Friday, January 22, 2010
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.
Monday, December 07, 2009
C.Ramchandra live !!
This is totally awesome !! I cant believe I am actually seeing one my great heroes live. Hope there would be more forthcoming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wAzFY7mQMU
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Watching Mannada live
The previous Sunday provided a musically sublime morning. Accompanied by my family and also my uncle, I day rnthralled for about a couple of hours as that great legend of Indian cone music Manna Dey took us down melody lane. Though his voice has lost a lot of it's brightness, Mannada could still come up with a commendable performance which is made even more remarkable when one recad that the man is past ninety. But I am certain Mannada would not like that to be a point of consideration.
I watched Maanada live foe the first time more than three years ago and to his great credit there has hardly been any change in his vocals. He still is sufficiently daring to take on "laagaa chunarii me daag" and "jhanak jhanak torii baaje". He also sang "zindagii kaisii hai pahelii" and "fil jaa haal sune" with lots of gutso.
Mannada walked on to the stage a full hour late and he walked into a standing ovation from a full house. Admirers and devotees of the man and the musical age he represents formed majority of the crowd. And then the were the few corporate boggies who were there just for the publicity.
What was most painful about the concert was the organization. There was a kit to be desired in the way the show was started- a silly speech and a roll call of the sponsors. Each of the spinsors' representatives Paige their obessiancw to the grat man though it got a little silly when one of them called for a 60 second ovation. This after Mannada had walked in barely a few moments earlier to a huge ovation which he himself had politely quitened. Our "chief guests" never change!
Mannada started with a prayer to the Maker "jisakaa koi nahii usakaa to"- a rather surprising (and disappointing) choice considering the wealth of high quality devotional songs he has sung. Then he sang a couple of non-film geets. The audience sprang to life with his next song "dil kaa haal". He next tried "sur naa saje" and this was easily the worst piece of the concert. He struggled with the high motes and also struggled to keep to tune. But happily thobgs improved with "kaun aayaa mere man ke dvaare" and further with classical songs like "phul gendavaa naa maaro" and "jhanak jhanak".
With local artiste Divya, he rendered some popular duets. Divya did not exactly set the hall on fire. Her singing was perfectly ordinary.
Mannada also sang a few of his ppular Bangla songs. But just as he appeared to be getting well and truly warmed up, the sponsors sent a message that tome was up and the hall had to be vacated. Another case of bad organization. We were deprived of the customary finale "ae mere pyaare vatan".
It was a memrable day indeed. It was a wonderful experience waching a legend at work. May God bless him with a long life to enthrall future generations of music lovers.
I watched Maanada live foe the first time more than three years ago and to his great credit there has hardly been any change in his vocals. He still is sufficiently daring to take on "laagaa chunarii me daag" and "jhanak jhanak torii baaje". He also sang "zindagii kaisii hai pahelii" and "fil jaa haal sune" with lots of gutso.
Mannada walked on to the stage a full hour late and he walked into a standing ovation from a full house. Admirers and devotees of the man and the musical age he represents formed majority of the crowd. And then the were the few corporate boggies who were there just for the publicity.
What was most painful about the concert was the organization. There was a kit to be desired in the way the show was started- a silly speech and a roll call of the sponsors. Each of the spinsors' representatives Paige their obessiancw to the grat man though it got a little silly when one of them called for a 60 second ovation. This after Mannada had walked in barely a few moments earlier to a huge ovation which he himself had politely quitened. Our "chief guests" never change!
Mannada started with a prayer to the Maker "jisakaa koi nahii usakaa to"- a rather surprising (and disappointing) choice considering the wealth of high quality devotional songs he has sung. Then he sang a couple of non-film geets. The audience sprang to life with his next song "dil kaa haal". He next tried "sur naa saje" and this was easily the worst piece of the concert. He struggled with the high motes and also struggled to keep to tune. But happily thobgs improved with "kaun aayaa mere man ke dvaare" and further with classical songs like "phul gendavaa naa maaro" and "jhanak jhanak".
With local artiste Divya, he rendered some popular duets. Divya did not exactly set the hall on fire. Her singing was perfectly ordinary.
Mannada also sang a few of his ppular Bangla songs. But just as he appeared to be getting well and truly warmed up, the sponsors sent a message that tome was up and the hall had to be vacated. Another case of bad organization. We were deprived of the customary finale "ae mere pyaare vatan".
It was a memrable day indeed. It was a wonderful experience waching a legend at work. May God bless him with a long life to enthrall future generations of music lovers.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Congrats Mannada !
Congratulations to Mannada on a thoroughly well-deserved Datasaheb Phalke award. The list of musical personalities who have been conferred the award have been a handful - Pankaj Mallick, R.C.Boral, Naushad, Lata Mangeshkar, Bhupen Hazarika and Asha Bhosle. Manna Dey is an illustrious addition to that list.
Apart from his sublime singing abilities, Mannada was also a competent music director. Like Kishore Kumar however, that facet he did not expand on. He assisted the great Khemchand Prakash for a few years and also composed some memorable songs in films like "Tamaashaa", "Chamkee" and "Sukh rambhaa". In fact, the Geeta solo "raat mohe miiThaa miiThaa" from "Tamaashaa" (which is credited to him in HFGK) is one of my personal all-time favorite Geeta songs.
There is little I can contribute new to the vast literature that has already been written about him and his singing abilities. Suffice to say that Mannada was in my opinion the most versatile singer of our films - superior to even Rafi in this regard.
While on Dadasaheb Phalke awards, I am saddened to see not a single South Indian musical personality in the list of Phalke award winners. That such legends as G.Ramanathan, M.S.Viswanathan, Ghantasala, P.B.Srinivas and P.Suseela have been ignored is beyond explanation. These great artistes have achieved as much, if not more, than their North Indian couterparts. G.Ramanathan was as much of a trend-setter and father-figure in Tamil cinema as R.C.Boral was in Calcutta. P.B.Srinivas is as much a multi-faceted genius as Bhupen Hazarika and almost as great a singer as Manna Dey. P.Suseela has sung as many memorable and popular melodies as Lata or Asha. In fact, considering that she ruled the roost in all South Indian languages, even more so. And M.S.Viswanathan - there are very very few music directors who can match up to the quality of his music. Naushad comes nowhere enar. I am sorry that there appears to be such an ignorance of South Indian film music in the Awards committee. I only hope things change..
Apart from his sublime singing abilities, Mannada was also a competent music director. Like Kishore Kumar however, that facet he did not expand on. He assisted the great Khemchand Prakash for a few years and also composed some memorable songs in films like "Tamaashaa", "Chamkee" and "Sukh rambhaa". In fact, the Geeta solo "raat mohe miiThaa miiThaa" from "Tamaashaa" (which is credited to him in HFGK) is one of my personal all-time favorite Geeta songs.
There is little I can contribute new to the vast literature that has already been written about him and his singing abilities. Suffice to say that Mannada was in my opinion the most versatile singer of our films - superior to even Rafi in this regard.
While on Dadasaheb Phalke awards, I am saddened to see not a single South Indian musical personality in the list of Phalke award winners. That such legends as G.Ramanathan, M.S.Viswanathan, Ghantasala, P.B.Srinivas and P.Suseela have been ignored is beyond explanation. These great artistes have achieved as much, if not more, than their North Indian couterparts. G.Ramanathan was as much of a trend-setter and father-figure in Tamil cinema as R.C.Boral was in Calcutta. P.B.Srinivas is as much a multi-faceted genius as Bhupen Hazarika and almost as great a singer as Manna Dey. P.Suseela has sung as many memorable and popular melodies as Lata or Asha. In fact, considering that she ruled the roost in all South Indian languages, even more so. And M.S.Viswanathan - there are very very few music directors who can match up to the quality of his music. Naushad comes nowhere enar. I am sorry that there appears to be such an ignorance of South Indian film music in the Awards committee. I only hope things change..
