It has been Salil Chowdhury's genius on my iPod all morning. Salilda was a one-of-a-kind composer and easily one of the greatest music composers of the last century. Salilda's musical style is easily recognizable - his tunes follow their own rules. The orchestra is thrilling though complex. The notes soar and fall successively as to give even a singer like Lata Mangeshkar a tough time.
Salilda never formally learnt music but he was exposed to a variety of music from his childhood. All his knowledge was picked up from his personal listening and interaction with other artistes. In the early 1940s, he started moving from one village to another hiding from the police due to his protests against the government for their management of the Bengal famine. His passion for folk music had its roots there. He visited various parts of the world to understand the folk music of the land. No wonder then that folk songs find a pride of place in his music creations. By the 1950s, Salilda was a well-known name in Bengal having created a host of cherished songs with Hemantda - "runner", "paalkir gaan" etc. In 1953, he was invited by Bimal Roy to compose for "Do bheega zameen", a film for which he wrote the script as well. The run-away musical success of the film with such songs as "mausam beetaa jaaye" and "aajaa ri aa ni.ndiyaa tu aa" ensured that Salilda was established in Bombay. He went to turn in many outstanding creations in Bombay - "Parivaar", "Awaaz", "Madhumati", "Maayaa", "Chhaayaa", "Parakh", "Prem patra", "Chaar deewaari", "Chand aur suraj", "Jhoolaa" etc were some of his memorable soundtracks during this period. After a brief hiatus when he was engaged in composing for Malayalam films, he returned with such tracks as "Chhoti si baat", "Anand", "Rajnigandhaa", "Annadaataa" etc in the 1970s. He passed away in 1993 leaving behind a treasure of amazing compositions and melodies that continue to enthral every new generation.
Thats an introduction to the man and his career. More detailed thoughts on his music later...
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Talat's "happy" melodies
The persona of Talat as the singer of blues looms so large that it shadows his sparkling cascade of bubbly duets. In fact, Talat's contribution to the romantic duets genre is immense. His style is typical of the man - the hero comes out as a gentleman, a person who romances more with his eyes and softness of nature than a macho hero that Mohd Rafi personified on the likes of Shammi Kapoor etc in the 1960s. This is not to belittle Rafi in any way because he has definitely sung some of the finest duets of Indian cinema.
Anyway, this small blog is about Talat and his duets. Needless to say, most of Talat's best duets are with Lata, and some with Geeta, Asha and Shamshad. Here is a list of my personal favourite of Talat's duets :
ye nayii nayii priit hai (Lata/Pocketmaar, 1956) : A stunner from Madan Mohan. Madan used his two favourite singers to near perfection. The tune is lilting and the singers have a brilliant chemistry established here. The song typifies what I mean about Talat's singing bringing to mind a softer, gentler hero. The romance is about eyes and dreamy visions of a land yonder :
nigaaho.n hii nigaaho.n me kaho kyaa kar diyaa
..
chalo chal de vahaa.N zamii.n aur aasamaa.N
gale milate jahaa.N banaale vahii.n aashiyaa.N
Its after listening to Talat in such form that even Lata tends to fall a little shrilly on the ears.
nain mile nain hue baa.Nvare (Lata/Taraanaa, 1951) : This stellar soundtrack from Anilda is easily one of the greatest of all-time. And both Talat and Lata are near the top of their form here. The picturization on a very fresh Dilip Kumar and Madhubala adds to the delight of the song.
dil me samaa gaye sajan (Lata/Sangdil, 1952) : A sheer-magic song from Sajjad who created some of the most cherished melodies in Hindi music with Talat and Lata in this film. While "ye havaa ye raat" and "vo to chale gaye ae dil" are top-notch winners, this sweet duet is not very far behind. A regal Talat and a sweet Lata make the listening experience a most enjoyable one.
aramaan bhare dil kii lagan (Geeta/Jaan pehchaan, 1950) : This was Talat's only song with Khemchand Prakash, who sadly passed away shortly after this song was created. The impact of Talat's singing style is obvious when you listen to this song. While Geeta is delightful here, her rendition is a throwback to the 40s while Talat was clearly heralding the soft singing of the 50s. Geeta of course lost no time in tuning herself to the new form. But anyway, what a duet this is ! Amazing orchestration and brilliant singing..
sach bataa tuu mujhape fidaa (Asha/Sone ki chidiyaa, 1958) : A typical O.P.Nayyar composition with lots of fun and jolly exuding every note. What makes this song a delight is again the contrast between the singers - Asha is all fun and lark, Talat still soft and gentle with just that necessary touch of happiness.
