The haunting "dil bhii teraa ham bhii tere"

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

Why I am anti-Shankar Jaikishan

Yesterday, one of my good friend and I were having a chat over music - just arguing over music directors. He was all for Shankar Jaikishan and S.D.Burman. While he posed a reasonable argument of the timelessness of SDB's music and how the man managed to create something that struck a chord with every generation of music lovers, he reverted to the rather weak line of the number of filmfare awards won for Shankar Jaikishan.

Needless to say, that got me all worked up because if there is anything that makes me truly disparaging of the popular duo-composers, it is their filmfare awards. It is an open secret now that the two manipulated most of their awards and also most of their "sartaaj geet" songs on Binaca Geetmala. They entered the film scene at a time when the musicals were at their peak. Healthy competition existed between composers. C.Ramchandra and Naushad would spare no occassion to praise Anil Biswas and his role in mentoring their careers, Anil Biswas would concede freely that Ghulam Haider and Khemchand Prakash were worthier composers than he.. into this scene came Shankar Jaikishan. Their talent was unquestionable and with a stellar cast backing them, they delivered their first success with "Barsaat" in 1949. The next years were formative ones but creatively, they were immediately noticed. Their music for non-RK films like "Daag", "Kaalighataa", "Mayurpankh", "Shiqast", "Patitaa", "Nageenaa" and "Seemaa" in the next few years gave ample proof of their ability. They used almost all the top singers of the time and delievered with all of them big time. Lata, Talat, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Hemant and Rafi all had top-notch songs from them.

It was in 1956 when they won their first filmfare award - for "Chori chori". Though there were films like "Jhanak jhanak paayal baaje" in the fray, I would agree that this film was not undeserving of the award. Evergreen Manna Dey-Lata duets plus the magnificent "rasik balamaa" ensure the film's continued popularity. They next won for "Anaadi", not as great a soundtract as "Chori chori" but equally popular. In the 1960s, and particularly towards the latter half of the 1960s when a man called O.P.Nayyar was riding high, they started manipulating the awards to ensure that their main competition did not get anything at all. It is unbelievable that through the hectic 1960s, O.P.Nayyar won not a single filmfare award. No recognition for "Ek musaafir k haseenaa", for "Phir wohi dil laayaa hoon", "Kashmir ki kali", "Mere sanam"... incomprehensible eh ? But look at SJ. They won in 1966 for "Suraj" over S.D.Burman's "Guide". I am not a great fan of "Guide" but come on- even I can see that SDB beats SJ hollow !!

But the biggest crime of all happened in 1972 when SJ bagged another award - their last - for "Beimaan" over - hold your breath - "Paakeezaah" !!! I just can understand how such a blasphemy can happen. Were the "judges" so music-deaf as that ? Can you recall any song from "Beimaan" at all ?? The crap of a soundtrack doesnt have one song that is even worth remembering. And you award that over a soundtrack like "Paakeezaah" !!! Pran did one of the most heroic acts of Indian cinema when he refused his Best Supporting Actor award in protest against this blasphemy.

Its for this reason primarily that I have a strong bias against SJ. They did create some great music but their manipulative methods which really corrupted the healthy music scene of Bombay to a great extent, holds too strongly against them.

"Lage raho Munnabai".. and "Jaagriti"

Yesterday, I with my parents and wife watched the next instalment of "Lage raho Munnabhai" on the IMAX screen at Hyderabad's Prasadz theatre. Its another very good film that has come out this year. I liked "Rang de basanti" for the message of "Do something for your contry rather than just whining" but while it went over the top in the manner in which youngsters went about it, Munnabhai extols Gandhism without ever being preachy. The relevance of Gandhiji in today's world and how "Gandhigiri" could be used to solve today's day-to-day problems is brought out very nicely. The film also has a jingle of a remade version of the "Jaagriti" classic "aao bachcho.n tumhe dikhaaye.n" which takes my mind to Hemant Kumar's top-notch and evergreen music in that 1955 classic.

The literal Gandhiji-anthem was the most popular song at the time - the Asha rendered "de dii hame aazaadii". Asha also had the soft, melancholic "chalo chale.n maa.N". Rafi sang the climax song beholding the children to create a new and happy India.. "ham laaye hai.n tuufaan se". And to round off the track, Pradeep's afore-mentioned song "aao bachcho.n tumhe dikhaaye.n jhaa.Nkhii hi.ndustaan kii". Pradeep also wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the film. Abhi Bhattacharya delivered an excellent performance as the reformist teacher and should have won the Best Actor award that year but for Filmfare's reluctance to look beyond stars. Dilip Kumar won the award for an ordinary turn in "Aazaad".