Monday, August 03, 2009
60 years of Shankar Jaikishan
It suddenly struck me that this year marks 60 years of Shankar Jaikishan's music. Both these men are no longer around, but their music continues to enthrall succeeding generations of music lovers. It is fair to say that few compoers have had such a long-sustained run of success. For almost two decades, they remained popular music directors who created music across different genres and styles which meant that their music had something for everybody.
I break S-J's output to three halves - "Barsaat" to "Basant bahar", "Basant Bahar" to "Junglee" and post-"Junglee". The first phase of S-J's career is filled with compositions that feature in my list of favorites. Some of their songs in their next phase I enjoy a lot but overall, I feel their music became repetitive and louder. Their eyes appeared to be fixed more on the Filmfare awards than on the music itself. The last phase was one where they reached their peak of popularity and reigned supreme in the film music world but qualitatively, their music rarely emerged above the average and I can recall only a few worthy soundtracks or songs from that last decade.
If legend is to be believed, then Shankar Jaikishan were roped in by Raj Kapoor in a quick move to replace Ram Ganguly. Ram Ganguly had given very successful music for Raj's first production, "Aag". Raj Kapoor persisted with him for his next film "Barsaat" also. Recordings had begun for the film when Lata Mangeshkar reported to Raj Kapoor that she had heard Ram Ganguly rehearsing almost the same compositions for another production also. This led to a fallout between Raj Kapoor and Ram Ganuly and Shankar Jaikishan were roped in to complete the music for "Barsaat". The film was a runaway musical success and formed a great musical team - Raj Kapoor, Shankar and Jaikishan, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh.
"Barsaat" is not a soundtrack I much enjoy, neither is the next output from this team "Aawaaraa" a great favorite of mine. But two songs from this film stand out - Mukesh's "ham tujhase muhabbat karake sanam" and Lata's "aa jaao taDapate hai.n aramaa.N". It is my opinion that SJ's best music came outside the RK banner and 1951 saw qutie a few unforgettable scores from their baton.
Baadal : "mai.n raahii bhaTakane vaalaa huu.N", "do din ke liye mehamaan yahaa.N" and "ae dil naa mujhase chhupaa"
Nageenaa: "rouu.N mai.n saagar ke kinaare", "dil beqaraar hai meraa". These were also amongst C.H.Atma's finest songs.
Kaali ghataa: "o kaalii ghaTaa ghir aaii re"
Another feature of Shankar Jaikishan's music was that they combined with almost all top singers of the time and created something memorable with them. As I said earlier, C.H.Atma's songs in "Nageenaa" are amongst his best remembered melodies. Lata and Mukesh's careers had already received a trmendous boost thanks to their songs in "Barsaat" and "Aawaaraa". In 1952, Shankar Jaikishan did the music for a Dilip Kumar film for the first time in "Daag" and this resulted in some of Talat Mahmood's most popular songs. "ae mere dil kahii.n aur chal", "ham dard ke maaro.n kaa" and "koii nahii meraa is duniyaa me" are all masterly compositions. Add to this Lata's "kaahe ko der lagaaii re" and "Priit ye kaisii bol rii duniyaa" and you have a soundtrack of desert-island proportions.
1953 was an interesting year in that it saw S-J releases with each of the upcoming superstars of Hindi cinema - Raj Kapoor's "Aah", Dev Anand's "Patitaa" and Dilip Kumar's "Shikast". All three had memorable music.
Raj Kapoor's next venture "Aah" was released in 1953 and SJ came up trumps again with such melodies as "jaane naa nazar", "ye shaam kii tanahaaiyaa.N", "raat andherii duur saveraa", "chhoTii sii ye zindagaanii re" and "raajaa kii aayegii baaraat".
1953 also saw Amiya Chakravarti's "Patitaa" released which is my personal S-J all-time favorite soundtrack. Every song in this film is worth a treasure. The Lata solos "kisii ne apanaa banaa ke mujhako" and "miTTii se khelate ho", the magnificent Lata-Hemant duet "yaad kiyaa dil ne kahaa.N ho tum" and Talat's magic in "andhe jahaa.N ke", "tujhe apane paas bulaatii hai" and "hai.n sab se madhur vo giit jinhe". What melodies!! Great lyrics, great renditions and great music. Dilip Kumar's "Shikast" is memorable for two bewitching songs - one of Talat-Lata's best duets "jab jab phuul khile" and Lata's "kaare badaraa tuu na jaa".
"Boot polish" was the high-point of SJ for 1954 and saw Manna Dey coming into prominence for the first time in a RK film. "Thahar zaraa o jaane vaale", "nanhe munne bachche terii", "raat gaii phir din aataa hai", "lapak jhapak tuu aa re badaravaa", "tumhaare haim tumase dayaa" and "chalii kaun se des" are all memorable in their own way. A truly great soundtrack!
"manamohanaa baDe jhuuThe" from "Seema" in 1955 endures as of the Lata's finest semi-classical songs in films. Lata's voice is at its sweetest and she takes the murkis with such apparent ease.eema" boasts of other unforgettable melodies like "tuu pyaar kaa saagar hai", "kahaa.N jaa rahaa hai" and "suno chhoTii sii guDiyaa kii". While "Seema" brought SJ a lot of critical acclaim, Raj Kapoor's "Shree 420" swept the box-office. Again, its not a personal favorite of mine but Lata's "o jaane vaale muDake zaraa" is one her bests for SJ.
We now approach the end of the first phase of SJ's musical cateer. 1956 had two great soundtracks - "Chori chori" and "Basant bahar" with "New Delhi" and "Halaaku". "Chori chori" temporarily threw up Manna Dey as a Raj Kapoor voice. Mannada has rarely sounded as romantic as he does in "ye raat bhiigii bhiigii" and "aa jaa sanam" and "jahaa.N mai.n jaatii huu.N". And who can forget the great Lata solos "pa.nchhi banuu.N" and "rasik balamaa". A grand soundtrack indeed. "Basant bahar" was a response to critics who questionaed SJ's classical bearings. While the music is good, it is definitely not in the leagure of other great pre-dominantly classical soundtracks like "Baiju bawra" and "Jhanak jhanak paayal baaje". Unforgettable melodies from "Basant bahaar" include "sur naa saje", "mai.n piyaa terii", "duniyaa naa bhaaye mohe", "baDii der bhaii" and "bhay bhanjanaa". SJ provided Rafi-Lata with one of their best duets in "Halaaku" - "aajaa ki intazaar me" while Kishore Kumar had his first major hit with SJ in "nakhrevaalii" in "New Delhi".
With the fading away of the older legends like Anil Biswas, C.Ramchandra and Husnlal Bhagatram in the later 1950s, SJ went on from strength to strength as they defined the new-age music. They struck immediate gold with the new-age superstars Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kapoor and became their composers of choice, while continuing to compose for almost all Raj Kapoor films. Their successful run continued non-stop till Jaikishan passed away in 1971. This duo definitely brought in planty of joy to us music lovers and despite other reservations, I must doff my hat to them for the kind of musical creations they gave us.
I break S-J's output to three halves - "Barsaat" to "Basant bahar", "Basant Bahar" to "Junglee" and post-"Junglee". The first phase of S-J's career is filled with compositions that feature in my list of favorites. Some of their songs in their next phase I enjoy a lot but overall, I feel their music became repetitive and louder. Their eyes appeared to be fixed more on the Filmfare awards than on the music itself. The last phase was one where they reached their peak of popularity and reigned supreme in the film music world but qualitatively, their music rarely emerged above the average and I can recall only a few worthy soundtracks or songs from that last decade.
If legend is to be believed, then Shankar Jaikishan were roped in by Raj Kapoor in a quick move to replace Ram Ganguly. Ram Ganguly had given very successful music for Raj's first production, "Aag". Raj Kapoor persisted with him for his next film "Barsaat" also. Recordings had begun for the film when Lata Mangeshkar reported to Raj Kapoor that she had heard Ram Ganguly rehearsing almost the same compositions for another production also. This led to a fallout between Raj Kapoor and Ram Ganuly and Shankar Jaikishan were roped in to complete the music for "Barsaat". The film was a runaway musical success and formed a great musical team - Raj Kapoor, Shankar and Jaikishan, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh.
