Remembering Hemant Kumar - I

I frequently draw up a list of my favorite music directors and corresponding favorite soundtrack. Some names leap into the list. Then I hold and think - "I know I "am" forgetting someone I love". I then think of my favorite soundtracks - and lo! I quickly add "Hemant Kumar" to the list. Hemantda's great achievements as a music directors tend to be similarly forgotten or even worse, ignored by musical critics. I think this may have to do with Hemantda's own better-known standing as a singer. But to me, Hemantda the composer comes first.

Hemantda had already established himself in Bengal as a singer of Tagore songs and a fiom music director before he arrived in Bombay. In fact, his rendition of a host of folk songs of Salil Chowdhury became definitive Bengali songs in their own right. Think "Bengali song" and you think "dhitang dhitang bole". Hemantda opened his career auspiciously in Bombay with Filmistan's "Anandmath, a patriotic film on the aggression of a sect of "sadhus" against the British. The film was a success and Hemantda displayed his musical talents in such treasured melodies as "naino.n me saavan (Geeta), jai jagadiish hare (Hemantda with Geeta), aa re bha.nware aa (Geeta), kaise rokohe aese tuufaan ko (Talat with Geeta)" and then of course, that fiery version of "vande maataram" in male and female versions rendered by himself and Lata respectively. "Anandmath" is now a treasured soundtrack.

He was also fast rising in popularity as a playback singer. An important catalyst to this was his association with S.D.Burman, Dev Anand and Guru Dutt. These people played important roles in Hemantda's continued popularity in Bombay over the next decade or so and all three of them combined to provide Hemantda with one of the biggest hits of his career - "ye raat ye chaa.Ndanii phir kahaa.N" in "Jaal".

1953 saw Hemant Kumar getting associated with other musical giants of time. For Anil Biswas, he sang "ye zindagii hai ek safar" and "ek kalii aur do patiyaa.N" for the film "Raahi". He sang those unforgettable gems "zi.ndagii pyaar kii do chaar ghaDii hotii hai", "ae baade sabaa aahistaa chal" and "jaag darde ishq jaag" for C.Ramchandra in "Anaarkali". "yaad kiyaa dile ne kahaa.N ho tum" from "Patitaa" has become an epitome of romantic music in our films today and Shankar Jaikishan must be given full credit for recognizing Hemantda's true niche !! Apart from these bigger names, special mention must also be made of Hemantda's so-romantic "vo chaa.Nd nahii hai" with Asha Bhosle in "Aandhiyaan" for Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and that glorious "ae dil tuu kahii.n le chal" for Naresh Bhattacharya in the film "Shole".

Hemantda soared as a composer in 1954. In fact, he won Filmfare's Best Music Director award for that year for "Naagin". Lata Mangeshkar thus far had played a minor role in Hemantda's music. But now. she emerged as his most important singer. "Nagin" is a veritable Lata celebration with such gems as "man Dole meraa tan Dole", "meraa dil ye pukaare aajaa", "tere pyaar me jalakar dekh liyaa" and "mai.n aaii re tere liye saaraa jag chhoDake". Hemantda himself sang "tere dvaar khaDaa ek jogii" and "zi.ndagii ke dene vaale". Hemantda also tasted sccess as a composer with "Shart". This is one of my favorite Hemantda soundtracks. It boasts of my all-time favorite Hemant-Lata duet "dekho vo chaa.Nd chhupake", "na ye chaa.Nd hogaa" a pathos-filled tandem song rendered by Hemantda and Geeta, then the two Lata beauties "ae mere chaman mai.n huu.N vo kalii" and "mere taqadiir ke maalik" and Asha's splendid "mere hamasar tujhe kyaa khabar". A truly memorable score!!

Hemantda's voice was not one meant to sing any kind of a song. It had a niche. Hemantda was at his best when singing those oh-so-romantic gentle romantic breezers, the devotional songs and those folk-sy or "mass" songs. The first of these genres was what Shankar Jaikishan utilized very effectively - first in "Patitaa", then in "Baadshaah" in that most dulcet of duets "aa niile gagan tale pyaar ham kare.n". Lata and Hemantda both sound electrifying. However, Hemantda is so soft that Lata sounds a trifle screechy in comparison. The same film also had one of Hemantda's better sad songs "rulaakar chal diye ek din".

"Jaagriti" was Hemantd's biggest successas an MD in 1955. It was also a runaway success, musically as well. Pradeep's lyrics were heart-felt and found a suitable echo in Hemantda's music. "de dii hame aazaadii (Asha), aao bachcho.n tumhe dikhaaye.n (Pradeep), ham laaye.n hai.n tuufaan se (Rafi) and chalo chale.n maa (Asha)" endure in our minds even today. His other efforts were "Bahu" (with two Lata gems - "a.ng a.ng me uma.ng" and "ae darde jigar faryaad na kar"), "Bhagwat Mahima" and "Lagan". "Lagan" had two sad songs of Hemantda - "bahaae chaa.Nd ne aa.Nsuu" and "muhabbat kii zubaa.N chup hai". Buth are creditable renderings but it is my belief that Hemantda did not do full justice to the sad songs. That was not his niche. I always feel that a Talat or a Mukesh could have done better justice to these songs. Of course, Hemantda's voice is so pleasing that these songs also sound nice. But they dont carry the depth that a Talat sad song could bring. Oh and before we forget, Lata also rendered one of her favorite songs for Hemantda - "mujhe nazar se utaar kar tum".

Hemantda symbolizes the stylish, suave but gentle romance of Dev Anand in those years and I believe that the two "House no 44" wafters are a definitive in that genre. "terii duniyaa me jiine se" and "chup hai dhartii chup hai chaa.Nd sitaare" composed by S.D.Burman are amongst Hemantda's most popular songs figuring in almost every tape or CD Hemantda compilation from HMV. "nain so nain" is a memorable Lata-Hemant duet from Vasant Desai's "Jhanak jhanak paayal baaje".