"Lage raho Munnabai" captures the spirit of "Jaagriti" and Gandhiji very nicely. Full credit to the director for such a very innovative and refreshing use of Gandhiji and bringing back Gandhiji's relevance into our India of today.

The image of O.P.Nayyar as the creator of songs filled with fun and romance to the beats of horse hooves or Punjabi dances is so deep that people tend to overlook the wealth of creations that this man has done that run much deeper, that are completely what Nayyar is not famous for.. the quality of these songs is very high which is why I am continuously surprised that the man remains so typecast.. Here are some songs which are my personal Nayyar favourites :

i) is bevafaa jahaa.N me , raat suhaanii ha.Nsate taare , path samajh nahii aaye : All three songs are C.H.Atma renditions in Nayyarsaab's first film in Hindi films, Aasmaan. All three are magnificent songs though they are sound similar to each other. Atma and Nayyar had combined earlier to deliver one of the most famous non-film songs of all time in priitam aan milo. These songs are quite same kind of songs. Atma renders with deep pathos and the arrangement of the song is wonderful to hear.

ii) more ni.ndiyaa churaaye gayo : A Rajkumari gem, again from Aasmaan. Nayyarsaab was a self-confessed admirer of Anil Biswas and this is a song which I am sure Anilda would have been pleased with. A charming number where Wajkumari sounds so sweet.

iii) mujhe dekho hasrat : This is one of the three songs that Nayyar composed for Talat Mahmood. And this is also one of the two songs I can recall that Talat playbacked for Guru Dutt. A superb, slow song from Baaz which is perhaps Guru Dutt's only "bad" film :) A song that seems to have been created just for Talat..

iv) merii nii.ndo.n me tum : A soft romantic duet of Kishore with Shamshad Begum - a gem of a melody. This was the period when Kishore was still fluctuating between trying to be an Indian Danny Kaye or the like, and an addition to the list of serious singers of the time. He did some great work with Anil Biswas and S.D.Burman before this and OPN gave him this gem. But Kishore couldnt really break away from his comic-singer image for close to another 15 years.

v) kabhii andheraa kabhii ujaalaa : One of Asha's finest songs ever and one of her earliest songs for Nayyar in this form. Its a moving song beautifully rendered. The two went on to create a wealth of masterpieces with time and the Asha-Nayyar combo is one of the greatest ever, superior to the Asha-RDB combo which the lady sells all the time. O.P.Nayyar now gets just a side mention in her interviews - how rude indeed considering that it was mainly because of this man that she managed to survive as long as she did.

vi) jaa jaa jaa jaa bewafaa : It seemed Nayyar created two versions of "sun sun sun zaalimaa" in "Aar Paar" - one for the masses, and one for himself. This is a Geeta solo - an absolute stunner rendered to perfection by Geeta. The pathos in the song is rendered with such subtelety that we are moved without being pushed to tears. Never another like Geeta.. how we wish OPN had used her a lot more..

Thats it for now...

Ghazal ke saaz uthaao

One of Talat's final recordings (if not THE last) was for the album titled "Ghazal ke saaz uthaao". I have spent most of today listening to the geets and ghazals from this album. The compositions are by Raghunath Seth, the famed flautist.

The first thing that leaps out is the sad state of Talat's vocals. However great a devotee I may be of Talat saab, I cannot deny that what we have here is a shadow of the legendary singer. But once you get used to it and get accustomed to the occasional, uncontrolled tremor in his voice, the listening becomes more of pleasure. What still remains is the trademark melody of Talat, that dulcet tone.. it makes you think back to the times of yore when Talat ruled the day, when his voice was untouched by time or indulgence.

The pick of the album for me is "gulshan me leke chal" - a lovely, uncomplicated piece that is typically Talat :

gulshan me leke chal kisii seharaa me leke chal
ae dil magar sukuun kii duniyaa me leke chal

The "sukuun kii duniyaa" is now long past. But thankfully, we have recordings of that duniyaa in Talat's voice to retreat to when the current times get too much to bear.

The rest of the album is about average. "Gazal ke saaz uThaao" is nice as is "kahii.n sher_o_naGamaa banake". "dil hii to hai" and "mere saaqiyaa" would have sounded better had they been rendered a decade or so earlier. All in all, what this album provides is a whiff of what Talat once was.. and makes you immediately rush to listen again to those magnifience geets he rendered at his peak.

Lata's Bests...