"Barsaat" is not a soundtrack I much enjoy, neither is the next output from this team "Aawaaraa" a great favorite of mine. But two songs from this film stand out - Mukesh's "ham tujhase muhabbat karake sanam" and Lata's "aa jaao taDapate hai.n aramaa.N". It is my opinion that SJ's best music came outside the RK banner and 1951 saw qutie a few unforgettable scores from their baton.
Baadal : "mai.n raahii bhaTakane vaalaa huu.N", "do din ke liye mehamaan yahaa.N" and "ae dil naa mujhase chhupaa"
Nageenaa: "rouu.N mai.n saagar ke kinaare", "dil beqaraar hai meraa". These were also amongst C.H.Atma's finest songs.
Kaali ghataa: "o kaalii ghaTaa ghir aaii re"
Another feature of Shankar Jaikishan's music was that they combined with almost all top singers of the time and created something memorable with them. As I said earlier, C.H.Atma's songs in "Nageenaa" are amongst his best remembered melodies. Lata and Mukesh's careers had already received a trmendous boost thanks to their songs in "Barsaat" and "Aawaaraa". In 1952, Shankar Jaikishan did the music for a Dilip Kumar film for the first time in "Daag" and this resulted in some of Talat Mahmood's most popular songs. "ae mere dil kahii.n aur chal", "ham dard ke maaro.n kaa" and "koii nahii meraa is duniyaa me" are all masterly compositions. Add to this Lata's "kaahe ko der lagaaii re" and "Priit ye kaisii bol rii duniyaa" and you have a soundtrack of desert-island proportions.
1953 was an interesting year in that it saw S-J releases with each of the upcoming superstars of Hindi cinema - Raj Kapoor's "Aah", Dev Anand's "Patitaa" and Dilip Kumar's "Shikast". All three had memorable music.
Raj Kapoor's next venture "Aah" was released in 1953 and SJ came up trumps again with such melodies as "jaane naa nazar", "ye shaam kii tanahaaiyaa.N", "raat andherii duur saveraa", "chhoTii sii ye zindagaanii re" and "raajaa kii aayegii baaraat".
1953 also saw Amiya Chakravarti's "Patitaa" released which is my personal S-J all-time favorite soundtrack. Every song in this film is worth a treasure. The Lata solos "kisii ne apanaa banaa ke mujhako" and "miTTii se khelate ho", the magnificent Lata-Hemant duet "yaad kiyaa dil ne kahaa.N ho tum" and Talat's magic in "andhe jahaa.N ke", "tujhe apane paas bulaatii hai" and "hai.n sab se madhur vo giit jinhe". What melodies!! Great lyrics, great renditions and great music. Dilip Kumar's "Shikast" is memorable for two bewitching songs - one of Talat-Lata's best duets "jab jab phuul khile" and Lata's "kaare badaraa tuu na jaa".
"Boot polish" was the high-point of SJ for 1954 and saw Manna Dey coming into prominence for the first time in a RK film. "Thahar zaraa o jaane vaale", "nanhe munne bachche terii", "raat gaii phir din aataa hai", "lapak jhapak tuu aa re badaravaa", "tumhaare haim tumase dayaa" and "chalii kaun se des" are all memorable in their own way. A truly great soundtrack!
"manamohanaa baDe jhuuThe" from "Seema" in 1955 endures as of the Lata's finest semi-classical songs in films. Lata's voice is at its sweetest and she takes the murkis with such apparent ease.eema" boasts of other unforgettable melodies like "tuu pyaar kaa saagar hai", "kahaa.N jaa rahaa hai" and "suno chhoTii sii guDiyaa kii". While "Seema" brought SJ a lot of critical acclaim, Raj Kapoor's "Shree 420" swept the box-office. Again, its not a personal favorite of mine but Lata's "o jaane vaale muDake zaraa" is one her bests for SJ.
We now approach the end of the first phase of SJ's musical cateer. 1956 had two great soundtracks - "Chori chori" and "Basant bahar" with "New Delhi" and "Halaaku". "Chori chori" temporarily threw up Manna Dey as a Raj Kapoor voice. Mannada has rarely sounded as romantic as he does in "ye raat bhiigii bhiigii" and "aa jaa sanam" and "jahaa.N mai.n jaatii huu.N". And who can forget the great Lata solos "pa.nchhi banuu.N" and "rasik balamaa". A grand soundtrack indeed. "Basant bahar" was a response to critics who questionaed SJ's classical bearings. While the music is good, it is definitely not in the leagure of other great pre-dominantly classical soundtracks like "Baiju bawra" and "Jhanak jhanak paayal baaje". Unforgettable melodies from "Basant bahaar" include "sur naa saje", "mai.n piyaa terii", "duniyaa naa bhaaye mohe", "baDii der bhaii" and "bhay bhanjanaa". SJ provided Rafi-Lata with one of their best duets in "Halaaku" - "aajaa ki intazaar me" while Kishore Kumar had his first major hit with SJ in "nakhrevaalii" in "New Delhi".
With the fading away of the older legends like Anil Biswas, C.Ramchandra and Husnlal Bhagatram in the later 1950s, SJ went on from strength to strength as they defined the new-age music. They struck immediate gold with the new-age superstars Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kapoor and became their composers of choice, while continuing to compose for almost all Raj Kapoor films. Their successful run continued non-stop till Jaikishan passed away in 1971. This duo definitely brought in planty of joy to us music lovers and despite other reservations, I must doff my hat to them for the kind of musical creations they gave us.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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
Monday, June 08, 2009
Who composed "saari duniyaa ko piichhe" ?
The kind of musical talent that abounded in the early 1950s is something that is extremely difficult to fathonm for those absorbed in today's music. Its very probable that music chroniclers and historians will tend to just pick at the surface, the composers who managed to hit it big, ignoring the multitudes who remained unknown but occassionally, a magic melody plays and you are totally overwelhmed by the music. You rush to the Geet Kosh to find details on the music maker. You expect to see Anil Biswas or Naushad or C.Ramchandra or S.D.Burman, but no - it is Basant Prakash or maybe V.Balsara or perhaps Mohammed Shafi.
I had a similar experience when I was first totally mesmerized by "saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoaDakar" from "Naadaan". The film did not ring a bell and I referred to that Holy Book of film music history, the Geet Kosh. I discovered it to be a Madhubala-Dev Anand starrer released in 1951 and that the music director was Chic Choclate! However, the fact that C.Rachandra was mentioned as a "music arranger" raised a lot of questions about who the real melody maker was. It is a rumor that that C.Ramchandra composed under multiple names, one of which was Chic Chocolate, However, in an interview years later when questioned on this, C.Ramchandra dismissed this rumor saying that Chic Chocolate was one of his assistants who also indulged in musical composition independently. Perhaps it is the fact he was CR's assistant accounts for the fact that his music is so-CRish, both the tunes as well as the orchestration. This is particularly true in case of his Lata meldies like "saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoDar" and "aeasaa kyaa qasuur kiyaa" from "Naadaan", "chandaa ko sitaaraa mile", "ham naino.n me laaye hai.n pyaar" and "koii dard hamaaraa kyaa samajhe" from "Rangeelee". The online reference site earthmusic.net adds further confusion by listing "saarii duniyaa ko piicche chhoDakar" twice - one crediting Chic Chocolate as the MD and the other C.Ramchandra.
So the mystery is still unsolved as to who created one of the greatest chorus-backed melodies ever for Lata in "Naadaan" - was it the master himself or was it his assistant? There may be three who could tell us - two of them (the MDs) have passed on and the third, the Lady no longer has a very reliable memory, paricularly when t comes to a man called C.Ramchandra.
