Youtube- Rafi & Lata - Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi - Barsaat Ki Raat [1960]

An awesome song.. I keep going back to listening to this serene melody now and then and keep rediscovering its magic. While the more popular Rafi solo is great indeed, it is this duet version which has always enchanted me more. Lata sounds glorious and Rafi so soothing. Oh.. and of course, there is Madhubala..

Hmm.. digging into Lata-CR

As I walked through the list of CR-Lata soundtracks, I found that their quality was quite inconsistent. Soundtracks like "Teerandaaz", "Shagoofaa" have a whole host of Lata songs - they are pleasing to hear but rarely register. I think when they were good, the songs tend to be totally sublime. To their credit, the duo hit the peaks fairly often during their time together. But the valleys were also not infrequent. Not "terrible" mind, just average music.

In contrast, I think composers like Anilda and Roshan were more consistent. You usually could bet on at least Lata magical melody per soundtrack. These may not always touch the peaks of the Lata-CR peaks but the output is much more consistent.

Just a passing thought as I listen to "mar mar ke do ghaDii ko" from "Teerandaaz:..

Lata Surveykshan

Vinay Jain has kept on his efforts in setting up polls towards identifying the most popular soundtracks and songs of legendary musical personalities. It was all-composers so far. Now, it is the turn of Lata. The series began with a selection from her solos till 1953. These years being the peak years of maestros like Anil Biswas, C.Ramchandra, Naushad, Husnlal Bhagatram etc., the selection was going to be one helluva job. The selection of thirty songs was almost impossibly tough and I had to tearfully exclude some great favorites from the list.

Vinay announced the results today - and the winning songs were not surprises. "ye zi.ndagii usii kii hai" and "aayegaa aane vaalaa" are at the top. Its pleasing to see three C.Ramchandra songs in the top 10 but very disappointing to see no Anilda there.

My selection of 30 songs are below:

ye zi.ndagii usii kii hai jo kisii kaa ho gayaa
ye shaam kii tanhaaiyaa.N aise me.n teraa Gam
tum kyaa jaano tumhaarii yaad me.n
wo to chale gaye ai dil yaad se unakii pyaar kar
bahaare.n phir bhii aaye.ngii
man me.n kisii kii priit basaale
kaTate hai.n dukh me.n ye din
cha.ndaa re jaa re jaa re
tumhaare bulaane ko jii chaahataa hai
baa.Ndh priiti phuul Dor
miTTii se khelate ho baar\-baar kis liye
sapanaa ban saajan aaye
priit ye kaisii bol rii duniyaa
kaalii kaalii raat re dil ba.Daa sataaye
vo din kahaa.N gaye bataa
mere piyaa se ko_ii jaake kah de
haay cha.ndaa ga_e parades
dil dha.Dake nazar sharamaaye to samajho
hai kahii.n par shaadamaanii
bahaar aa_ii khilii kaliyaa.N
mujh se mat puuchh mere ishq me.n kyaa rakhaa hai 
mere liye vo Gam-e-i.ntazaar chho.D gaye
kaagaa re jaa re jaa re
mil mil ke bichha.D gaye nain 
vo paas nahii.n majabuur hai dil 
kis nazar kaa mast ishaaraa hai zi.ndagii
zindagii bebas hu_ii hai ... o aasamaan waale
duur jaaye re raah merii aaj terii raah se
ai chaa.Nd pyaar meraa tujhase ye kah rahaa hai
naa_ummiid ho ke bhii duniyaa me.n jiye jaate hai.n

But the exercise was good fun. It made me to re-listen to a whole lot of songs that I had not heard in a long while. So, thank you Vinay !

Talat Mahmood - Raat Ne Kya Kya Khwab Dikhaye - Ek Gaon Ki Kahani [1957]

This evergreen magical song has been haunting me for the past week as I try to recover daya from my crashed hard drive. The pace of the song, the lyrics and orchestration are all superb. But ultimately, it is Talat's wonderful singing that makes this song so magical. There is such an apparent ease with which he delivers. A song meant for Talat and Talat only. Magic forever...

Singers tuning themselves

Listening to Mukesh's "kise yaad rakhuu.N", I was wondering how many of our top-league playback singers have tried their hand at composing songs. Mukesh's afore mentioned perennial beauty from "Anuraag" indicates his abilities in this regard. Add to this the other gem from this track "pal bhar kii hii pehachaan"..

Manna Dey was perhaps the most prolific of the lot - he assisted his famed uncle K.C.Dey and Khemchand Prakash in a number of films. He then scored independently for films like "Chamkee", "Tamaashaa", "Sukh rambhaa" among others. "raat mohe miiThaa miiThaa" and "mere chhoThe se dil ko" are two amazing melodies from "Tamaashaa".

To my knowledge, Talat has not composed in films. He is credited with composing at least two of his geets - "Khudaa vo vaqt na laae" and "dil kii duniyaa basaa gayaa hai kaun". The latter is one of his best geets.

Kishore turned in unforgettable music in "Door gagan kii chhaaon me", "Jhumroo" and "Door kaa raahi". All had fantastic Kishore songs and unforgettables from other singers too. Asha's "path bhuulaa ek aayaa musaafir" is a case in point. Kishore's own "panthii huu.N mai.n" is my all-time favorite Kishore solo.

Rafi, Lata, Asha, Geeta - I do not know if they composed anything. Maybe they did, but I have not heard any of them.

Hemant Kumar's name is missing from this list. He holds such a unique position in Indian cinema - the only top-league singer AND a top-league composer. I think of him first as a composer then a singer. But no question - he is perhaps the richest musical personality of our films.