These are songs that come to the top of my mind - there are plenty of other magnificent duets I have missed. Compositions of C.Ramchandra and Salil Chowdhury in particular have been missed. But well, these should provide good starting points to discovering that there is a lot more to Talat's repertoire than the sad, grim songs he made his forte. Those are definitely brilliant but then lets not forget his duets in the process.
Anyway, this small blog is about Talat and his duets. Needless to say, most of Talat's best duets are with Lata, and some with Geeta, Asha and Shamshad. Here is a list of my personal favourite of Talat's duets :
ye nayii nayii priit hai (Lata/Pocketmaar, 1956) : A stunner from Madan Mohan. Madan used his two favourite singers to near perfection. The tune is lilting and the singers have a brilliant chemistry established here. The song typifies what I mean about Talat's singing bringing to mind a softer, gentler hero. The romance is about eyes and dreamy visions of a land yonder :
nigaaho.n hii nigaaho.n me kaho kyaa kar diyaa
..
chalo chal de vahaa.N zamii.n aur aasamaa.N
gale milate jahaa.N banaale vahii.n aashiyaa.N
Its after listening to Talat in such form that even Lata tends to fall a little shrilly on the ears.
nain mile nain hue baa.Nvare (Lata/Taraanaa, 1951) : This stellar soundtrack from Anilda is easily one of the greatest of all-time. And both Talat and Lata are near the top of their form here. The picturization on a very fresh Dilip Kumar and Madhubala adds to the delight of the song.
dil me samaa gaye sajan (Lata/Sangdil, 1952) : A sheer-magic song from Sajjad who created some of the most cherished melodies in Hindi music with Talat and Lata in this film. While "ye havaa ye raat" and "vo to chale gaye ae dil" are top-notch winners, this sweet duet is not very far behind. A regal Talat and a sweet Lata make the listening experience a most enjoyable one.
aramaan bhare dil kii lagan (Geeta/Jaan pehchaan, 1950) : This was Talat's only song with Khemchand Prakash, who sadly passed away shortly after this song was created. The impact of Talat's singing style is obvious when you listen to this song. While Geeta is delightful here, her rendition is a throwback to the 40s while Talat was clearly heralding the soft singing of the 50s. Geeta of course lost no time in tuning herself to the new form. But anyway, what a duet this is ! Amazing orchestration and brilliant singing..
sach bataa tuu mujhape fidaa (Asha/Sone ki chidiyaa, 1958) : A typical O.P.Nayyar composition with lots of fun and jolly exuding every note. What makes this song a delight is again the contrast between the singers - Asha is all fun and lark, Talat still soft and gentle with just that necessary touch of happiness.
These are songs that come to the top of my mind - there are plenty of other magnificent duets I have missed. Compositions of C.Ramchandra and Salil Chowdhury in particular have been missed. But well, these should provide good starting points to discovering that there is a lot more to Talat's repertoire than the sad, grim songs he made his forte. Those are definitely brilliant but then lets not forget his duets in the process.
Friday, November 18, 2005
From this day on, I shall spend some time with the divine Lata-C.Ramchandra combo that has provided us music lovers with so many invaluable gems.
Lata first sang for CR in "Shehnai" in 1948. Prior to this, CR had been primarily using heavy vocal singers like Shamshad Begum in his music. Lata's entry indeed changed the canvas of Hindi film music but even more, it completely appeared to alter CR's form of music to one of greater subtlety and (pardon my excess) divinity. Indeed, the music presented by CR with Lata is one that fills you with serenity and transports you to realms of peace and spirituality.The combination went on full steam from 1949 through 1956. There were rumours of a deeper relationship between the two which neither of them have either accpeted or denied. But whatever, this is about the music they created. Some fatal disagreement caused them to fall apart and they did not patch up. Lata did sing for CR occasionally after that - in fact, the last song I can recall is in 1964 - but there was no longer the chemistry that existed during the halycon years. In a tribute to this glorious partnership, we shall select one song per day to highlight their brilliance.
Today, I select "Naa ummeed ho ke bhi, duniyaa me jiye jaate hain" from the film "Sangeetaa" released in 1950. This song is amongst CR's very bests ! The song starts off in a brisk pace with some outstanding orchestration and light touch of the guitar leading to Lata's voice is out-of-the-world and really, quite amazing for that time. Such sophistication in orchestration is unbelievable for 1950.
