Category: Music and Cinema

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Aayi diwali, aayi diwali…. Raag Bhairavi, Tal Dadra Finally on the day of the Diwali today, 07 Nov 2018, I have the hundredth song in my Raaga Based Songs series. This song is from the 1944 movie Rattan that was an Abdul Rashid Kardar production that was directed by M Sadiq and starred Swaran Lata and Karan Dewan. Here is the story in brief to understand the song: Govind (Karan Dewan) and Gauri (Swaran Lata) are childhood friends and are in love. But both are from different castes and hence their marriage is not possible in those social times. One day Gauri is married off to a person who is much older to her, by keeping him in dark. Gauri is seen pining for Govind in this song. This is the ninth time I am taking up a song in this raaga. We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge.  It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava. Our ninety-eighth post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #99‘ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi song from the 1963 Brij movie Ustadon Ke Ustad starring Praddep Kumar, Shakila, Ashok Kumar and Sheikh Mukhtar: Sau baar janam lenge sau baar fanaa honge. It is in Raag Kaushik Kanada, Tal Kaherava. This blog has a number of posts on Raaga based songs in Hindi movies titled similarly; for example: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies – Raaga Jhinjhoti – Part I‘. In the last ninety-eight days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand, Mian Ki Malhar and Jog; making it a total of 62 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am giving you a song in Raag Bhairavi, the Queen of all Raagas for the ninth time. The song, as I said earlier, is from the 1944 movie Rattan, an Abdul Rashid Kardar production directed by M Sadiq, which starred Swaran Lata and Karan Dewan. The song Aayi Diwali, Aayi Diwali was penned by DN Madhok and composed by Naushad. The songs of the movie made Naushad so famous that he started charging Rupees 25000 per movie. This was about one third of the production cost of the movie at that time. It is another fact that Swaran Lata, in an interview with Pakistan Television, claimed that the composition of this song was done by DN Madhok himself. The songs of the movie also made both the female playback singers Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki very famous. Here is a list of songs of the movie; the last song (duet) was equally popular:

• “Akkhiyan Milake ” – Zohrabai Ambalawali
• “Rimjhim Barse Badarwa” – Zohrabai Ambalawali
• “Hindustan Ke Hum Hain” – Mohammad Rafi
• “Milke Bichhad Gayii Akkhiyan” – Amirbai Karnataki
• “Jab Tum Hi Chale Pardes Laga Kar Theis” -Karan Dewan
• “O janewale Balamwa” – Amirbai Karnataki and Shyam Kumar
• “Jab Tum Hi Chale Pardes Laga Kar Theis”
• “Pardesi Balma Baadal Aaya”
• “Sawan Ke Baadalo Unn Se Yeh Jaa Kaho”- Zohrabai Ambalewali and Karan Dewan

Zohrabai Ambalewali was from Ambala in Punjab. She was a classical singer of Hindustani Music trained under Ghulam Hussain Khan and Ustad Nasir Hussain Khan. Subsequently, she joined the Agra Gharana. She started singing at All India Radio at the age of 13.  Eventually she made her Hindi film debut as a playback singer with film Daku Ki Ladki (1933) with music by Pransukh Nayak. After initial years in Lahore-based film industry, she shifted to Bombay. As already mentioned, the movie Rattan’s songs made her famous. Some of the popular songs of Zohrabai Ambalewali are: Aankhon mein intezaar ki duniya liye huye (Caravan 1944), Ho meri baali umariya saanwariya (Nateeja 1947), Pardesi baalma saawan aaya (Rattan 1944), Rut rangeeli aayi chandini chhayi (Mirza Sahiban 1947), Shayad woh jaa rahe hain chhupkar meri nazar se (Mela 1948, Shakeel Badayuni), Suno ji pyaari kayaliya bole (Sanyasi 1945, also with Naushad), Udhan khatole pe udh jaayun (Anmol Ghadi 1946, Naushad), Ye raat phir na aayegi (with Rajkumari Dubey in Mahal 1949).

