A great site for Lata devotees - and Phadke

I recently landed on a site hosting rare Lata songs sorted by composers. Its a great great site for thouse looking to enjoy Lata songs during her peak hears (1948-1960). To repeat, the site is: http://rarelatasongs.in. I found the site had an excellent collection particularly for melodies in the 48-51 phase (which is what I was looking for). Categorization by composers shows that the site owner is a real kindred soul !

I spent some time there yesterday trying to see if there was anything mussing in my collection that the site could help fill. Happily, I as able to locate a few compositions of Sudhir Phadke that I was missing from films like "Gokul kaa chor" and "Ratnaghar". Sudhir Phadke unfortunately received limited success in Hindi films. His compositions, those with Lata in particular, only serve to show that this was Hindi cinema's loss. He of course remained a major figure in the world of Marathi music.

Bhabhi ki choodiyaan is perhaps his best-known film. I think it is one of the few times when a popular favorite also happens to be my favorite. The reason why I consider this to be Phadkeji's best is the greater variety in the melodies in this film and each kind is a composition to treasure. Lata again leads the track of course with such unforgettables as jyoti kalash chhalake and lau lagaatii. But what an impact Asha and Mukesh leave with such beauties as chaa.Nd tuu yahaa.N hai and tum se hii ghar ghar kahalaayaa. It is an outstanding mix of songs and it is almost impossible to not full a tug at the heart when you hear these songs.

A lovely snap

It is not very often that you see a photo of a very animated Lata, even in photos of her younger days. This photo hence is very special! She is caught in perhaps an amusing chat with Anilda as Madan Mohan and Talat look on.

Lata and S.N.Tripathi broke my Hemant Kumar train of thought today. As I worked listening to my iPod in a shuffle mode today norning, I suddenly found myself floating into that ecstatic state which only great music can travel you to. The song was "aaj milan kii raat hai raat hai" sung by Lata and composed by S.N.Tripathi from the 1958 film "Keechak Vadh" . I have since shifted my iPod to a Repeat mode replaying just this one song. It is a thrillling experience. I cannot explain what is so exhilerating about this song. The tune appears just good, the rendition as good as any other Lata rendition and the orchestration as good as any S.N.Tripathi song. But somehow all three combine together to transport me to the heavens today norning.

I guess there is a time and place for certain songs to impact you. I daresay the same song may not create the same impact when I listen to it tomorrow. But then I would rather take occassional trips to heaven than having none at all. This is one melody that I know I will keep listening to repeatedly for the next few days, at least till my folks at home shout "ENOUGH"!

I have shared this melody for you to experience. Hope you enjoy it.

"main apane dil kaa afsaanaa" - A gem

Genius is a lot about astonishing an audience. A musical genius is one who manages to create something that hits the listener out of the blue, whose notes seem to have been crafted on thin air. C.Ramchandra is definitely one such man.

I spent most of today listening to "main apane dil kaa afsaanaa sunaa luu.n phir chale jaanaa". What a creation it is. When you hear such compositions, you are astonished that this man crafted his tunes after getting the lyrics. What perfect harmony exists between the lyrics and the composition. Not one filler.. every word has been carefully crafted to a melody. The opening line:

<code>
mai.n apane dil kaa afsanaa sunaa luu.N phir chale jaanaa
</code>

doesnt seem to offer many oppurtunities for innovation. But by pproviding a sudden downward murki at <i>phir chale jaanaa</i>, CR creates a completely different mood altogether. The melancholy is doubled.. sadness suddenly seems to flood out. The lament of the character turns into a cry.. what images this simple murki provides. Thats genius for you. Of course, one need hardly  mention that Lata's rendition is simply perfect !!

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 !

"Yaasmeen" - a CR-Lata zenith !

C.Ramchandra is a name that is recalled by most even today, if only for the more popular "Anarkali" and "Albela" soundtracks. But for all the beauty of these tracks, I am most CR fans would vouch for "Yasmeen" as the defining Lata-CR soundtrack. While I generally consider "Sangeeta" a shade superior, when I hear the gentle despair of Lata in "ab vo raate.n kahaa.N", I am tempted - nay, convinced - to rate "Yaasmeen" higher. What a melody it is !! What genius ! What brilliant orchestration, composition and rendition. Simple poetry.. just plain awesome. I had the good fortune to get the video of this song recently. And seeing a ravishing Vyjantimala render the song does no harm at all to the whole musical experience.

CR saab - wherever you are in Heaven, I hope thats the sweetest spot there, for you deserve it so for enriching our lives with such great music. Thank you Sir !

The haunting "dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere"

I am just not able to stop playing this song. I have set my iTunes to keep playing this song repeatedly all morning. What an awesome song this is ! That the composer is Roshan comes as little surprise. Apart from Anil Biswas and C.Ramchandra, I would say Roshan has managed to hold me in such a mesmerized state most often. I remember how such melodies as "kis kii nazar kaa mast ishaaraa" and "vo paas nahii majabuur hai dil" affected me in a similar way.