Listen to this great song
I had a similar experience when I was first totally mesmerized by "saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoaDakar" from "Naadaan". The film did not ring a bell and I referred to that Holy Book of film music history, the Geet Kosh. I discovered it to be a Madhubala-Dev Anand starrer released in 1951 and that the music director was Chic Choclate! However, the fact that C.Rachandra was mentioned as a "music arranger" raised a lot of questions about who the real melody maker was. It is a rumor that that C.Ramchandra composed under multiple names, one of which was Chic Chocolate, However, in an interview years later when questioned on this, C.Ramchandra dismissed this rumor saying that Chic Chocolate was one of his assistants who also indulged in musical composition independently. Perhaps it is the fact he was CR's assistant accounts for the fact that his music is so-CRish, both the tunes as well as the orchestration. This is particularly true in case of his Lata meldies like "saarii duniyaa ko piichhe chhoDar" and "aeasaa kyaa qasuur kiyaa" from "Naadaan", "chandaa ko sitaaraa mile", "ham naino.n me laaye hai.n pyaar" and "koii dard hamaaraa kyaa samajhe" from "Rangeelee". The online reference site earthmusic.net adds further confusion by listing "saarii duniyaa ko piicche chhoDakar" twice - one crediting Chic Chocolate as the MD and the other C.Ramchandra.
So the mystery is still unsolved as to who created one of the greatest chorus-backed melodies ever for Lata in "Naadaan" - was it the master himself or was it his assistant? There may be three who could tell us - two of them (the MDs) have passed on and the third, the Lady no longer has a very reliable memory, paricularly when t comes to a man called C.Ramchandra.
Listen to this great song
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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".
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".
Monday, May 11, 2009
Naushad - The Golden Period
My love for old music in its depths was fuelled by "Baiju Bawra" - and Naushad. That happed about two decades ago. Since then, I have spent a fair bit of time swimming around in the ocean that is old film music. My musical leanings have undergone subtle changes. Naushad has remained a favorite through a lot of those two decaudes and he continues to be amongst my favorites. But he no longer holds such a demi-god image as as he did for me such a time ago. I find a lot of his music repetitive and uninspiring. In fact, post-1955, I would struggle to come up with any Naushad soundtrack I treasure with the glorious exception of "Mughal-e-Azam".
But Naushad's soundtracks during the 1951-1955 period are immortal and ensure the continued reverence of the music director. Of course, his golden run started much earlier. The golden run started with "Rattan" in 1946 and continued till "Udan Khatola" in 1955. Between 1946 and 1951, Naushad created such masterpieces as "Anmol ghadi", "Shahjahan", "Dillagi", "Dulaari", "Dard", "Anokhi ada", "Andaaz", "Chaandni raat", "Elaan" and "Baabul". All of these were runaway musical successes elevating Naushad as the numero uno music director of the day. His music almost guaranteed a film's success.
That aura continued unabated and in an elevated fervour for the next 5 years. Lets look at the unforgettable soundtracks during this period:
Deedaar - One of the massive successes of the time, this film firmly established Rafi and Lata as the singers supreme in Naushad's musical world. Remember that "Babul" in 1950 had Talat Mahmood and Shamshad Begum as the lead vocals. Naushad switched again to Rafi and Lata and this time, the swicth was for good. The melodies are unforgattable - "hue ham jinake lie barabaad", "nasiib dar pe tere", "chaman me rahake viiraanaa", "nazar phero naa hamase", "dekh liyaa maine", "merii kahaanii bhuulane vaale" and that great whiff of joy and tears, "bachapan ke din bhulaa naa denaa",
Aan - Mehboob's magnum opus found a suitable ally in Naushad's grand score. While this soundtrack is not one of of my favorites, one cant but sway to the lilts of "aaj mere man me sakhii", "dil me chhupaake pyaar kaa" and "Takaraa gayaa tumase dil hii ti hai".
Baiju Bawra - this legendary soundtrack requires no introduction from me. It is a milestone in the history of Indian musicals and no question that Naushad played a huge role in bigging classical music to prominence in our films. "Semi-classical" songs became a new genre.
Shabaab - Quickly on the heels of "Baiju Bawra", Naushad attempted to further cement his standing in the classical music idion within the realms of film music. His attempt was successful to a great extent. While not soaring to the heights "Baiju Bawra", the music of "Shabaab" is enchanting and there are a number of Naushad-affecionados who rate "Shabaab" over "Baiju Bawra" as Naushad's best. Again, Rafi and Lata dominate soundtrack but Hemant Kumar makes a rare and unforgettable appearence in Naushad's music with "chandan kaa palanaa resham kii Dorii". Other famous songs from "Shabaab" include "maranaa terii galii me", "yahii aramaan lekar aaj", "man kii been matavaarii vaaje", "jogan ban jaauu/Ngii", "mahalo.n me rahane vaale", "mar gaye ham jiite jii" and "aaye naa baalam vaadaa kaake".
Amar - Mehboob's next offering after "Aan" was totally different. The film was in black and white. There was no grandiose about the film. It was a much more ethnic setting and Naushad was in his element in perhaps his best ever Lata scores. While Rafi sang perhaps the most popular song of the film "insaaf kaa ma.ndir hai ye", all - and I mean ALL - the other songs were sung Lata alone or with chours. The songs were a delightful mix of the folk and "filmy". This is definitely one of Naushad's best soundtracks. Listen to Lata's sweetness in "uDii uDii chhaaii ghaTaa", "uma.ngo.n ko sakhii", "naa shiqavaa hai koii", "tere sadaqe balam naa kar koii Gam", "khaamosh hai khevantaar meraa" and "na milataa Gam to barabaadii". Each song a treasure. This soundtrack really captures the true magic of Naushad - that fusion of folk and the classical. He repeated this again in his next film but after that, he fell into living upto his own image of himself as the Classical Guru of Hindi film music and that meant his music lost a lot of its variety and joy that one can behold in abundance in "Amar".
Udan Khatola - Released in 1955, this marks the boundary when assessing Naushad's creative era. It is amazing that in hindsight, the year 1955 had such huge changes for a number of musical giants of the time. C.Ramchandra's downslide started iatekmmediateky after, Talat Mahmood began to slip down his pedestal also almost immediately, Anil Biswas' own personal turmoils and professional dark years started clouding in, Husnlal Bhagatram started fading away, Suraiya's era was drawing to a close and overall, a new era was arriving in Hindi films. The late 40s through 1955 saw softer films, heroes and heroines who suffered in silence than believing in a revolt.. "Udan Khatola"'s music was utterly fabulous and again, amongst Naushad;s very bests. "meraa salaam lejaa" never fails to make me feel lighter and happy - another sheer joy of a song. Then the masterly Rafi melodies "o duur ke musaafir", "mohobbat kii raaho.n me" and "naa tuufaa.N se khelo" and those unforgettable Lata beauties "ghar aayaa mehamaan koii", "more saiyaa.Njii utare.nge paar ho", "haale dil mai.n kyaa karuu.N" and "hamaare dil se naa jaanaa". A true treasure if ever there was one.
What a host of soundtracks those are. I believe a lot of Naushad's standing is based on these soundtracks. It is not that his following musicals were not successful. "Kohinoor", "Mughal-e-Azam" and "Mere mehboob" were all huge hits but (again excepting "Mughal-e-Azam") they dont excite the senses as much as his above soundtracks do. This legendary music director deserves to be celebrated just for providing us with these soundtracks but then he created much more earlier. A true legend!
But Naushad's soundtracks during the 1951-1955 period are immortal and ensure the continued reverence of the music director. Of course, his golden run started much earlier. The golden run started with "Rattan" in 1946 and continued till "Udan Khatola" in 1955. Between 1946 and 1951, Naushad created such masterpieces as "Anmol ghadi", "Shahjahan", "Dillagi", "Dulaari", "Dard", "Anokhi ada", "Andaaz", "Chaandni raat", "Elaan" and "Baabul". All of these were runaway musical successes elevating Naushad as the numero uno music director of the day. His music almost guaranteed a film's success.
