Tampering with credits - bad, bad

The music forums have been abuzz of late following the credit of the "sar jo teraa chakaraaye" to R.D.Burman instead of S.D.Burman in the film "Road, Movie". S.D.Burman was of course the official music director of the film. Apparently, Guru Dutt's son Arun Dutt has "confirmed" that it was the son who actually created this song and not the father.

For ages now, we have been hearing about not just RDB but other assistants being the actual sources of S.D.Burman's songs. If we to believe everything, then poor Sachinda might end up with a handful of original creations!! But this is the first time that someone has actually tampered with credits officially and that is what is causing the uproar.

"Pyaasaa" is more than half-a-century behind us. Most of the people who were involved in the making of the film are no longer alive. So how can anybody mess around changing official credits of a film. There is no documented evidence of R.D.Burman having composed "sar jo teraa". Changing credits of a song simply based on word-of-mouth is totally ridiculous. Worse, it sets a really dangerous precedent. Not so long ago in one of the TV shows, Hridaynath Mangeshkar mentioned that Roshan had been more responsible for "Anarkali"'s "ye zindagii usii kii hai". So should we start crediting this song to Roshan and not C.Ramchandra based on Hridaynath's assertion? And havebnt we heard that the songs of "Sohni Mahiwaal" were actually Mohd Shafi's compositions which Naushad just bought? Where does truth begin and where does it end? There is no end to debates and discussions. This mukhadaa carries the RDB touch so it must an RDB song, that piece of orchestration is all C.Ramchandra so how can it be Roshan? etc etc.

There was a lot of collaborative music (some healthy and some perhaps not so healthy) done during those times. So discovering credit based on some "experts" is too shallow.

Khayyam - A legend recognized at last

Khayyam, that most under-appreciated and unsung of our great music directors, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Filmfare. I believe this to be the most redeeming Filmfare moment over the past many years of the Award.

Khayyam has been active in the film world for over sixty years now. It was heart-warming to see him remembering Husnlal-Bhagatram, G.A.Chishti and Pt Amarnath in his speech - all composers whom he assisted during his early years in Bombay. I hve not seen too many composers being so generous. In fact. Khayyam also is most generous in paying tribute to his peers and seniors like Khemchand Prakash, Jaidev, Madan Mohan and Roshan in various interviews in recent years.

Khayyam entered the film world during the years when there was a pantheon of top-notch music directors, many of them whom had carved a niche for themselves. Though his music quickly achieved critical acclaim, the films themselves failed at the box-office. Even "Footpath", which starred superstar Dilip Kumar and boasted of wonderful melodies including "shaam-e-Gam ki qasam" came a cropper. This quickly led to Khayyam being looked on as a jinx. Over the next two decades or so, Khayyam held on. He kept composing any number of bewitching melodies in films like "Gulbahaar", "Phir subah hogi", "Baarood", "Mohobbat isko kahate hain", "Sholaa aur shabnam", "Shagoon", "Aakhri khat" and many, many non-film geets and ghazals with Begum Akhtar, Talat, Mukesh and Rafi. But popularity or box-office success continued to prove elusive.

Came the 1970s and suddenly, Khayyam found himself in the limelight. "Kabhi Kabhi" achieved immense popularity. This was followed by "Trishul", "Noorie", "Thodi si bewafaai", "Razia sultaan" and of course, "Umraao jaan". With minimal comprimises to the more modern musical tastes, Khayyam managed to achieve great popularity with music rooted in the folk and classical elements of Indian music. "Umraao jaan" has become the definitive "ghazal" film of Indian cinema. Say "ghazal" and you cant but think of Asha's mesmerizing vocals in "in aa.Nkho.n kii mastii me". Khayyamsaab's fote has always been the ghazal or the ghazal-numa-geet. Some of my very favorite ghazals include Talat's "kaun kahataa hai tujhe" and Mukesh's "ashaar mere yuu.N to zamaane ke lie hai.n".

Some personal well known Khayyam favorites:
- sojaa mere pyaare sojaa (Asha, Footpath)
- gar terii navaazish ho jaae (Talat, Gulbahaar)
- kaii aese bhii aa.Nsuu hai.n (Lata, Gul Sanobaar)
- ro ro biitaa jiivan saaraa (Talat, non-film)
- aese naa mu.nh chhupaao (Rafi & Lata, Baarood)
- terii duniyaa me nahii koii (Lata, Baarood)
- jo ham pe guzaratii hai (Suman Kalyanpur, Mohobbat isko kahate hain)

My very favorite Khayyam songs (desert-island material) - those two sublime melodies from "Sholaa aur shabnam" - Rafi-Lata's "jiit hii le.nge baazii ham tum" and Rafi's "jaane kyaa Dhuu.nDhatii rahatii hai".

A true legend of Indian film music. I hope the Indian government also steps in and recognizes him with further honors. Congrats Khayyam saab. Thank  you for all the sublime moments you have brought to our lives.