Lets take up the lyricist DN Madhok at this stage. Just as Zohrabai Amablewali was one of the first generation of female playback singers, Dina Nath Madhok was amongst the first generation of lyricists (1930s to 1950s). Kidar Sharma and Kavi Pradeep were the others. So fine was his art that he earned himself the sobriquet of Mahakavi Madhok. He started his career with the 1932 movie Radhey Sham and ended up penning about 800 songs. In addition he wrote screenplays and directed about 17 films including Baghdad Ka Chor (1934), Mirza Sahiban (1939), Biwamangal (1954) and Naata (1955). Here are some of my favourite songs penned by him: Aa ja balmaa raat andheri dar laage and Mere mundere na bol (Suraiya in 1947 movie Parwana), Aayi diwali aayi diwali (Zohrabai Ambalewali in 1944 movie Rattan), Beimaan tore nainva nindiya na aaye (Lata Mangeshkar in 1951 movie Taraana), Ham aankh macholi khelenge (Noorjahan, Khandan 1942), Ishq ka dard sohana (Vatsala Kumthekar, Ishaara 1942), Jab tum hi chale pardes laga ke thes (Karan Dewan, Rattan 1944), Jhuthe hain sab sapne suhaane (Manju, Rattan 1944), Kaagaz ki meri naav aur duur kinaara hai (Mukesh Suraiya, Do Dil 1947), Khamosh nigaahen ye sunaati hain kahaani (SD Batish, Daasi 1944), Madhukar Shyam hamare chor, Nis din barsat nain hamaare and Rain gayi ab huaa savera (KL Saigal, Bhakt Surdas 1942), Madhur Madhur ga re manwa and Panchhi bawra (Khursheed, Bhakt Surdas 1942), Meri zindagi mein tum kyun aaye (Suraiya, Goonj 1952), Mohe mera bachpan laa de (With Shakeel Badayuni in Kajal 1948; song sung by Suraiya), More sainya ji ne bheji chunari (Zohrabai Ambalewali, Pehle Aap 1944), Mohabbat ne kaise diye hamako dhokhe (Lata Mangeshkar, Oot Pataang 1955), Naa thamate hain aansu naa rukte hain naale (Mohammad Rafi, Meena Bazaar 1950), Naino mein naina mat dalo, and Pardesi baalma baadal aaya (Zohrabai Ambalewali, Jeewan 1944), O jaanewale baalmwa laut ke aa (Shaam Kumar and Amirbai Karnataki, Rattan 1944), Panghat pe more Shyam bajaaye muraliya (CH Atma, Bilwamangal 1954), Rum jhum barse baadarva (Amirbai Karnataki, Rattan 1944), Sawan ke baadlo unase ye jaa kaho (Zohrabai Ambalewali, Rattan 1944), Taare wahin hain chand wahin hai (Lata Mangeshkar, Anmol Ratan 1950), Tuut gaye sab sapne mere (KL Saigal, Parwana 1947), and Wo din kahan gaye bataa (Lata Mangeshkar, Taraana 1951).

Naushad Ali, the composer, lived between 25 Dec 1919 to 05 May 2006. He won only one Filmfare Award, for the music and songs of the 1952 Vijay Bhatt movie Baiju Bawra. However, he could have won many including for Mughal-e-Azam. Eventually, he was conferred with the highest, that is, Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1982 and Padma Bhushan in 1992. He is credited with having brought in Raaga Based Songs in the movies and Baiju Bawra is a fine example of that. Various singers and lyricists (especially Shakeel Badayuni) looked up to him as a guide and mentor. For example, he encouraged Mukesh to have his distinctive style of singing rather than imitate KL Saigal. He launched the careers of quite a few of them such as Zohrabai Ambalewali and Uma Devi. As far as my favourite songs of Naushad are concerned, I have penned volumes in this blog on them. As an example, just go through: ‘The Best Of Old Hindi Songs – Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad and Dilip Kumar Together’.

