Reliving Salil magic

Two posts in one evening - a record of sortatcs for me. Just catching up on old favorites on Youtube..

One of this is one of my great favorites of Bengali music- jodi kichuu amaar shudaai rendered by Shyamal Mitra for Salil Chowdhury.. this is one of those songs that make you feel helpless. You feel lost.. its very unsettling. There is something deep within you tat resonates to the composition.. the rendition. This is the magic of great music. The ultimate experience. A great composition meets a great voice and magic is created.

The fact that it is not just about the composition is underscored when you hear the same composition transposed to Poonam ki raat - dil taDape taDapaaye. After listening to the Bengali version, it is almost insulting to having hear the Hindi version. Rafi is a great singer but Salil compositions have never been his strong points and I always get the feeling that Salilda seemed to make Rafi sing to mock his singing abilities. Hearing Rafi sing this song is a real pain..

But there is a remedy. Just dont listen to this song. Give a repeat hear to Shyamal Mitra's magical rendition and cleanse your ears

"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..

Salilda's debut "Do bheega zameen"

I had talked about Salilda a couple of days back. Now, lets get on to his musical creations specifically. I am going to start with his Hindi output and take it soundtrack by soundtrack.

Do Bheegaa zameen : This was Salilda's first film in Bombay - the story was also his. The film went on to win international accolades and established Bimalda as one of the premier directors of the country. Alongside, it also established Salilda on the national scene. His music was immediately different and much removed from the established melody pattern of the day. Not to say that Salilda's music was not melodious - it was. But Salilda's musical outlook was very different from the others.

The title music of the film is itself brilliant. Salilda went on to gain enormous respect just as a creator of background music. He has composed just the background music for many films including one of the first songless film of India, "Kaanoon".

"dhartii kahe pukaar ke" is the first stunner in the film. Its an amazing composition that was daringly different at the time and proved to be a typical Salilda composition. The song, as Salilda himself pointed out, is inspired from a Russion red-army march song. Its inspiration, not plagiarization. The song starts with Mannada sounding on the inevitablity of marching forward in life..


ga.ngaa aur yamunaa kii gaharii hai dhaar
aage yaa piichhe sabako jaanaa hai paar


Then with a gentle rhythmic beat, the song switches to a robust pace. The brilliant innovation here is the switch to a komal note for the "..mausam biitaa jaaye" lines. Thats pure Salilda genius. Lata then joins in more conventional bhairavi for the antaraa "terii raaho.n me galiyo.n me.." . All in all, a brilliant song..

"aajaa rii aa ni.ndiyaa tuu aa" - When someone referred to "dhiire se aajaa rii akhiyan me" as the greatest lullaby of all times to C.Ramchandra, the master composer scoffed and said that it was this creation by Salil that deserved that honour. CR was not being modest. This melody is really representative of all thats magical about lullabies. Its soft, gentle - just capturing the serenity of the sequence. Lata's first solo for Salilda could hardly have been better ! Sheer magic..

"hariyaalaa saavan Dol bajaataa aayaa" - Salilda has few equals in the matter of creating folk songs. IMO, only Anil Biswas himself could match Salilda in this. But while Anilda was focussed on Indian folk, Salilda had a much wider canvas. He loved folk music from all nook and corners of the world. And he had the ability of keeping his compositions melodious even while capturing the exuberance of the song. This is a masterpiece of a song, brilliant orchestrated. And Manna Dey and Lata sound magnificent.

The other song in the film is "ajab torii duniyaa" is the song I least like in the film. Somehow Rafi always sounds terrible in such songs - Mannada sounds so much better. Salilda did not enjoy Rafi too much - and it would be good few years before he used him again in his films.

There you are. "Do bheegaa zameen" is a wonderful sountrack with three masterpiece compositions. Give it a hear if you havent so far. In fact, give the film a watch. Its a great film with Balraj Sahni outstanding. I cant imagine how he was looked over for the best actor award. Thats filmfare awards for you.

Salilda - An Introduction

It has been Salil Chowdhury's genius on my iPod all morning. Salilda was a one-of-a-kind composer and easily one of the greatest music composers of the last century. Salilda's musical style is easily recognizable - his tunes follow their own rules. The orchestra is thrilling though complex. The notes soar and fall successively as to give even a singer like Lata Mangeshkar a tough time.

Salilda never formally learnt music but he was exposed to a variety of music from his childhood. All his knowledge was picked up from his personal listening and interaction with other artistes. In the early 1940s, he started moving from one village to another hiding from the police due to his protests against the government for their management of the Bengal famine. His passion for folk music had its roots there. He visited various parts of the world to understand the folk music of the land. No wonder then that folk songs find a pride of place in his music creations. By the 1950s, Salilda was a well-known name in Bengal having created a host of cherished songs with Hemantda - "runner", "paalkir gaan" etc. In 1953, he was invited by Bimal Roy to compose for "Do bheega zameen", a film for which he wrote the script as well. The run-away musical success of the film with such songs as "mausam beetaa jaaye" and "aajaa ri aa ni.ndiyaa tu aa" ensured that Salilda was established in Bombay. He went to turn in many outstanding creations in Bombay - "Parivaar", "Awaaz", "Madhumati", "Maayaa", "Chhaayaa", "Parakh", "Prem patra", "Chaar deewaari", "Chand aur suraj", "Jhoolaa" etc were some of his memorable soundtracks during this period. After a brief hiatus when he was engaged in composing for Malayalam films, he returned with such tracks as "Chhoti si baat", "Anand", "Rajnigandhaa", "Annadaataa" etc in the 1970s. He passed away in 1993 leaving behind a treasure of amazing compositions and melodies that continue to enthral every new generation.

Thats an introduction to the man and his career. More detailed thoughts on his music later...