This melody, rendered obviously by Lata, is from "Taksaal", lyrics penned by Prem Dhawan. The song is most haunting and carries some excellent use of the flute. The orchestration is kept to a bare minimum and the song is almost all-Lata.. the lyrics


dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere
ham ko pyaare hai.n Gam bhii tere
aur bhii ho sitam to kar le
ki sitam bhii karam hai.n tere
dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere

laake tuufaano.n me rakh dii
tuune naiyyaa zi.ndagii kii
aur chalate imtihaa.N hai
ki na bhiige daaman bhii
ye bataa de kab talak yuu.N
aazamaayegaa dil ko mere
dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere

baDhate jaate.n hai.n a.ndhere
Duubii jaatii hai.n nigaahe.n
tere bhaTake hue ba.ndhe
jaaye.n to kidhar jaaye.n
duur kyuu.N hai ham se dataa
terii rehamat ke savere
dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere

tuu jo nazaro.n se giraa de
to ye jiinaa bhii guNaah hai
apanii duniyaa se uThaa le
ab to ye hii iltajaa hai
marate marate bhii rahegaa
naam teraa hii lab pe mere
dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere


An absolute stunner of a song ! Roshan saab, Prem Dhawanji- my salute to you for such a magnificent creation..

Lata's Bests...

Srinivas started off another round of discussions on Lata's best at RMIM today [http://tinyurl.com/gvomx]. There have been plenty of discussions around Lata's bests - her best 10 songs, her best era, her best combination with music directors etc. This one was one her best song with a few selected composers. There can of course be no consensus on such issues except in cases of low output or quality. Here are my own personal selections - Lata's best with some of the best music directors :

Composer : song(film,year)
Anil Biswas : man me kisii kii priit basaale (Aaraam, 1951)
C.Ramchandra : tum kyaa jaano (Shin shina ki boobla boo, 1952)
Roshan : vo paas nahi majabuur hai dil (Naubahar, 1952)
Salil Chowdhury : o sajanaa (Parakh, 1961)
Khemchand Prakash : mushkil hai bahut mushkil (Mahal, 1949)
Shyamsundar : bahaar aai khilii kaliyaa.N (Alif Laila, 1953)
Husnlal Bhagatram : pii pii kii bolii na bol (Aan baan, 1954)
Sajjad Husain : kaalii kaalii raat re (Saiyaan, 1951)
Naushad : tere sadaqe balam (Amar, 1954)
Jaidev : tuu sach batalaa mujhe jogii (Joru ka ghulam, 1955)
Madan Mohan : chaa.Nd madham hai (Railway platform, 1956)
Hansraj Behl : haaye jiyaa roye (Milan, 1958)
S.D.Burman : chaa.Nd phir nikalaa (Paying guest, 1957)
Shankar Jaikishan : miTTii se khelate ho (Patita, 1953)
Hemant Kumar : kuchh dil ne kahaa (Anupama, 1966)
Ghulam Mohd : mausam hai aashiqaanaa (Pakeezah, 1971)
Bulo C Rani : maa.Ngane se jo maut mil jaatii (Sunahre qadam, 1966)
S.N.Tripathi : sunaa tuu man kii biin par (Ram Hanuman yudh, 1956)
Vinod : kaagaa re jaa re jaa re (Wafaa, 1950)
K.Datta : aa.Nkh me aa.Nsuu (Harihar bhakti, 1956)
Vasant Desai : ae maalik tere ba.nde ham (Do ankhen barah haath, 1958)
Sudhir Phadke : jyoti kalash chhalake (Bhabhi ki chudiyan, 1960)
Sardar Malik : chalataa rahe ye kaaravaa.N (Chor Bazaar, 1953)
Khayyam : kaii aese bhii aa.Nsuu hai.n (Gulbahar, 1954)

Some very honourable mentions of compositions without which my Lata collection would not be complete :

song(Composer,film,year)
saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoDakar (Chic Chocolate, Naadaan, 1951)
sapanaa ban saajan aaye (Jamal Sen, Shokhiyaan, 1951)
kahiyo roye dukhiyaare (Pt Amarnath, Garam Coat, 1953)
merii biinaa ke sur saath re (Basant Prakash, Saloni, 1952)
kyuu.N chamelii khilkhilaatii hai (B.S.Kalla, Bahut din huwe, 1954)
more nainaa saavan bhaado (V.Balsara, Vidyapati, 1964)
hai kahii.n par shaadamaanii (Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Aandhiyaan, 1952)

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.

"Parakh" - Salilda's musical masterpiece

Aaraam means rest or relaxation which is exactly what the music of this provides. The soundtrack is one of the most cherished ones of Anilda’s and apparently one of the master’s own favourites. The film itself is a drab though it boasts of a stellar cast that includes Dev Anand, Madhubala and Premnath. Thankfully, the songs are available at very good quality which allows us to enjoy the music without having to endure the film.