Lata then holds center-stage. CR has a fair list of brisk paced sad songs and this is one of them. The beautiful part of the rendition is when Lata goes "..toot.." for the "dil toot gaya phir bhi" phrase. You really get the feeling of a broken heart. The interlude music is short and sweet - typical of those times. The interludes were meant to be fillers to allow singers to catch their breaths. The interludes just elevate the song even higher. The curves of the tune flow is captured to perfection by Miss M ! The two interludes have different composition structures, which is unusual for CR. Thats what makes this such a special CR song. But they join in beautifully back to the mukhdaa. Exceptional !!
CR epitomises classy-popular music to my mind. Drawing a parallel to Hollywood directors, CR is my Alfred Hitchcock, brilliant and appealing and popular. Anil Biswas was Orson Welles - definitely the best, intellectual. Not one for the masses but who is a God to all serious lovers of film music. The two created some of the finest music of the Platinum period of the Golden age of Hindi film music - 1950 to 1955.
Lata first sang for CR in "Shehnai" in 1948. Prior to this, CR had been primarily using heavy vocal singers like Shamshad Begum in his music. Lata's entry indeed changed the canvas of Hindi film music but even more, it completely appeared to alter CR's form of music to one of greater subtlety and (pardon my excess) divinity. Indeed, the music presented by CR with Lata is one that fills you with serenity and transports you to realms of peace and spirituality.The combination went on full steam from 1949 through 1956. There were rumours of a deeper relationship between the two which neither of them have either accpeted or denied. But whatever, this is about the music they created. Some fatal disagreement caused them to fall apart and they did not patch up. Lata did sing for CR occasionally after that - in fact, the last song I can recall is in 1964 - but there was no longer the chemistry that existed during the halycon years. In a tribute to this glorious partnership, we shall select one song per day to highlight their brilliance.
Today, I select "Naa ummeed ho ke bhi, duniyaa me jiye jaate hain" from the film "Sangeetaa" released in 1950. This song is amongst CR's very bests ! The song starts off in a brisk pace with some outstanding orchestration and light touch of the guitar leading to Lata's voice is out-of-the-world and really, quite amazing for that time. Such sophistication in orchestration is unbelievable for 1950.
Lata then holds center-stage. CR has a fair list of brisk paced sad songs and this is one of them. The beautiful part of the rendition is when Lata goes "..toot.." for the "dil toot gaya phir bhi" phrase. You really get the feeling of a broken heart. The interlude music is short and sweet - typical of those times. The interludes were meant to be fillers to allow singers to catch their breaths. The interludes just elevate the song even higher. The curves of the tune flow is captured to perfection by Miss M ! The two interludes have different composition structures, which is unusual for CR. Thats what makes this such a special CR song. But they join in beautifully back to the mukhdaa. Exceptional !!
CR epitomises classy-popular music to my mind. Drawing a parallel to Hollywood directors, CR is my Alfred Hitchcock, brilliant and appealing and popular. Anil Biswas was Orson Welles - definitely the best, intellectual. Not one for the masses but who is a God to all serious lovers of film music. The two created some of the finest music of the Platinum period of the Golden age of Hindi film music - 1950 to 1955.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
A first post
The prime focus over the past week has been Tamil film music and Geeta Dutt. Thanks to many friends across the world, I have managed to lay my hands on about 10 rare Geeta melodies which I am still to enjoy in all serenity. I am looking forward to the weekend to enjoy in peace. The Tamil melodies were courtesy Mr Ali Khan who has a dream collection of old Tamil music. Its almost complete. Its almost impossible that you would turn out without getting your hands on the song you have yearned to have so long. The only problem is that the years past have squeezed the man of most of his enthusiasm. His business of providing song collections is running a loss. He does not receive any support from the film industry to preserve this musical treasure. The govt is not to be trusted - it would relinquish it to some dark room and there it would decay. A few conneisseurs from the US and Canada have offered to buy his entire collection and he is seriously considering doing ! What a huge shame ! Lord, I wish I had some few lakhs with me so that I could buy off his wealth.
Anyway, thanks to him, I managed to listen a wonderful Ghantasala-P.Suseela duet "thoodhu selaayO" from the film "Vaazhkayin otpandam". The song still plays in my ears. There were a number of A.M.Raja duets as well that I got my hands on but well, Ghantasala took the cake.
Anyway, thanks to him, I managed to listen a wonderful Ghantasala-P.Suseela duet "thoodhu selaayO" from the film "Vaazhkayin otpandam". The song still plays in my ears. There were a number of A.M.Raja duets as well that I got my hands on but well, Ghantasala took the cake.
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