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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Aneesh Pradhan’s seven-song listening selection brings together Ravi Shankar’s film music from Dharti Ke Lal (1946), Neecha Nagar (1946) and Anuradha (1960). It is a guided selection, not a complete catalogue: its value lies in the different film contexts Pradhan highlights, from folk-inflected songs to protest songs and later favourites.
Which films are represented?
Pradhan’s Scroll.in feature, published September 10, 2022, groups the seven selections by film. The distribution is three songs from Dharti Ke Lal, two from Neecha Nagar and two from Anuradha.
| Film | Year | Selections in Pradhan’s feature | Context given in the feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dharti Ke Lal | 1946 | 3 | The first two selections, Pradhan says, borrow heavily from the folk idiom. |
| Neecha Nagar | 1946 | 2 | Described as protest songs composed for Chetan Anand’s film. |
| Anuradha | 1960 | 2 | Pradhan characterizes the selections as perennial favourites among film-music lovers. |
What does the selection reveal about Shankar’s film work?
The feature places Shankar’s film compositions within the broader work of Hindustani musicians in cinema. It cautions against assuming that a classically trained musician would carry only established classical forms—such as dhrupad, khayal or thumri—into film songs. The examples are presented through their cinematic and lyrical settings instead: a folk idiom in the first two Dharti Ke Lal selections, and protest in the Neecha Nagar songs.
Dharti Ke Lal: music in a theatre and folk context
Produced by the Indian People’s Theatre Association and directed by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Dharti Ke Lal is represented by three selections. Pradhan’s specific musical observation concerns the first two, which he says draw heavily on folk idiom; it should not automatically be extended to the third. The film’s lyrics are credited across the film to Ali Sardar Jafri, Nemichand Jain, Wamiq and Prem Dhavan.
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Neecha Nagar: songs of protest
The two selections from Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar are framed as protest songs. The feature credits the film’s lyrics to Vishwamitter Adil and Manmohan Anand. That framing offers a way to hear the songs in relation to the film’s social concerns, rather than treating them only as examples of a composer’s style.
Anuradha: later film favourites
The final two selections come from Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1960 film Anuradha, with lyrics by Shailendra. Pradhan describes them as perennial favourites among film-music lovers; this is his characterization, not a measured popularity claim.
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Can the seven individual song titles be identified here?
Not reliably from the accessible text of Pradhan’s feature: its embedded players do not expose the individual track titles, singers or recording details in that text. For that reason, this guide identifies the selections by film and count rather than guessing at names or assigning singers. The number seven is the feature’s editorial selection, not a claim that these are Shankar’s only film songs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use this as a listening guide
Approach the feature as three short film-based sets. In Dharti Ke Lal, listen for the folk idiom Pradhan notes in the first two selections; in Neecha Nagar, consider the protest-song framing; and in Anuradha, hear the two selections as examples of Shankar composing for a later film context. The order makes the contrast between films clearer without implying that the seven tracks form a definitive survey of his cinema work.
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Pradhan recommends Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen’s Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (BFI Publishing / Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998) for further information about the films. That is a contextual reference, not a stated source for these recordings.
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