Surveykshan on Anil Biswas

Vinay Jain has been organizing a "Surveykshan" for a while. Its a nice little exercise where music lovers list out their favorite soundtracks and songs by the great music directors. Such surveys have happened on Salil Chowdhury, S.D.Burman, Naushad etc. and now, its the turn of Anilda himself.

Some RMIM-ers opined that selecting 15 soundtracks for Anilda is a problem of shortage whereas 15 songs is a problem of plenty. Opinions of course differ from person to person. I had a hard time selecting 15 tracks of Shankar Jaikishan for example which a few found amazing. To me, a great soundtrack isone where at least 60% of the songs are great and a soundtrack becomes desert-island worthy when that percentage nuber becomes 90. In my opinion, Anilda has plenty of great soundtracks, but perhaps not too many desert-island ones. But thats equally true of all composers. Note that the emphasis is on the word "great" here and not just "good".

Take "Aaraam" for example. The great songs in this track are "man me kisii kii priit basaa le", "ae jaane jigar" and "mil mil ke bichhaD gaye nain". "baalamavaa naadaan", "shukriyaa ae pyaar teraa" and "ujaDii re mere pyar kii" are good songs while "zindagii hai yo yo" and "ruuThaa huaa chandaa hai" are average. So "Aaraam" may not necessarily be a desrt-island soundtrack (of course, it becomes one for me simply because I cannot survive without 'man me kisii kii' :)). On the other hand, "Taraanaa", "Anokhaa pyaar" and "Milan" are definitely desert-island worthy tracks.

Anyway, the purpose is to select 15 favorite soundtracks and I hit on the below list:

Aakaash - "bhiigii bhiigii raat aaii", "ab is mar mar ke", "so gaii chaandni", "mere dil ke giit chup the"
Aaraam - listed already
Anokhaa pyaar - all the songs
Basant - all the songs
Chhoti chhoti baaten - again, all the songs
Fareb - "aa mohobbat ki bastii", "udaasiyo.n me nazar", "husn bhii hai udaas udaas"
Gajre - "rah rah ke", "duur papiihaa bolaa", "riitam teraa meraa", "baras baras", "ghar yahaa.N"
Hamdard - all the songs
Jalti nishaani - "ruuTh ke tum to", "dil hai beqaraar", "kah rahii hai", "aaj bharii mehafil", "jalane lagaa"
Kismat - all songs
Maan - "mere pyaar me tujhe", "guazaraa huaa", "kah do ki", "dam bhar kaa", "allaah bhii hai"
Milan - all songs
Naaz - all songs
Taraanaa - all songs
Waaris - "raahii matavaale", "duur hote nahii", "kabhii hai Gam", "gazab kiyaa"

As many as 8 of these 15 soundtracks meet my criteria for a desert-island track. You may partly attribute this in part to my own partiality for the man's music. But I hope that I have created sufficient curiosity for you to venture into the wondrously melodious world of Anil Biswas' music

Ae jaan-e-jigar

There are times when words fail. I had the pleasure of seeing this song today morning and it made it my day. This song never fails to move me. One of the most deeply romantic songs, yet so melancholic. Mukesh is at his very best here. No one but he could have sung this song. Truly, Mukesh sounds so brilliant when he sings the compositions of Anilda. One cant help but wish that Anilda had not been so Lata-fixated and had given more songs to his favorite male singers during his peak years. Ab.. but then you hear "man me kisii kii priit basaa le".. and one goes back to wishing for more Lata-Anilda :) The dilemma of great music..

Man mein kisi ki - Aaraam

My all-time favorite song can now be viewed on Youtube. Lata is sweet as honey, piano just out of this world, Madhubala so fresh and lovely though she falls short on acting the song on screen. Enjoy this song..

Anilda - thou art my God !

"Milan"- a classic soundtrack

Watched the 1946 Dilip Kumar starrer “Milan” again yesterday and lived through the gorgeous Anil Biswas melodies all over again. There is no question that this is amongst the greatest of all Anilda sioundtracks and belongs to the top league of soundtracks like “Taraanaa”, “Aaraam” and “Kismat” by the same man. Parul Ghosh rules the track with four stunners and Shankardas Gupta, if I remember right, makes his first appearence in Anilda's music.

The film starts with a very young Dilip Kumar walking down the street and hearing "gun gun gun gun bole bha.Nvaravaa" being sung by his lady love - rendered so beautifully by Parul. You can almost feel a gentle breeze wafting across you when you hear Parul singing this song, so effortless and simple is her style. Then that masterpiece of a melody "suhaanii beriyaa biitii jaaye".. what a song that is !! Parul breezes through the melody.. at her best. The two other Parul songs are heavier, more melancholic but no less beautiful. "mai.n kisakii laaj nibhaauu.N" captures the dilemma of the heroine to a nicety while "jisane banaadii baa.Nsurii giit usii ke gaaye jaa" is one of my personal favorites. All in all, a veritable Parul Ghosh treasure here. Amidst all these treasures, it may be a trifle difficult to remember the two male-voiced songs in the film "vo kahe.n aap se" and "uupar hai baadriyaa kaarii". The latter is a masterpiece which captures the boatman's philosophy and the composition conveys the dark looming clouds and impending tragedies without going overboard. This is Anilda's genius - he captures the mood of the sequence without resorting to melodrama.