That aura continued unabated and in an elevated fervour for the next 5 years. Lets look at the unforgettable soundtracks during this period:
Deedaar - One of the massive successes of the time, this film firmly established Rafi and Lata as the singers supreme in Naushad's musical world. Remember that "Babul" in 1950 had Talat Mahmood and Shamshad Begum as the lead vocals. Naushad switched again to Rafi and Lata and this time, the swicth was for good. The melodies are unforgattable - "hue ham jinake lie barabaad", "nasiib dar pe tere", "chaman me rahake viiraanaa", "nazar phero naa hamase", "dekh liyaa maine", "merii kahaanii bhuulane vaale" and that great whiff of joy and tears, "bachapan ke din bhulaa naa denaa",
Aan - Mehboob's magnum opus found a suitable ally in Naushad's grand score. While this soundtrack is not one of of my favorites, one cant but sway to the lilts of "aaj mere man me sakhii", "dil me chhupaake pyaar kaa" and "Takaraa gayaa tumase dil hii ti hai".
Baiju Bawra - this legendary soundtrack requires no introduction from me. It is a milestone in the history of Indian musicals and no question that Naushad played a huge role in bigging classical music to prominence in our films. "Semi-classical" songs became a new genre.
Shabaab - Quickly on the heels of "Baiju Bawra", Naushad attempted to further cement his standing in the classical music idion within the realms of film music. His attempt was successful to a great extent. While not soaring to the heights "Baiju Bawra", the music of "Shabaab" is enchanting and there are a number of Naushad-affecionados who rate "Shabaab" over "Baiju Bawra" as Naushad's best. Again, Rafi and Lata dominate soundtrack but Hemant Kumar makes a rare and unforgettable appearence in Naushad's music with "chandan kaa palanaa resham kii Dorii". Other famous songs from "Shabaab" include "maranaa terii galii me", "yahii aramaan lekar aaj", "man kii been matavaarii vaaje", "jogan ban jaauu/Ngii", "mahalo.n me rahane vaale", "mar gaye ham jiite jii" and "aaye naa baalam vaadaa kaake".
Amar - Mehboob's next offering after "Aan" was totally different. The film was in black and white. There was no grandiose about the film. It was a much more ethnic setting and Naushad was in his element in perhaps his best ever Lata scores. While Rafi sang perhaps the most popular song of the film "insaaf kaa ma.ndir hai ye", all - and I mean ALL - the other songs were sung Lata alone or with chours. The songs were a delightful mix of the folk and "filmy". This is definitely one of Naushad's best soundtracks. Listen to Lata's sweetness in "uDii uDii chhaaii ghaTaa", "uma.ngo.n ko sakhii", "naa shiqavaa hai koii", "tere sadaqe balam naa kar koii Gam", "khaamosh hai khevantaar meraa" and "na milataa Gam to barabaadii". Each song a treasure. This soundtrack really captures the true magic of Naushad - that fusion of folk and the classical. He repeated this again in his next film but after that, he fell into living upto his own image of himself as the Classical Guru of Hindi film music and that meant his music lost a lot of its variety and joy that one can behold in abundance in "Amar".
Udan Khatola - Released in 1955, this marks the boundary when assessing Naushad's creative era. It is amazing that in hindsight, the year 1955 had such huge changes for a number of musical giants of the time. C.Ramchandra's downslide started iatekmmediateky after, Talat Mahmood began to slip down his pedestal also almost immediately, Anil Biswas' own personal turmoils and professional dark years started clouding in, Husnlal Bhagatram started fading away, Suraiya's era was drawing to a close and overall, a new era was arriving in Hindi films. The late 40s through 1955 saw softer films, heroes and heroines who suffered in silence than believing in a revolt.. "Udan Khatola"'s music was utterly fabulous and again, amongst Naushad;s very bests. "meraa salaam lejaa" never fails to make me feel lighter and happy - another sheer joy of a song. Then the masterly Rafi melodies "o duur ke musaafir", "mohobbat kii raaho.n me" and "naa tuufaa.N se khelo" and those unforgettable Lata beauties "ghar aayaa mehamaan koii", "more saiyaa.Njii utare.nge paar ho", "haale dil mai.n kyaa karuu.N" and "hamaare dil se naa jaanaa". A true treasure if ever there was one.
What a host of soundtracks those are. I believe a lot of Naushad's standing is based on these soundtracks. It is not that his following musicals were not successful. "Kohinoor", "Mughal-e-Azam" and "Mere mehboob" were all huge hits but (again excepting "Mughal-e-Azam") they dont excite the senses as much as his above soundtracks do. This legendary music director deserves to be celebrated just for providing us with these soundtracks but then he created much more earlier. A true legend!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The magic of P.B.Srinivas - II
We were talking Sridhar-Viswanathan Ramamoorthy-P.B.Srinivas the other day. Together, these titans of Tamil cinema created a wealth of great cinema and music that are smash hits even today.
1. "Nenjil or aalayam" - A milestone film in Tamil cinema. It was remade into Hindi as "Dil ek mandir" but Viwanathan Ramamoorthy's music was at a different plane altogether. In fact, Sridhar remade quite a few of his films to Hindi. But for all the great composers in Bombay, not one film was able to match the Tamil original's music. Anyway, "nenjil Or aalayam" boasted of a whole host of beautiful songs. But PBS' "ninaipadellaam naDanduviTTaal deivam yEdum illai" is perhaps the most popular. A beautiful melody with trademark Viswanathan Ramamoorthy orchestration and brilliant Kannadasan lyrics.
2. "Nenjam marapadillai" - Sridhar roped in Kalyan Kumar and Devika again for his next film. Inspired by Madhumati, this was a romance across births. Again hugely successful, the film boasted of great music. PBS revels in two evergreen duets - with S.Janaki in "azagukkum malarukkum jaadi illai" and with P.Suseela in the haunting "nenjam marapadillai".
3. "Sumaitaangi" - I have already talked about the two great PBS solos on Gemini Ganesan - "manidan enbavan" and "mayakkamaa kalakkamaa". In addition he also had two popular duets with S.Janaki - "inda paruvattin kELvikku badil yenna" and "maambazattu vaNDu".
4. "Policekaaran magaL" - Easily one of the great soundtracks of Tamil cinema. It deserves to be so cherished if only for that duet-of-duets "inda manDratil ODi varum" with S.Janaki and PBS. Viswanathan Ramamoorthy's orchestration is simply out of this world. The flute pieces keep your heart soaring and you are left wonderstruck at the creative juices that flowed from this musical duo. PBS sounds breathtaking here. With S.Janaki, he also rendered "aanDonDru pOnaal" and "pon enbEn". Both great songs.. and then finally the solo "nilavukku en mEl ennaDi kObam". This is a true treasure of a soundtrack and it is heartening that the film manages to generate such interest today also.
5. "Kaadalikka nEram illai" - Sridhar's most successful film and a definitive Tamil comedy, one of the best ever of Indian cinema. It boasted of a great set of character artistes. Musically also, the film is worth treasuring. Doesnt if after all boast of one of the greatest PBS-P.Suseela duets of all time - "naaLaam naaLaam tiru naaLaam"? Magnificent orchestration again. Other memorable PBS songs in this film include "maaDi mElE maaDi kaTTi", "onga ponaana kaigaL puN aagalaamaa" and "anubavam pudumai".
These were the best tracks of the combo that I can immediately recall. There were other memorable soundtracks as well like "Kalai kovil" and "Venniraadai" .
We can spend eons going gaga over Viswanathan Ramamoorthy's melodies on PBS but lets round off now with a few final sparklers- "uDalukku uyir kaaval" and "paartu paartu ninDaradilE" from "Mana pandal", "yaar siritaal yenna yaar azudaal yenna" in "Idayatil nee", "kaNgalE kaNgalE " from "Vaazkai kaDagu", "yennai toTTu senDrana kaNgaL" from "Paar magale paar", "iLamai koluvirukkum" and "kaadal nilavE" from "Hello Mr Zamindar", "idaz moTTu virindiDa" from "Banda paasam", kaaTru vandaal talai saayum" from "Kaathirunda kaNgal", "mounamE paarvayaal" from "Kodi malar", "nilavE enniDam nerungaadE" from "Ramu" and "pon onDru kaNDEn peN angu illai" from "Paditaal maTTum pOdumaa". All classics!!
