko hum mile" from "Apnaapan".

Ghulam Ali- The Pakistani ghazal maestro's wonderful "Chupke chupke raat din" was included in the movie "Nikaah" without his permission. I guess Ghulam Ali did not mind because that was the first time many Indians heard about him and his fanbase in India suddenly grew manifold. This song was 30th in Binaca geetmala final of 1983.

Vijay Benedict- Another beneficiary of Disco craze, he sang the title song of Disco dancer, "I am a disco dancer" and this song was 8th in 1983.

Anwar- "Sohni meri Sohni Sohni" (Sohni Mahiwaal) was 19th in 1984 final and this was Anwar's only appearance in Binaca geetmala.

Parvati Khan- Another beneficiary of Bappi da's disco songs. Parvati Khan too appeared in "Disco dancer" singing "Jimmy Jimmy aaja aaja" and this song was 20th in 1983 Binaca geetmala finals. Too bad no one sang "Parvati Parvati aaja aaja" and this song proved to be her swansong as well.

Rajeshwari- Daughter of Pyarelal, she made quite an impression in the song "He Raju, haan Daddy" from "Ek hi bhool" and this song was 7th in 1982 Binaca geetmala final.

Zoheb- " Ek do kehne bhi do" from "Star" starring Kumar Gaurav, which was 21st in Binaca geetmala 1982, was Zoheb Hassan's sole appearance in Binaca geetmala. The star of Kumar Gaurav sank, and the singing careers of many wanna be disco singers sank with him too. This included Zoheb and his sister Nazia Hassan.

Manmohan Singh- "Jeene de ye duniya chahe maar daale", a song from Laava (1985), which was 7th in Binaca geetmala 1985 was the only time the namesake of Indian PM was ever heard in a Binaca geetmala final.

Pankaj Udhas-He sang the emotionally moving song "Chithhi aayi hai" in "Naam". This song appeared in 1986 final ( in 15th position) and it took the top position in 1987 final.