All in all. "Milan" is one of the treasure tracks of Hindi cinema and worth a million hears !

Piano in Hindi film songs

The piano was one of the rather oft-used instruments in the Indian film melodies of the 1940s and 1950s. This may be attributed to Tagore's love of the piano which manifested itself in his Rabindra Sangeet and as most of the early pioneers in orchestration like R.C.Boral and Pankaj Mallick were Bengali, that might well be the source of the inspiration.

I love the sound of the piano and feel it adds so much melody and beauty to the song. Even a simple tune becomes more appealing when the dulcet tones of the piano are added to it. Piano found a prominent place in the orchestra of most music directors of the time. In those days when the Victorian British influence on Indian society was still heavy, the piano used to be a common instrument in most upper-class households and the various rich-poor romances of the time provided ample scope for the usage of the piano. Either the boy or the girl would exhibit their happiness or their pathos on the piano. A good thing.. what melodies were created using the piano !!

I am not sure when was the first time piano was used in films. But I recall "rut hai suhaanii" from "Street singer" composed by R.C.Boral which had some lovely piano tones. Then there are a host of Pankaj Mallick songs which have a strong piano base. But in Bombay, I think it is safe to attribute much of the popularity of the piano to Anil Biswas.

It is for no reason that Anilda is called the pioneer of the orchestra in Hindi films. Recall the glorious "ek duniyaa basaa le" from "Basant" ? What an outstanding song and something that enthralls even today. The years that followed saw Anilda create plenty of magnificent songs on the piano including arguably the finest ever song on the piano - Lata's "man me kisii kii priit basaale". But thats not to be little the magnificent "tumhaare bulaane ko jii chaahataa hai" from "Laadli" and Mukesh's "ae jaan_e_jigar dil me samaane aajaa" from "Aaraam" again. Both these are right up there in the "greatest evers" list as well. Meena Kapoor's "bhiigii bhiigii raat aaii" is also very special. Talat's "jiivan hai madhuban" from "Jaasoos" is also pleasing.

Naushad Ali achieved his first success with songs based on UP folk songs in "Rattan". His piano songs in "Andaaz" - four in all and all rendered by Mukesh - were big hits. But to my mind, only "ham aaj kahii.n dil kho baiThe" as a real piano melody and is my favourite song from the film. And who can forget the memorable Talat-Shamshad duet "milate hii aa.Nkhe.n dil huaa" from "Baabul" ? However, to me, Naushad's piano melodies dont have the finesse and "class" which Anilda's songs had. Of course, there are exceptions - Rafi's "ae husn zaraa jaag" from "Mere mehboob" for example.

The piano melody that stands out in my mind as being the one closest to matching Anilda's magic is Roshan's "Anhonee" masterpiece for Talat in "mai.n dil huu.N ek aramaan bharaa". One of Talat's most popular songs, Roshan's usage of the piano is masterly. There are however not too many other piano songs Roshan has composed. Madan Mohan also does not have too many piano songs - "ham pyaar me jalane vaalo.n ko" from "Jailor" starts with piano pieces but finally has little to do with the piano.

S.D.Burman is not highly regarded for his orchestration - and I cant recall any memorable piano melodies from him. Shankar Jaikishan however has a few but the most beautiful piano piece was the prelude to "miTTii se khelate ho baar baar kis liye" from "Patita". Just beautiful ! Then the beautiful "aa jaao taDapate hai.n aramaa.N". But again, this is not really a piano song - the instrument only preludes the song and doesnt play much of a role thereafter.

Khayyam has composed a few exquisite melodies on the piano - "jiit hii le.nge baazii ham tum" is one of the greatest duets of all-time and the usage of the piano there illustrates what I said about the piano enhancing the song. A superb composition, beautiful renditions and then the piano.. superb. The other superb piano piece worth treasuring is Talat's soft-as-a-whisper romantic "gar terii navaazish ho jaaye" from "Gulbahaar". Another brilliant, waltz-like composition, brilliantly rendered.. and the piano WOW ! And I must mention Talat's non-film "kyaa itanaa bhii adhikaar nahii" which again has awesome piano notes. "Shagoon" had "tum apanaa ra.njho Gam" which is another winner.

Typically, Sajjad Husain presented a very different kind of piano presentation in "Sangdil" for Talat - "kahaa.N ho kahaa.N mere". Here the piano, in contrast to the usual gentleness, is almost raging here mirroring the despair of Dilip Kumar on screen. Its an outstanding song..

O.P.Nayyar composed for Rafi "aap ke hasiin rukh pe" in "Bahaaren phir bhi aayegi" and "puuchho na hame hamn un ke liye" for Asha Bhosle in "Mitti me sona" - both of which are all-time classics. Ravi's "chalo ek baar phir se" in "Gumraah" in Mahendra Kapoor's voice is one of his bests.

One of the last times we saw the piano used on screen was in "Kati patang" where Kishore Kumar croons "pyaar diivaanaa hotaa hai". But the tone had become louder and somehow, the old gentleness of the piano was missing. And by the mid-1970s, the piano had faded away completely from the movies. Today, we hardly ever get to hear original instruments on screen, most sounds are synthesized. And so is sadly the piano. The image of a hero or a heroine behind the piano will almost forever be an abiding image of the 1950s and 60s.

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.