The genius of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy is such that they tend to overshadow the other giants of Tamil cine music. That would be a travesty. There is the legendary K.V.Madevan first. In a recent concert to honor PBS, K.J.Yesudas mentioned "oruti oruvanai ninatu viTTaal" as one his favorite songs. Indeed, this enchanting duet is one of the best ever. Other gems include "yedo manidan pirandu viTTaan" from "Panitirai", "paarten siritEn" from "Veera Abhimanyu", "tOL kaNDEn toLE kaNDEn" from "Idhaya kamalam" and "yEn siritaai yenna paartu" from "Ponniyin thirunaal".
With G.Ramanathan, PBS sang only a few songs but they are memorable ! "kaaTru veLi iDai kaNNammaa" from "Kapal OTiya tamizan", "inbam pongum veNNilaa viisudE" from "Vanji kOTTai vaaliban" and "yen aaruyirE" from "Deivathin deivam".
Time has not diminished PBS' standing. The appeal of his melodies has only increased with time. I think it is fair to say that he is the most well-known singer of the 50s and 60s today. Even the likes of TMS and P.Suseela have weathered with time but not PBS. For, his art was based on pure melody and the magic of pure melody can never diminish. We can only thank the Good Lord for gifting us with the ability to hear so that PBS' magical vocals can soothe us. His magic is destined to be eternal.
1. "Nenjil or aalayam" - A milestone film in Tamil cinema. It was remade into Hindi as "Dil ek mandir" but Viwanathan Ramamoorthy's music was at a different plane altogether. In fact, Sridhar remade quite a few of his films to Hindi. But for all the great composers in Bombay, not one film was able to match the Tamil original's music. Anyway, "nenjil Or aalayam" boasted of a whole host of beautiful songs. But PBS' "ninaipadellaam naDanduviTTaal deivam yEdum illai" is perhaps the most popular. A beautiful melody with trademark Viswanathan Ramamoorthy orchestration and brilliant Kannadasan lyrics.
2. "Nenjam marapadillai" - Sridhar roped in Kalyan Kumar and Devika again for his next film. Inspired by Madhumati, this was a romance across births. Again hugely successful, the film boasted of great music. PBS revels in two evergreen duets - with S.Janaki in "azagukkum malarukkum jaadi illai" and with P.Suseela in the haunting "nenjam marapadillai".
3. "Sumaitaangi" - I have already talked about the two great PBS solos on Gemini Ganesan - "manidan enbavan" and "mayakkamaa kalakkamaa". In addition he also had two popular duets with S.Janaki - "inda paruvattin kELvikku badil yenna" and "maambazattu vaNDu".
4. "Policekaaran magaL" - Easily one of the great soundtracks of Tamil cinema. It deserves to be so cherished if only for that duet-of-duets "inda manDratil ODi varum" with S.Janaki and PBS. Viswanathan Ramamoorthy's orchestration is simply out of this world. The flute pieces keep your heart soaring and you are left wonderstruck at the creative juices that flowed from this musical duo. PBS sounds breathtaking here. With S.Janaki, he also rendered "aanDonDru pOnaal" and "pon enbEn". Both great songs.. and then finally the solo "nilavukku en mEl ennaDi kObam". This is a true treasure of a soundtrack and it is heartening that the film manages to generate such interest today also.
5. "Kaadalikka nEram illai" - Sridhar's most successful film and a definitive Tamil comedy, one of the best ever of Indian cinema. It boasted of a great set of character artistes. Musically also, the film is worth treasuring. Doesnt if after all boast of one of the greatest PBS-P.Suseela duets of all time - "naaLaam naaLaam tiru naaLaam"? Magnificent orchestration again. Other memorable PBS songs in this film include "maaDi mElE maaDi kaTTi", "onga ponaana kaigaL puN aagalaamaa" and "anubavam pudumai".
These were the best tracks of the combo that I can immediately recall. There were other memorable soundtracks as well like "Kalai kovil" and "Venniraadai" .
We can spend eons going gaga over Viswanathan Ramamoorthy's melodies on PBS but lets round off now with a few final sparklers- "uDalukku uyir kaaval" and "paartu paartu ninDaradilE" from "Mana pandal", "yaar siritaal yenna yaar azudaal yenna" in "Idayatil nee", "kaNgalE kaNgalE " from "Vaazkai kaDagu", "yennai toTTu senDrana kaNgaL" from "Paar magale paar", "iLamai koluvirukkum" and "kaadal nilavE" from "Hello Mr Zamindar", "idaz moTTu virindiDa" from "Banda paasam", kaaTru vandaal talai saayum" from "Kaathirunda kaNgal", "mounamE paarvayaal" from "Kodi malar", "nilavE enniDam nerungaadE" from "Ramu" and "pon onDru kaNDEn peN angu illai" from "Paditaal maTTum pOdumaa". All classics!!
The genius of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy is such that they tend to overshadow the other giants of Tamil cine music. That would be a travesty. There is the legendary K.V.Madevan first. In a recent concert to honor PBS, K.J.Yesudas mentioned "oruti oruvanai ninatu viTTaal" as one his favorite songs. Indeed, this enchanting duet is one of the best ever. Other gems include "yedo manidan pirandu viTTaan" from "Panitirai", "paarten siritEn" from "Veera Abhimanyu", "tOL kaNDEn toLE kaNDEn" from "Idhaya kamalam" and "yEn siritaai yenna paartu" from "Ponniyin thirunaal".
With G.Ramanathan, PBS sang only a few songs but they are memorable ! "kaaTru veLi iDai kaNNammaa" from "Kapal OTiya tamizan", "inbam pongum veNNilaa viisudE" from "Vanji kOTTai vaaliban" and "yen aaruyirE" from "Deivathin deivam".
Time has not diminished PBS' standing. The appeal of his melodies has only increased with time. I think it is fair to say that he is the most well-known singer of the 50s and 60s today. Even the likes of TMS and P.Suseela have weathered with time but not PBS. For, his art was based on pure melody and the magic of pure melody can never diminish. We can only thank the Good Lord for gifting us with the ability to hear so that PBS' magical vocals can soothe us. His magic is destined to be eternal.
Monday, May 04, 2009
The magic of P.B.Srinivas - I
A period of a minor tumult in my personal life wrt my health has formally come to an end today. Through the last week of my bed-rest, I spent a lot of time enjoying my Tamil film music collection, relishing the genius of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy, the brilliance of Kannadasan and the sublime melody of P.B.Srinivas, or PBS as he is fondly called.
I have been a huge fan of PBS since the time I started enjoying music. I still recall how addicted I was to "manidan enbavan deivam aagalaam" in my third standard. My Mama used to have this song on one of his tapes and I used to play it every day repeatedly after returning from school. Poor Mama had to resort to hding the cassette on top of shelves so as to protect it from my hands. As I have grown in age, my fondness for PBS songs has only increased.
Like my other favorite singer Talat Mahmood, what is immediately noticeable is the extremely low percentage of "bad" songs that PBS has sung in Tamil. One possible reason for this could be that he playbacked on the more "urban" stars of time like Muthuraman, Balaji and of course, Gemini Ganesan. The music for these stars were typically more sophisticated - few "mass" or "dabaanguttu" songs unlike the two popular stars MGR and Sivaji, However, it is musch more probable that the likes of Viswanathan-Ramamoporthy and K.V.Mahadevan completely understood the vocals of PBS and gave him songs that appeared to have been created only for him.
PBS' voice is sheer melody. At his peak, he combined the best of Talat and Rafi. Combine the sheer velvety soothing nature of Talat with the versatility and range of Rafi, and you have PBS. He was an original in the Tamil musical scene. A.M.Raja may be the fore-runner of the melody singers in Tamil film music but PBS came to symbolize them. Recall the singing greats of Tamil music before and with PBS - Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, P.U.Chinnappa, Trichy Loganathan, C.S.Jayaraman, Seergazhi Govindarajan and T.M.Sounderrajan - and you realize his unique standing. A.M.Raja started the melody line of Tamil singers, PBS had it established and the next generation, S.P.Balasubramaniam and K.J.Yesudas made it the domainant style.
