The image of O.P.Nayyar as the creator of songs filled with fun and romance to the beats of horse hooves or Punjabi dances is so deep that people tend to overlook the wealth of creations that this man has done that run much deeper, that are completely what Nayyar is not famous for.. the quality of these songs is very high which is why I am continuously surprised that the man remains so typecast.. Here are some songs which are my personal Nayyar favourites :

i) is bevafaa jahaa.N me , raat suhaanii ha.Nsate taare , path samajh nahii aaye : All three songs are C.H.Atma renditions in Nayyarsaab's first film in Hindi films, Aasmaan. All three are magnificent songs though they are sound similar to each other. Atma and Nayyar had combined earlier to deliver one of the most famous non-film songs of all time in priitam aan milo. These songs are quite same kind of songs. Atma renders with deep pathos and the arrangement of the song is wonderful to hear.

ii) more ni.ndiyaa churaaye gayo : A Rajkumari gem, again from Aasmaan. Nayyarsaab was a self-confessed admirer of Anil Biswas and this is a song which I am sure Anilda would have been pleased with. A charming number where Wajkumari sounds so sweet.

iii) mujhe dekho hasrat : This is one of the three songs that Nayyar composed for Talat Mahmood. And this is also one of the two songs I can recall that Talat playbacked for Guru Dutt. A superb, slow song from Baaz which is perhaps Guru Dutt's only "bad" film :) A song that seems to have been created just for Talat..

iv) merii nii.ndo.n me tum : A soft romantic duet of Kishore with Shamshad Begum - a gem of a melody. This was the period when Kishore was still fluctuating between trying to be an Indian Danny Kaye or the like, and an addition to the list of serious singers of the time. He did some great work with Anil Biswas and S.D.Burman before this and OPN gave him this gem. But Kishore couldnt really break away from his comic-singer image for close to another 15 years.

v) kabhii andheraa kabhii ujaalaa : One of Asha's finest songs ever and one of her earliest songs for Nayyar in this form. Its a moving song beautifully rendered. The two went on to create a wealth of masterpieces with time and the Asha-Nayyar combo is one of the greatest ever, superior to the Asha-RDB combo which the lady sells all the time. O.P.Nayyar now gets just a side mention in her interviews - how rude indeed considering that it was mainly because of this man that she managed to survive as long as she did.

vi) jaa jaa jaa jaa bewafaa : It seemed Nayyar created two versions of "sun sun sun zaalimaa" in "Aar Paar" - one for the masses, and one for himself. This is a Geeta solo - an absolute stunner rendered to perfection by Geeta. The pathos in the song is rendered with such subtelety that we are moved without being pushed to tears. Never another like Geeta.. how we wish OPN had used her a lot more..

Thats it for now...

Ghazal ke saaz uthaao

One of Talat's final recordings (if not THE last) was for the album titled "Ghazal ke saaz uthaao". I have spent most of today listening to the geets and ghazals from this album. The compositions are by Raghunath Seth, the famed flautist.

The first thing that leaps out is the sad state of Talat's vocals. However great a devotee I may be of Talat saab, I cannot deny that what we have here is a shadow of the legendary singer. But once you get used to it and get accustomed to the occasional, uncontrolled tremor in his voice, the listening becomes more of pleasure. What still remains is the trademark melody of Talat, that dulcet tone.. it makes you think back to the times of yore when Talat ruled the day, when his voice was untouched by time or indulgence.

The pick of the album for me is "gulshan me leke chal" - a lovely, uncomplicated piece that is typically Talat :

gulshan me leke chal kisii seharaa me leke chal
ae dil magar sukuun kii duniyaa me leke chal

The "sukuun kii duniyaa" is now long past. But thankfully, we have recordings of that duniyaa in Talat's voice to retreat to when the current times get too much to bear.

The rest of the album is about average. "Gazal ke saaz uThaao" is nice as is "kahii.n sher_o_naGamaa banake". "dil hii to hai" and "mere saaqiyaa" would have sounded better had they been rendered a decade or so earlier. All in all, what this album provides is a whiff of what Talat once was.. and makes you immediately rush to listen again to those magnifience geets he rendered at his peak.