Before we take up the song, lets learn a little about Abdul Rashid Kardar, the producer of this movie from where the song has been taken. He was the pioneer in establishing film industry in Bhati Gate, Lahore (later Pakistan). In 1924, the first silent film (11 years after Dadasaheb Phalke made his first silent movie: Raja Harishchandra), The Daughters of Today was released in Lahore at a time when the city only had nine operational cinema houses. Most of the films shown in theatres in Lahore were either made in Bombay or Calcutta, besides ones made in Hollywood or London. The Daughters of Today was the brain-child of GK Mehta, a former officer with the North-Western Railway, who had imported a camera into the country for this very project from London. He asked Kardar to assist him as an assistant director on the project and ended up giving Kardar his début role in his film as an actor. Muhammad Ismail, his friend and fellow calligraphist, accompanied Kardar in the making of the film. Kardar shifted to Calcutta in 1930 and after working in various production houses, he made his own Kardar Studios in 1940 (he shifted to Bombay in 1937) and started making films under the banner Kardar Productions. His 1946 film Shahjehan starred KL Saigal and the songs were by Majrooh (debut movie) and Naushad Ali. He worked with Naushad in a number of movies including the unforgettable Dil Diya Dard Liya starring Dilip Kumar, Waheeda Rehman and Pran.

M Sadiq, the director of the highly successful movie Rattan from where this song has been taken was born on 10 Mar 1910 in Lahore and died on 03 Oct 1971 in Lohore. He was a director, writer and producer. Some of the other movies that he directed are: Jeewan (1944), Dak Bangla (1947), Anmol Ratan (1950), Shabaab (1954), Chaudhvinh Ka Chand (1960), Full Moon (1961), Taj Mahal (1963), Bahu Begum (1967) and Noorjehan (1967).