PBS' first major break came with S.Rajeswara Rao's melodies in "Adutha veetu penn". The songs are delights that dazzle up a quiet evening any day. "kaNNaalE pEsi pEsi kollaadE" and "maalayil malar sOlayil" continue to enchant. But then, the songs were picturized on comedian Thangavelu, and not a romantic star and as Manna Dey would testify, that means a lot. So PBS continued to remain "one in the crowd" and bide his time. It was his union with Gemini Ganesan and Viswanathan Ramamoorthy that shot him to the top leagure. A.M.Raja had beeen the voice of Gemini Ganesan through most of the 50s. Viswanathan Ramamoorthy had never been great fans of A.M.Raja and Raja's own success as a music director might have contributed to this but in any case, one's loss is another's gain. PBS rendered "kaalangaLil avaL vasantam" on Gemini in "Paava manippu" and the rest is history. Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy-Kannadasan-PBS-Gemini was an association that provided us with many many unforgettable melodies, some of them ranking amongst the greatest melodies of Tamil cinema. Here is a sampling from my favorites:
The Viswanathan Ramamoorthy and PBS combo were not restricted to just Gemini Ganesan films. One has to only think of that ace director Sridhar and a whole multitude of this combo's songs spring to mind. Sridhar's initial films were all A.M.Raja. It all started with his first mega-success "KalyaaNa parisu". A.M.Raja composed and sung the male songs in the film, all of them superhits. Then came "Then nilavu", a film which really established Gemini Ganesan as "kaadal mannan". Here again, A.M.Raja scored the music and sang the unforgettable songs. It was in "" that Sridhar and A.M.Raja had a fall-out. While A.M.Raja sang the songs, the composer was S.Rajeswara Rao. A.M.Raja was bitter that Sridhar had not retained him as the MD and made his displeasure known to the director. Not pleased with this, Sridhar promptly turned to Viswanathan Ramamoorthy for his next film and A.M.Raja's career came to a pre-mature close thereafter. Anyway, Perhaps the very best of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy and PBS comes through in Sridhar's films.
.. To be continued..
I have been a huge fan of PBS since the time I started enjoying music. I still recall how addicted I was to "manidan enbavan deivam aagalaam" in my third standard. My Mama used to have this song on one of his tapes and I used to play it every day repeatedly after returning from school. Poor Mama had to resort to hding the cassette on top of shelves so as to protect it from my hands. As I have grown in age, my fondness for PBS songs has only increased.
Like my other favorite singer Talat Mahmood, what is immediately noticeable is the extremely low percentage of "bad" songs that PBS has sung in Tamil. One possible reason for this could be that he playbacked on the more "urban" stars of time like Muthuraman, Balaji and of course, Gemini Ganesan. The music for these stars were typically more sophisticated - few "mass" or "dabaanguttu" songs unlike the two popular stars MGR and Sivaji, However, it is musch more probable that the likes of Viswanathan-Ramamoporthy and K.V.Mahadevan completely understood the vocals of PBS and gave him songs that appeared to have been created only for him.
PBS' voice is sheer melody. At his peak, he combined the best of Talat and Rafi. Combine the sheer velvety soothing nature of Talat with the versatility and range of Rafi, and you have PBS. He was an original in the Tamil musical scene. A.M.Raja may be the fore-runner of the melody singers in Tamil film music but PBS came to symbolize them. Recall the singing greats of Tamil music before and with PBS - Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, P.U.Chinnappa, Trichy Loganathan, C.S.Jayaraman, Seergazhi Govindarajan and T.M.Sounderrajan - and you realize his unique standing. A.M.Raja started the melody line of Tamil singers, PBS had it established and the next generation, S.P.Balasubramaniam and K.J.Yesudas made it the domainant style.
PBS' first major break came with S.Rajeswara Rao's melodies in "Adutha veetu penn". The songs are delights that dazzle up a quiet evening any day. "kaNNaalE pEsi pEsi kollaadE" and "maalayil malar sOlayil" continue to enchant. But then, the songs were picturized on comedian Thangavelu, and not a romantic star and as Manna Dey would testify, that means a lot. So PBS continued to remain "one in the crowd" and bide his time. It was his union with Gemini Ganesan and Viswanathan Ramamoorthy that shot him to the top leagure. A.M.Raja had beeen the voice of Gemini Ganesan through most of the 50s. Viswanathan Ramamoorthy had never been great fans of A.M.Raja and Raja's own success as a music director might have contributed to this but in any case, one's loss is another's gain. PBS rendered "kaalangaLil avaL vasantam" on Gemini in "Paava manippu" and the rest is history. Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy-Kannadasan-PBS-Gemini was an association that provided us with many many unforgettable melodies, some of them ranking amongst the greatest melodies of Tamil cinema. Here is a sampling from my favorites:
- manidan enbavan deivam aagalaam (Sumaitaangi) - It was my favorite when I was in my 3rd standard and it continues to be my favorite song 25 years later. A perfect song. Great music and singing, profound but simple lyrics and wonderful picturization. Cinema at its best.
- mayakkamaa kalakkamaa (Sumaitaangi) - A cult song that has become the song of inspiration for successive generations. The song has reportedly inspired people out of ddepression and moroseness to grow in life. A modern day torch bearer.
- tuLLi tirinda peN onDru (Kaatirunda kaNgaL) - The definitive Gemini romantic number. This composition is a testimony to the genius of Viswanathan and Ramamoorthy. It is a very complex compoisition, exquisitely orchestrated and how superbly PBS has rendered thins. No wonder it is one of PBS' personal favorites.
- chinna chinna kaNNanukku (Vazhkai padagu)- A love-lorn man playing with a child. Smiles and tears mingle beautifully in this evergreen gem
The Viswanathan Ramamoorthy and PBS combo were not restricted to just Gemini Ganesan films. One has to only think of that ace director Sridhar and a whole multitude of this combo's songs spring to mind. Sridhar's initial films were all A.M.Raja. It all started with his first mega-success "KalyaaNa parisu". A.M.Raja composed and sung the male songs in the film, all of them superhits. Then came "Then nilavu", a film which really established Gemini Ganesan as "kaadal mannan". Here again, A.M.Raja scored the music and sang the unforgettable songs. It was in "" that Sridhar and A.M.Raja had a fall-out. While A.M.Raja sang the songs, the composer was S.Rajeswara Rao. A.M.Raja was bitter that Sridhar had not retained him as the MD and made his displeasure known to the director. Not pleased with this, Sridhar promptly turned to Viswanathan Ramamoorthy for his next film and A.M.Raja's career came to a pre-mature close thereafter. Anyway, Perhaps the very best of Viswanathan Ramamoorthy and PBS comes through in Sridhar's films.
.. To be continued..
Monday, November 03, 2008
Youtube - "kaThaputale kachh ke"
Is it a coincidence that the Bengali singers in Bombay like Hemantda and Mannada excelled in the devotional genre? This song is a more obscure one from a soundtrack that rates as one of the best from Shankar Jaikishan and more renowned for a host of Lata and Talat beauties.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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..
Thursday, August 07, 2008
"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 !!
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 !!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Guru Dutt, my idol
Guru Dutt is today renowned as one of the greatest directors of Indian cinema, to such an extent that he is often touted as the greatest ever in the Bombay world. It is a curious reflection of the sentiments he so unforgettably evoked in his masterpiece, Pyaasaa. The sole difference is that the real Guru Dutt did not live to see the steady rise in his popularity with time and also that he did not have a Gulabo to fade into the horizon with. He died a lonely man caught in the web of his own dark artistry.