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

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

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

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

The enduring magic of "siine me sulagate hai.n"

Taraanaa is a soundtrack to treasure forever. It is easily one of Anilda's finest soundtracks and one of the master's own personal favourites. Its obvious to see why the music of this film has continued to appeal to successive generations of music lovers through the past 55 years. Every song in this film has something charming about it, a certain sweetness that is immediately endearing. Lata is at her sweetest and Talat at his most in the songs of this film. The film was released at a time when both these singers were beginning to establish themselves as the leading singers of the time. While Lata was now a regular ghost voice for almost all the leading actresses of the time, Talat's voice was now inseperable from the melancholic image of a sensitive, brooding Dilip Kumar. Of all the songs in the film, the pathos duet siine me sulagate hai.n aramaa.N is most well-remembered.

What is the reason behind the enduring popularity of this song ? No compilation of Lata or Talat's duets is ever complete without this song. No programme on Anil Biswas or Prem Dhawan can end without this song.. a perennial favourite. First, I think there are the visuals that remain etched in mind. A very fresh Dilip Kumar and Madhubala... the great close ups of the Madhubala at her most beautiful.. they do leave an impact.

Then the orchestration. No praise can be too high for the way the song has been composed. The use of the saxophone to create the aura of despair, a hallmark of Anilda's orchestration, is again simply superb. Also, as is typical of Anilda, each of the antaraa have different tunes. The saxophone however accompanies the singers through the song. One of the most thrillng moments in the song is in the final stanza - Lata sings ek aesii aag lagii man me, jiine bhii na de marane bhii na de~ and then pauses for just a second or so. There is silence for that second - all orchestra is silenced. Then Lata starts again with chhup huu.N and the orchestra picks up again. The effect of the orchestra rejoining after the moment of silence must be experienced to believe. Its in such subtle touches that the genius of a composer shines forth...

On a side note, this song was intended to be a Talat solo. Lata on hearing the song, however, was so enraptured by it that she was adamant that she wanted to sing the song as well. The song was hence converted to a duet.

"Parakh" - Salilda's musical masterpiece

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


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


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


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


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

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

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

"Parakh" - Salilda's musical masterpiece

Parakh

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

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

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

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

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

o ye ba.nsii haaye..

and then swings to the sway of the notes.

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

ye ba.nsii nadiyaa ke tiir mohe dekh ke akelii

to

mujh ko sikhaade aa_ii priit pahelii

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

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

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

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...

Talat's "happy" melodies

The persona of Talat as the singer of blues looms so large that it shadows his sparkling cascade of bubbly duets. In fact, Talat's contribution to the romantic duets genre is immense. His style is typical of the man - the hero comes out as a gentleman, a person who romances more with his eyes and softness of nature than a macho hero that Mohd Rafi personified on the likes of Shammi Kapoor etc in the 1960s. This is not to belittle Rafi in any way because he has definitely sung some of the finest duets of Indian cinema.

Anyway, this small blog is about Talat and his duets. Needless to say, most of Talat's best duets are with Lata, and some with Geeta, Asha and Shamshad. Here is a list of my personal favourite of Talat's duets :

ye nayii nayii priit hai (Lata/Pocketmaar, 1956) : A stunner from Madan Mohan. Madan used his two favourite singers to near perfection. The tune is lilting and the singers have a brilliant chemistry established here. The song typifies what I mean about Talat's singing bringing to mind a softer, gentler hero. The romance is about eyes and dreamy visions of a land yonder :


nigaaho.n hii nigaaho.n me kaho kyaa kar diyaa
..
chalo chal de vahaa.N zamii.n aur aasamaa.N
gale milate jahaa.N banaale vahii.n aashiyaa.N


Its after listening to Talat in such form that even Lata tends to fall a little shrilly on the ears.

nain mile nain hue baa.Nvare (Lata/Taraanaa, 1951) : This stellar soundtrack from Anilda is easily one of the greatest of all-time. And both Talat and Lata are near the top of their form here. The picturization on a very fresh Dilip Kumar and Madhubala adds to the delight of the song.

dil me samaa gaye sajan (Lata/Sangdil, 1952) : A sheer-magic song from Sajjad who created some of the most cherished melodies in Hindi music with Talat and Lata in this film. While "ye havaa ye raat" and "vo to chale gaye ae dil" are top-notch winners, this sweet duet is not very far behind. A regal Talat and a sweet Lata make the listening experience a most enjoyable one.

aramaan bhare dil kii lagan (Geeta/Jaan pehchaan, 1950) : This was Talat's only song with Khemchand Prakash, who sadly passed away shortly after this song was created. The impact of Talat's singing style is obvious when you listen to this song. While Geeta is delightful here, her rendition is a throwback to the 40s while Talat was clearly heralding the soft singing of the 50s. Geeta of course lost no time in tuning herself to the new form. But anyway, what a duet this is ! Amazing orchestration and brilliant singing..

sach bataa tuu mujhape fidaa (Asha/Sone ki chidiyaa, 1958) : A typical O.P.Nayyar composition with lots of fun and jolly exuding every note. What makes this song a delight is again the contrast between the singers - Asha is all fun and lark, Talat still soft and gentle with just that necessary touch of happiness.