Lata's Bests...

Srinivas started off another round of discussions on Lata's best at RMIM today [http://tinyurl.com/gvomx]. There have been plenty of discussions around Lata's bests - her best 10 songs, her best era, her best combination with music directors etc. This one was one her best song with a few selected composers. There can of course be no consensus on such issues except in cases of low output or quality. Here are my own personal selections - Lata's best with some of the best music directors :

Composer : song(film,year)
Anil Biswas : man me kisii kii priit basaale (Aaraam, 1951)
C.Ramchandra : tum kyaa jaano (Shin shina ki boobla boo, 1952)
Roshan : vo paas nahi majabuur hai dil (Naubahar, 1952)
Salil Chowdhury : o sajanaa (Parakh, 1961)
Khemchand Prakash : mushkil hai bahut mushkil (Mahal, 1949)
Shyamsundar : bahaar aai khilii kaliyaa.N (Alif Laila, 1953)
Husnlal Bhagatram : pii pii kii bolii na bol (Aan baan, 1954)
Sajjad Husain : kaalii kaalii raat re (Saiyaan, 1951)
Naushad : tere sadaqe balam (Amar, 1954)
Jaidev : tuu sach batalaa mujhe jogii (Joru ka ghulam, 1955)
Madan Mohan : chaa.Nd madham hai (Railway platform, 1956)
Hansraj Behl : haaye jiyaa roye (Milan, 1958)
S.D.Burman : chaa.Nd phir nikalaa (Paying guest, 1957)
Shankar Jaikishan : miTTii se khelate ho (Patita, 1953)
Hemant Kumar : kuchh dil ne kahaa (Anupama, 1966)
Ghulam Mohd : mausam hai aashiqaanaa (Pakeezah, 1971)
Bulo C Rani : maa.Ngane se jo maut mil jaatii (Sunahre qadam, 1966)
S.N.Tripathi : sunaa tuu man kii biin par (Ram Hanuman yudh, 1956)
Vinod : kaagaa re jaa re jaa re (Wafaa, 1950)
K.Datta : aa.Nkh me aa.Nsuu (Harihar bhakti, 1956)
Vasant Desai : ae maalik tere ba.nde ham (Do ankhen barah haath, 1958)
Sudhir Phadke : jyoti kalash chhalake (Bhabhi ki chudiyan, 1960)
Sardar Malik : chalataa rahe ye kaaravaa.N (Chor Bazaar, 1953)
Khayyam : kaii aese bhii aa.Nsuu hai.n (Gulbahar, 1954)

Some very honourable mentions of compositions without which my Lata collection would not be complete :

song(Composer,film,year)
saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoDakar (Chic Chocolate, Naadaan, 1951)
sapanaa ban saajan aaye (Jamal Sen, Shokhiyaan, 1951)
kahiyo roye dukhiyaare (Pt Amarnath, Garam Coat, 1953)
merii biinaa ke sur saath re (Basant Prakash, Saloni, 1952)
kyuu.N chamelii khilkhilaatii hai (B.S.Kalla, Bahut din huwe, 1954)
more nainaa saavan bhaado (V.Balsara, Vidyapati, 1964)
hai kahii.n par shaadamaanii (Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Aandhiyaan, 1952)

The enduring magic of "siine me sulagate hai.n"

Taraanaa is a soundtrack to treasure forever. It is easily one of Anilda's finest soundtracks and one of the master's own personal favourites. Its obvious to see why the music of this film has continued to appeal to successive generations of music lovers through the past 55 years. Every song in this film has something charming about it, a certain sweetness that is immediately endearing. Lata is at her sweetest and Talat at his most in the songs of this film. The film was released at a time when both these singers were beginning to establish themselves as the leading singers of the time. While Lata was now a regular ghost voice for almost all the leading actresses of the time, Talat's voice was now inseperable from the melancholic image of a sensitive, brooding Dilip Kumar. Of all the songs in the film, the pathos duet siine me sulagate hai.n aramaa.N is most well-remembered.