Watching Guru Dutt's films is an experience. My exposure to Guru Dutt started unforgettably. In 1984, when I was touching 10, I went to Dubai with my parents a die-hard Amitabh Bachan fan. Like any youngster then, I did not know that cinema existed beyond him. My father was a Guru Dutt fan and he used to enact sequences from "Pyaasaa" to us. In my imagination, I visdualized Guru Dutt to be a turbaned man, rather old, perhaps thick spectacles. I was not too enthused by the image, especially when I had Amitabh Bachan to admire. Then Dad got "Mr & Mrs 55" saying that was a good, lighter introduction to Guru Dutt. "Lets not jump in directly to Pyaasaa", he said. I enjoyed the film immensely. It was a ncice, light-hearted satire. Of course, it is rather cliched but that didnt matter then. The stage was set for "Pyaasaa". It was on a week-day that Appa got the film. We watched the film right through.. I didnt budge through the film and it was all I could do to keep from crying at the end of the film. My life was changed forever.. everything about the film clicked with me. The brilliant performances by one and all, the vivid images, even at that age I could admire the suicide scene which goes on for almost 3 minutes without a dialogue, the music.. it was unforgettable.
I have since then lapped up all Guru Dutt's films multiple times. While his serious films are his best, his lighter efforts like "Mr & Mrs 55" are thoroughly enjoyable for their sophisticated humour, something uncommon in our films. Pyaasaa continues to wow me whenever I give it a see and Kaagaz ke phool has only improved with time. I saw it again a week ago and was again bowled over by the sheer mastery of the camera work and the story-telling. Though morose, the film actually moves at a fast pace and is overall very enjoyable.
I can honestly say that Guru Dutt changed my taste in cinema and music in Indian cinema forever. His films opened the window to the music of S.D.Burman and O.P.Nayyar from where I have slowly graduated to Anil Biswas and Pankaj Mallick. Through his films, I learnt to appreciate the finer points of cinema and have acquired the taste to enjoy the films of Orson Welles, Bergman, Satyajit Ray etc. He remains my favorite, and I hope future generations would continue to be inspired by his art and films.
Watching Guru Dutt's films is an experience. My exposure to Guru Dutt started unforgettably. In 1984, when I was touching 10, I went to Dubai with my parents a die-hard Amitabh Bachan fan. Like any youngster then, I did not know that cinema existed beyond him. My father was a Guru Dutt fan and he used to enact sequences from "Pyaasaa" to us. In my imagination, I visdualized Guru Dutt to be a turbaned man, rather old, perhaps thick spectacles. I was not too enthused by the image, especially when I had Amitabh Bachan to admire. Then Dad got "Mr & Mrs 55" saying that was a good, lighter introduction to Guru Dutt. "Lets not jump in directly to Pyaasaa", he said. I enjoyed the film immensely. It was a ncice, light-hearted satire. Of course, it is rather cliched but that didnt matter then. The stage was set for "Pyaasaa". It was on a week-day that Appa got the film. We watched the film right through.. I didnt budge through the film and it was all I could do to keep from crying at the end of the film. My life was changed forever.. everything about the film clicked with me. The brilliant performances by one and all, the vivid images, even at that age I could admire the suicide scene which goes on for almost 3 minutes without a dialogue, the music.. it was unforgettable.
I have since then lapped up all Guru Dutt's films multiple times. While his serious films are his best, his lighter efforts like "Mr & Mrs 55" are thoroughly enjoyable for their sophisticated humour, something uncommon in our films. Pyaasaa continues to wow me whenever I give it a see and Kaagaz ke phool has only improved with time. I saw it again a week ago and was again bowled over by the sheer mastery of the camera work and the story-telling. Though morose, the film actually moves at a fast pace and is overall very enjoyable.
I can honestly say that Guru Dutt changed my taste in cinema and music in Indian cinema forever. His films opened the window to the music of S.D.Burman and O.P.Nayyar from where I have slowly graduated to Anil Biswas and Pankaj Mallick. Through his films, I learnt to appreciate the finer points of cinema and have acquired the taste to enjoy the films of Orson Welles, Bergman, Satyajit Ray etc. He remains my favorite, and I hope future generations would continue to be inspired by his art and films.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Youtube - vo dekhe.n to unakii inaayat
An auspicious first post to the month which marks the half-year. A glorious melody su beautifully rendered by Kishore and Asha. This is the kind of Kishore I love - soft, gentle and oh-so-romantic. I wish he had sung more such beauties during this period.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Youtube - ham to jaanii pyaar karegaa
This song has captivated me for the past couple of weeks. I have never given "Baarish" much of a hear but I finally did and this song has since then kept me dancing. Chitalkar exudes so much fun into the song. Its a natural exuberance which is at once captivating and charming. At times, he sounds a lot like Kishore Kumar too.
A joyous song fit to join the likes of "sholaa jo bhaDake", "o baabuu" and "mausam_e_bahaar"
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Drunken songs in our films
An interesting genre of music in Indian films has been the drunken songs, songs picturized on inebriated actors. The list of such songs is pretty long because this genre has been in vogue almost from the beginning of film music. It usually demonstrated either the hero going through bad times and hence resorting to alchohol as a means of escape, or the nasty man or woman who is going to play the bad person. Bad persons and drinking go together obviously :)
One of the earliest example of such a song is piye jaa aur piye jaa rendered by K.L.Saigal for the film Pujaarin. Its a beautiful melody that aptly captures the state. Saigal's Devdaas is still considered by many to be the greatest version of Sarat Chandra's novel on screen. When you hear Saigal emoting dukh ke ab din biitat naahi, you cant help but agree with that.
Anaarkali's mohobbat me aese qadam Dagamagaaye was the song that brought this genre into prominence and remains one of the finest songs in this genre. Lata's depiction of the inebriated lover is unforgettable. Not far after this came the near-definitive drunken song. Talat's ae mere dil kahii.n aur chal immediately brings to mind a "high" Dilip Kumar walking through the village streets at night with a foolish grin on his face. This song perhaps endures as one the finest drunken songs ever. Interestingly, Talat never resorts to the drunken gimmicks in his singing. During his Jaimala presentation on Vividh Bharati, Talat mentions that while he has sung a lot of drunken songs, it is upto the actor to enact the song on screen. The singer is responsible for delivering the melody. But then, he did make an exception to some extent when singing kisako khabar thii kisako yakii.n thaa from Devdaas going on the same Dilip Kumar. And he rendered the song to perfection.
An obviously drunk Motilal with a garland around his neck wandering across the dark streets of Calcutta singing zi.ndagii khvaab hai is another abiding image of a drunken song in our films. But all these great singers - Lata, Talat or Mukesh - did not sing the song as a drunkard. Occassional edges here or there,, that was all. It was Mohd Rafi who really brought into fashion a playback singer singing as a drunkard, this despite the fact that he was a tee-totaller. The string of songs he did for comedian Johnny Walker - like ham tum se kahataa hai shaadii or dekhataa chalaa gayaa - were huge hits of their time.
The 1960s were much more liberal times than the 50s and Rafi ruled the roost during that decade. mujhe duniyaavaalo.n sharaabii na samajho, saavan ke mahiine me, mai.n ne pii sharaab, chhalakaaye jaam etc. were some Rafi popular songs during this time. One of the most unforgettable depictions of a drunkard on screen was by Meena Kumari in Saabib biwi aur gulaam - and Geeta Dutt's na jaao saiyaa.N chhuDaake baiyaa.N remains one of her enduring melodies. Asha's ham hai.n nashe me is one of my favorite nashaa songs - I am not sure if this is a "drunken" song or just a "nashaa" song. In any case, its a truly beautiful melody.
Subsequent decades have continued to keep this genre in vogue, though the quality keep in sync with the overall musical quality of the times. Today however, this genre is almost obsolete primarily because drinking has lost its age-old implications. Drinking wine is no longer looked on as a "bad" habit. Its notmal to drink now. So cinematically, it conveys nothing. The era of drunken songs is indeed behind us now.
The genre in Tamil films in my next post...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Youtube - "ye sa.nsaar ye sa.nsaar"
A beautiful Talat melody, a melody right down Talat's lane in fact. This film was made as "Samsaaram" in Telugu and Tamil as well where this song was rendered by A.M.Raja. A pleasing melody..
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