Swaran Lata, the actress on whom this song is picturised, was born in a Siyal Khatri Sikh family in Rawalpindi. Her debut movie was the 1942 movie Awaaz. She married Nazir Ahmed, a famous actor, director and producer at that time. She converted to Islam at that time and assumed the name of Saeeda Bano. At the time of partition of India in 1947, she migrated to Pakistan with her husband after leaving everything they owned in Bombay. They started the Pakistani Film Industry from a scratch. By the time she shifted to Pakistan, in five years she had acted in as many as 16 Hindi movies. Her first movie in Pakistan was the 1948 movie Sachai. She was known as the Tragedy Queen much before Meena Kumari was so dubbed. This was mainly due to her emotional dialogue delivery. It is a delight to see her enact the song: Aayi Diwali Aayi Diwali. This song, as I told you, is in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Kaherava. Raag Bhairavi is the basic raag of the Bhairavi Thaat. Bhairavi makes use of all the komal swars, Rishabh, Gandhar, Dhaivat, Nishad. When singing compositions in Bhairavi raag, the singers however take liberty to use all the 12 swars. Bhairavi raag is named after the shakti or feminine aspect of the cosmic life force, which is personified as a consort to Lord Shiva. Bhairavi is a powerful raag filled with devotion and compassion. Its Jati is Sampurna – Sampurna, which means all seven swar (heptatonic) both in Aaroha and Avaroha. I have already told you that in a concert Bhairavi is usually the concluding raaga since it is supposed to cure mistakes of the earlier performances. Hence, if a concert has started at night (which is usually the case), Bhairavi would be played in the wee hours of the morning. A pleasant sobering atmosphere full of love and piety is created with this raag and one feels so close to the Supreme. Its compositions include several Thumris, Bhajans, Ghazals, Songs etc. Since it is an ocean of immense possibilities the melodic combinations can include all the twelve notes with skill. I am not giving you again a list of songs composed in Raag Bhairavi as I have given this adequate number of times. As far as Tal Dadra is concerned, Tal Dadra derives its name from Dadra style of singing prevalent in Dadra. It is a six or three beat Tal: Clap, 2, 3, Wave, 2, 3; that is two vibhags of three matras each. The theka is: Dhaa Dhin Naa Dhaa Tin Naa I gave you a song in this Tal and Raag Bhimpalasi as m 3rd song in the series: Maine chand aur sitaaron ki tamanna ki thi. After that I have given you several songs in the Tal such as: Tere sur aur mere geet (Bihag), Aaj ki raat piya dil na todo (Pahadi), Beqasi hadd se jab guzr jaay (Desh and Khammaj), Dukh bhare din beete re bhaiya (Megh Malhar), Kesariya Balma (Nand), Kuchh aur zamaana kehta hai (Gaur Sarang), Taqdeer ka fasaana (Desh), Bhooli hui yaadon (Kalyan), Benuravvat bewafa (Shankara), Jhumati chali hawa (Sohani), Dil Ke jharokhe mein (Shivaranjani), and Paan khaayo sainya hamaro (Kalyan). However, in the eight songs based on Raag Bhairavi that I have given you, there has never been one in this Tal; most of these have been in Tal Kaherava. Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last eighteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan, the finest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked about Ali Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Then, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music. Thereafter, we took up Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country. Then we learnt a little more about Ustaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain. Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion: Anand Shankar. Then we learnt about a Veena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro. Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar. And then we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj. We then covered violinist L Subramaniam followed by Sitarists Ustaad Vilayat Khan and Nikhil Banerjee. Tonight, we shall take up the great vocalist Kishori Amonkar. She lived between 10 Apr 1931 and 03 Apr 2017. She was a leading Indian vocalist of the Jaipur Gharana. She was a performer of the classical genre khyal and the light classical genres thumri and bhajan. Amonkar trained under her mother, classical singer Mogubai Kurdikar also from the Jaipur gharana, but she experimented with a variety of vocal styles in her career. Amonkar’s later work in light music reformed her classical singing and she modified her Jaipur gharana performance style by applying features from other gharanas. She has been both praised and criticized for pushing the boundaries of the Jaipur tradition. She was a romanticist and her approach prioritized emotional expression over tradition, so she often departed from the Jaipur gharana’s rhythmic, melodic, and structural traditions. Amonkar received several of India’s national awards and civilian honours, including the Padma Bhushan, in 1987, and Padma Vibhushan in 2002. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1985 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for 2009. She was awarded the prestigious Dr. T. M. A. Pai Outstanding Konkani Award in 1991. In 2016, she was one of seven recipients of the M.S. Subbulakshmi Award for classical music. Returning to the song now. The song, as I told you, is from the 1944 M Sadiq movie Rattan that proved the genius of one of Hindi movies greatest music directors: Naushad Ali. He is the one who for the first time introduced Raaga based songs in Hindi movies. His selection of Bhairavi here is masterly: an atmosphere of total love and piety. M Sadiq has followed it up with the lamps and lamp-bearing female dancers. However, there is emptiness in the eyes of Swaran Lata when she asks who should he dance with since her consort (Karan Dewan) is not there. She mourns about life slipping by without them being together. The matching lyrics rendered by DN Madhok do touch your heart and would apply to anyone of us. Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Bhairavi Tal Dadra, Zohrabai Ambalewali sing a composition of Naushad on the lyrics of DN Madhok in the 1944 M Sadiq movie Rattan (produced by AR Kardar) starring Swaran Lata and Karan Dewan: Aayi diwali, aayi diwali…..

आई दीवाली, आई दीवाली – २ दीपक संग नाचे पतंगा मैं किसके संग नाचूँ बताजा आई दीवाली, आई दीवाली … (बचपन जवानी संग नाचके चला गया अब नाचे जवानी बुढ़ापे संग वो दिन आ गया ) – २ अब नाचे जवानी बुढ़ापे संग वो दिन आ गया बिछड़े हुए साथी ज़रा आ मैं किसके संग नाचूं बताजा आई दीवाली, आई दीवाली … (किसको गुमान था वो दिन भी गुज़र जायेंगे और एक बार जाके वो फिर लौट के ना आयेंगे ) – २ बिछड़े हुए साथी ज़रा आ मैं किसके संग नाचूँ बताजा (आई दीवाली, आई दीवाली ) – २ दीपक संग नाचे पतंगा मैं किसके संग नाचूँ बताजा आई दीवाली, आई दीवाली …

https://youtu.be/rSRPU_yXOx4

https://youtu.be/rSRPU_yXOx

We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:

