Links to the Hindi song collections covered in this section:
GEMs: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Complete List
Best Albums: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s & Beyond Complete List
Filmfare Awards: Best Music Director Best Lyrics Best Singer (M) Best Singer (F) Full List of Winners
Commentary:
In this section, I have collected the top Hindi songs as measured by several different criteria, some based on personal preferences (subjective) and some based on ranking/award data (objective). The first two collections below are of the first type, while the collection of Filmfare award winners is of the second type (along with the Binaca Geetmala ranked songs, which have their own section).
The lists of GEMs are taken from the separate Hindi song sections for each decade, while the complete list of GEMs combines all these lists into one.
In regard to the album collections, choosing the best Hindi-song albums is a highly subjective exercise. However, I tried to apply some objective criteria to the selections: the album should have either 5+ notable songs with 2+ GEMs or 6+ notable songs with at least 1 GEM. Beyond these minimum criteria, it was of course my personal preferences which guided the selections. I’m pretty sure you will find many of your own favorites on the list!
The Filmfare Awards are India’s longest-running awards for Hindi movies and music and also the most famous. They are comparable to the Academy Awards (Oscars) in Hollywood. For Hindi songs, there are four main catrgories: Best Music Director, Lyrics and Male & Female Playback Singer. A few points of note:
- The Best Music Director award started in 1954, but the other three awards started in 1959, several years later. However, for the next eight years, there was only a combined award for both male and female singers. The two categories were separated in 1967.
- Note that not every award winner or nominee is listed, because I did not consider some songs worthy of inclusion.
- The award or nomination was generally given to songs from movies released in the year immediately preceding the Filmfare award ceremony. However, there are exceptions to the rule, where the movie may have been released two years earlier (e.g., Baiju Bawra, Nagin and Mera Naam Joker). That’s why there are separate columns for the Filmfare award year (Year-F) and the year the movie was released (Year-R).
- Although the Filmfare awards were generally given on the basis of merit (allowing some leeway for subjectivity), this was not always the case:
- The most glaring example of an error of omission is Guide, which I consider the best Hindi movie soundtrack ever made. It is truly incredible that it did not win a single award in any of the categories. This may have been partly because for some odd reason it was nominated in 1967, two years after it was released (1965). However, that is no excuse for this masterpiece being ignored.
- The most egregious error of inclusion was Beimaan in 1973. Amazingly, it won three of the four major music awards, when in my opinion it did not deserve a single one. There were many other excellent music candidates during that award year, such as Amar Prem, Pakeezah, Jawani Diwani and Mere Jeevan Saathi. This lends credence to the claim made by some that the award could be bought, and at least in this case you won’t get any argument from me. Enough said.
By any measure, these are the best songs created by the incredible music creators of the Hindi film industry, whose talent and creativity is unparalleled. You will find additional commentary when clicking one of the links below. Enjoy the musical journey!