What is the reason behind the enduring popularity of this song ? No compilation of Lata or Talat's duets is ever complete without this song. No programme on Anil Biswas or Prem Dhawan can end without this song.. a perennial favourite. First, I think there are the visuals that remain etched in mind. A very fresh Dilip Kumar and Madhubala... the great close ups of the Madhubala at her most beautiful.. they do leave an impact.

Then the orchestration. No praise can be too high for the way the song has been composed. The use of the saxophone to create the aura of despair, a hallmark of Anilda's orchestration, is again simply superb. Also, as is typical of Anilda, each of the antaraa have different tunes. The saxophone however accompanies the singers through the song. One of the most thrillng moments in the song is in the final stanza - Lata sings ek aesii aag lagii man me, jiine bhii na de marane bhii na de~ and then pauses for just a second or so. There is silence for that second - all orchestra is silenced. Then Lata starts again with chhup huu.N and the orchestra picks up again. The effect of the orchestra rejoining after the moment of silence must be experienced to believe. Its in such subtle touches that the genius of a composer shines forth...

On a side note, this song was intended to be a Talat solo. Lata on hearing the song, however, was so enraptured by it that she was adamant that she wanted to sing the song as well. The song was hence converted to a duet.

"Parakh" - Salilda's musical masterpiece

Aaraam means rest or relaxation which is exactly what the music of this provides. The soundtrack is one of the most cherished ones of Anilda’s and apparently one of the master’s own favourites. The film itself is a drab though it boasts of a stellar cast that includes Dev Anand, Madhubala and Premnath. Thankfully, the songs are available at very good quality which allows us to enjoy the music without having to endure the film.


Lata owns the soundtrack with at least three masterpieces and two sweet melodies. “ruuThaa huaa chandaa hai” and “ujaDii re mere pyaar kii duniyaa” are pleasing songs but without any enduring quality about them. Lets now get on to the three memorable melodies that demonstrate why this soundtrack is so loved by the musical connoisseurs :


i) baalamavaa naadaa.N - a lovely, mildly classical piece rendered very very sweetly by Lata. The whole construction of the song is extremely charming conveying the joys of a young girl as she dances to her own heart’s content. The innocence of youth, the coyness, the subtle shyness is all brought out beautifully. The winning note here is the “jaa jaa jaa o balamaa jaa jaa jaa” refrain which is thrilling to hear.


ii) mil mil ke bichhaD gaye nain - on the other extreme of the spectrum is this song of utter despair, heart-break and a lady in tears. The composition is brilliant and the orchestration superb. Anilda apparently used to allow his assistant Ramlal to have control over the arrangement of the orchestra and Ramlal being a very good saxophone player uses that instrument to telling effect in many Anilda songs but it is sheer magic in this song. The hollowness of despair that the sax creates is a must-hear. Then Lata takes over..


iii) man me kisii kii priit basaa le - I would unhesitatingly rate this as one of Lata’s finest songs of all time and arguably, Anilda’s finest creation. When one talks of perfect songs, this one immediately leaps to my mind ! This is a song during the metamorphosis of the young girl into a beautiful woman who is looking for her Prince Charming. The dulcet vocals of Lata is no doubt magnificent to hear, but it is the piano which lingers in memory long after the song is done. Anilda has always used the piano to telling effect in his songs, right from the days of Basant and Jwaar Bhaataa. But this melody rules. No amount of words can do sufficient justice to the magic of this song. I think I will have a future post dedicated to talking about just this song.

Of course, there were other singers in the singers list as well,
- Manmohan Krishna and chorus had the fun song ye zi.ndagii ha i yo yo which is fun all right but not worth spending too much time over
- Talat Mahmood makes an appearence on the screen as well singing shukriyaa ae pyaar teraa. Another good song but not anywhere near Anilda-Talat best.
- Mukesh and ae jaane jigar. Now, this is a song worth spending some time over. The piano again is simply out of this world. Mukesh gives a wonderful rendition of the song and this has become one of Mukesh’s more easily available songs :) In fact, the three Mukesh-Anilda songs that form part of most Mukesh collections are dil jalataa hai to jalane de , jiivan sapanaa TuuT gayaa and ae jaane jigar. A melody forever !

Thats all for now. Be back with more later :)