These are songs that come to the top of my mind - there are plenty of other magnificent duets I have missed. Compositions of C.Ramchandra and Salil Chowdhury in particular have been missed. But well, these should provide good starting points to discovering that there is a lot more to Talat's repertoire than the sad, grim songs he made his forte. Those are definitely brilliant but then lets not forget his duets in the process.

From this day on, I shall spend some time with the divine Lata-C.Ramchandra combo that has provided us music lovers with so many invaluable gems.

Lata first sang for CR in "Shehnai" in 1948. Prior to this, CR had been primarily using heavy vocal singers like Shamshad Begum in his music. Lata's entry indeed changed the canvas of Hindi film music but even more, it completely appeared to alter CR's form of music to one of greater subtlety and (pardon my excess) divinity. Indeed, the music presented by CR with Lata is one that fills you with serenity and transports you to realms of peace and spirituality.The combination went on full steam from 1949 through 1956. There were rumours of a deeper relationship between the two which neither of them have either accpeted or denied. But whatever, this is about the music they created. Some fatal disagreement caused them to fall apart and they did not patch up. Lata did sing for CR occasionally after that - in fact, the last song I can recall is in 1964 - but there was no longer the chemistry that existed during the halycon years. In a tribute to this glorious partnership, we shall select one song per day to highlight their brilliance.

Today, I select "Naa ummeed ho ke bhi, duniyaa me jiye jaate hain" from the film "Sangeetaa" released in 1950. This song is amongst CR's very bests ! The song starts off in a brisk pace with some outstanding orchestration and light touch of the guitar leading to Lata's voice is out-of-the-world and really, quite amazing for that time. Such sophistication in orchestration is unbelievable for 1950.

Lata then holds center-stage. CR has a fair list of brisk paced sad songs and this is one of them. The beautiful part of the rendition is when Lata goes "..toot.." for the "dil toot gaya phir bhi" phrase. You really get the feeling of a broken heart. The interlude music is short and sweet - typical of those times. The interludes were meant to be fillers to allow singers to catch their breaths. The interludes just elevate the song even higher. The curves of the tune flow is captured to perfection by Miss M ! The two interludes have different composition structures, which is unusual for CR. Thats what makes this such a special CR song. But they join in beautifully back to the mukhdaa. Exceptional !!

CR epitomises classy-popular music to my mind. Drawing a parallel to Hollywood directors, CR is my Alfred Hitchcock, brilliant and appealing and popular. Anil Biswas was Orson Welles - definitely the best, intellectual. Not one for the masses but who is a God to all serious lovers of film music. The two created some of the finest music of the Platinum period of the Golden age of Hindi film music - 1950 to 1955.

I dont think any artiste of Indian cinema has as many words, as many happy adjectives devoted to him/her as has Lata Mangeshkar. Indeed, there is very little that one can add to the eloquence of previous writers.

A first post

The prime focus over the past week has been Tamil film music and Geeta Dutt. Thanks to many friends across the world, I have managed to lay my hands on about 10 rare Geeta melodies which I am still to enjoy in all serenity. I am looking forward to the weekend to enjoy in peace. The Tamil melodies were courtesy Mr Ali Khan who has a dream collection of old Tamil music. Its almost complete. Its almost impossible that you would turn out without getting your hands on the song you have yearned to have so long. The only problem is that the years past have squeezed the man of most of his enthusiasm. His business of providing song collections is running a loss. He does not receive any support from the film industry to preserve this musical treasure. The govt is not to be trusted - it would relinquish it to some dark room and there it would decay. A few conneisseurs from the US and Canada have offered to buy his entire collection and he is seriously considering doing ! What a huge shame ! Lord, I wish I had some few lakhs with me so that I could buy off his wealth.

Anyway, thanks to him, I managed to listen a wonderful Ghantasala-P.Suseela duet "thoodhu selaayO" from the film "Vaazhkayin otpandam". The song still plays in my ears. There were a number of A.M.Raja duets as well that I got my hands on but well, Ghantasala took the cake.