Lata owns the soundtrack with at least three masterpieces and two sweet melodies. “ruuThaa huaa chandaa hai” and “ujaDii re mere pyaar kii duniyaa” are pleasing songs but without any enduring quality about them. Lets now get on to the three memorable melodies that demonstrate why this soundtrack is so loved by the musical connoisseurs :


i) baalamavaa naadaa.N - a lovely, mildly classical piece rendered very very sweetly by Lata. The whole construction of the song is extremely charming conveying the joys of a young girl as she dances to her own heart’s content. The innocence of youth, the coyness, the subtle shyness is all brought out beautifully. The winning note here is the “jaa jaa jaa o balamaa jaa jaa jaa” refrain which is thrilling to hear.


ii) mil mil ke bichhaD gaye nain - on the other extreme of the spectrum is this song of utter despair, heart-break and a lady in tears. The composition is brilliant and the orchestration superb. Anilda apparently used to allow his assistant Ramlal to have control over the arrangement of the orchestra and Ramlal being a very good saxophone player uses that instrument to telling effect in many Anilda songs but it is sheer magic in this song. The hollowness of despair that the sax creates is a must-hear. Then Lata takes over..


iii) man me kisii kii priit basaa le - I would unhesitatingly rate this as one of Lata’s finest songs of all time and arguably, Anilda’s finest creation. When one talks of perfect songs, this one immediately leaps to my mind ! This is a song during the metamorphosis of the young girl into a beautiful woman who is looking for her Prince Charming. The dulcet vocals of Lata is no doubt magnificent to hear, but it is the piano which lingers in memory long after the song is done. Anilda has always used the piano to telling effect in his songs, right from the days of Basant and Jwaar Bhaataa. But this melody rules. No amount of words can do sufficient justice to the magic of this song. I think I will have a future post dedicated to talking about just this song.

Of course, there were other singers in the singers list as well,
- Manmohan Krishna and chorus had the fun song ye zi.ndagii ha i yo yo which is fun all right but not worth spending too much time over
- Talat Mahmood makes an appearence on the screen as well singing shukriyaa ae pyaar teraa. Another good song but not anywhere near Anilda-Talat best.
- Mukesh and ae jaane jigar. Now, this is a song worth spending some time over. The piano again is simply out of this world. Mukesh gives a wonderful rendition of the song and this has become one of Mukesh’s more easily available songs :) In fact, the three Mukesh-Anilda songs that form part of most Mukesh collections are dil jalataa hai to jalane de , jiivan sapanaa TuuT gayaa and ae jaane jigar. A melody forever !

Thats all for now. Be back with more later :)

"Parakh" - Salilda's musical masterpiece

Parakh

Salilda had acquired great popularity all over the country by the time Parakh was released in 1960. Madhumati, arguably the most popular musical of all time, had seen Salilda zooming to the zenith of his popularity in Bombay. And "Parakh" followed not too later.

Now, "Parakh" is in its own way as memorable a soundtrack as "Madhumati". The Lata perenials in the film are the stuff dreams are made of. There is hardly a wrong note in any of these Lata songs of the film. Each of them have their own distinct flavour. Not one of these songs would I miss out when draw a list of my 50 favourite Lata songs. That speaks volumes about the quality of these songs. Lets dig in then..

o sajanaa - The most celebrated song of the track, and indeed one of Lata's most cherished numbers. The Bengali original of the song naa jeo naa is equally brilliant. That version is devoid of all the orchestral flourishes that Salilda has added to the Hindi version. Pt Ravishankar was not pleased with Salilda having used such "heavy western instruments" in the interludes saying they tended to spoil the simple beauty of the song. Salilda however differed - and while that debate continues, personally I love the orchestration in the song. The typical Salilda use of the counterpoint in the antaraas enhance the beauty of the song and give it a very distinct Salil ring.

milaa hai kisii kaa jhumakaa - Another outstanding melody and a very typically complex Salilda composition. The notes sway from the low to high to the higher octaves successively. But Lata appears to handle it with consummate ease. The flute pieces in the melody are equally brilliant.

ye ba.nsii kyo.n gaaye - One of my very favourite Salilda compositions and easily amongst his most complex ones. The song is very fast and the notes move up and down as to cause even us listeners to gape in wonder. Lata and the flute again hold sway in the song. The song starts on a rather high note :

o ye ba.nsii haaye..

and then swings to the sway of the notes.

The antaraas in particular are tremendously crafted.. how Lata manages the switch from

ye ba.nsii nadiyaa ke tiir mohe dekh ke akelii

to

mujh ko sikhaade aa_ii priit pahelii

has to be heard to be believed. Lata and Lata alone could have rendered this song to such perfection !

mere man ke diye - One of those songs that creates an aura of deep isolation. Salilda realizes that such a mood can best be captured with that most potent of music - Silence. The song is a masterly synchronization of the cry of the heart and the silent cry that lingers around. The orchestra is magnificent, mainly built on choral singing. Then the beautiful interlude music which is simply a delightful play on the flute that gives a very "birdy" air to the song. What more can one say about Lata's singing ? Just listen to the song - you will be haunted.

Ok - so thats the soundtrack for today. Catch you with another great soundtrack soon..