More than a decade ago when I was still pursung rare music in HMV's audio casstettes, I bought one which had songs from two films- Mohobbat isko kehte hain and Shagoon. Both had music by Khayyam. I had of course known Khayyam saab for his music in Sholaa aur shabnam, Umrao Jaan and other 70s ventures but even more so for his superlative non-film ghazals and geets with Talat and Mukesh. Both these films were disasters as far as box-office collections go and to be honest, I think they deserved their fate. At least, the former did. I saw it on Doordarshan some years back and it was a pain to sit through the film. But the songs are in a different league.
Lets start with Mohobbat isko kehte hain. The soundtrack is sheer megic with a combination of Rafi, Mukesh and Suman Kalyanpur doing the magic. My favorite songs from the film in descending order:
5. merii niGaah ne kyaa kaam laajavaab kiyaa (Mohd Rafi) : This film was released at a time when the Shammi Kappor-Shankar Jaikishan-Mohd Rafi brand of music was rooling the roost. But Rafi demonstrates his versatility by rendering this song in such a beautifully soft and romantic way.
4. itanaa husn pe guruur naa huzuur kiijiye (Mukesh) : A sheer delight of a song that was picturized on the comedian of the film. Mukesh is in fine form (as he usually was with Khayyam). I find it remarkable that even in such happy songs, Khayyam introduces a whiff, just a whiff, of melancholy with his orchestration. I lik it immensely.
3. ham se hotii mohobbat tumako (Suman Kalyanpur & Mukesh): Mukesh has rarely sounded as romantic as he does here. The song is a sheer delight with a brisk pace and Khayyam's seemilgly simplistic style that however digs deep, deep into your heart. Sheer magic !!
2. Thahariye hosh me aa luu.N (Mohd Rafi & Suman Kalyanpur) : Oh my !! What a melody this is.. Rafi and only Rafi could have rendered this with such gentleness, romance and that masculanity. Suman does her best to match up but Rafi is on another stratosphere. No wonder it endures as one of Rafi's most memorable renditions. And Khayyam saab- how is it that even in this oh-so-romantic song, you still make me fight to hold back tears?
1. jo ham pe guzaratii hai (Suman Kalyanpur): A surprise for some perhaps. Its a close thing between this song and the earlier duet but Suman's solo in this film captures everything I love about Khayyamsaab's music. Its simplicity of pesentation, focus on sheer melody, depth of emotions and a composition that immediately wrings your heart. Its Suman's best in my books. She is no Lata-clone here but distinctly Suman.
My Shagoon favorites follow in the next post.. but hope you enoyed these melodies.
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