1. On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
2. On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
3. On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
4. On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
5. On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
6. On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
7. On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
8. On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
9. On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
10. On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
11. On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
12. On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
13. On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
14. On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
15. On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
16. On the sixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
17. On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
18. On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
19. On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
20. On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
21. On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
22. On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
23. On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
24. On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
25. On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
26. On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
27. On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
28. On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
29. On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
30. On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
31. On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
32. On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
33. On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
34. On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
35. On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
36. On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
37. On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
38. On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
39. On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
40. On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
41. On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
42. On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
43. On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
44. On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
45. On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
46. On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
47. On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
48. On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
49. On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
50. On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
51. On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
52. On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
53. On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
54. On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
55. On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
56. On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
57. On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
58. On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
59. On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
60. On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
61. On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
62. On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
63. On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
64. On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
65. On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
66. On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
67. On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
68. On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
69. On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
70. On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
71. On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
72. On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
73. On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
74. On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
75. On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
76. On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
77. On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
78. On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
79. On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
80. On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
81. On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
82. On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
83. On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
84. On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
85. On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
86. On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
87. On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
88. On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
89. On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
90. On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
91. On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
92. On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
93. On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
94. On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
95. On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer: Anoushka Shankar.
96. On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
97. On the ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.
98. On the ninety-eighth day, we learnt about one of the greatest sitarists: Ustaad Vilayat Khan.
99. On the ninety-ninth day, we learnt about another great sitarist: Nikhil Banerjee.
100. And today, on the hundredth day, we learnt about the great vocalist: Kioshori Amonkar.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed. Please stay tuned!

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Sau baar janam lenge….
Raag Kaushik Kanada, Tal Kaherava

The ninety-ninth song; one more to go before I reach hundred. The average length of these blogs is about four thousand words – the amount in which average bloggers write about eight to ten posts. Each one of these is a product of hours (if not days) of research and gives you compendium of information that you would cherish.

This song is from the 1963 movie Ustadon Ke Ustad directed by Brij and starring Pradeep Kumar and Shakeela. Recently, I gave you a song: Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye that was penned by Asad Bhopali for the 1963 movie Parasmani. Well, this song too has been penned by him and composed by Ravi. It was sung by Mohammad Rafi.

Lets look at the story-line to see how the song cane about in the movie:

Pradeep Kumar plays Dinesh, a poor engineer in love with a rich woman Nita (Shakila). He is apprehended by the police after they suspect him of being a bank robber. In the police cell he meets dacoit Mangal Singh (Sheikh Mukhtar). The latter plans an escape so as to sell Dinesh to a violent gang.

After their escape Dinesh tells Mangal that not just police he is in trouble with a vindictive gang of thieves hell bent on killing him for having identified Rita (Helen), the dancer, who was involved in a theft. This makes Mangal think of a plan to sell Dinesh to the gang leader for a bigger sum of money.

Mangal’s plan fails. Saaya (Ashok Kumar) follows Mangal’s people to a hiding place where Dinesh is locked up. After his escape from dacoit Mangal, Dinesh makes another escape attempt from the hideout, this time with attempted suicide near a waterfall. This is where Nita comes searching for him and he feigns being a ghost. This is where this lovely song is sung as a mystery song.

The story takes another twist when Saaya (everyone thought he was a police officer in disguise) betrays Dinesh. Nita is still searching for Dinesh and Mangal assists her by becoming her brother. The story takes some more twists and turns and has a happy ending when the lovers are united and the bad man Saaya (Ashok Kumar) is killed. Rita (Helen) is killed too.

This is the first time I am taking up a song in this raaga.

We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge.  It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

Our ninety-eighth post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #98‘ and the song was a Yesudas and Hemlata song from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le. It is also in Raag Pilu Tal Kaherava.

This blog has a number of posts on Raaga based songs in Hindi movies titled similarly; for example: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies – Raaga Jaijaivanti‘.

In the last ninety-eight days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand, Mian Ki Malhar and Jog; making it a total of 62 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am giving you a new Raag Kaushik Kanada for the first time.

I have already given you the story of the movie and where exactly the song fits into the plot. Let me just add that this plot was found by audiences as of riveting interest and the movie is still remembered as highly watchable. Here is the list of songs in the movie:

All these songs were penned by Asad Bhopali. He was born as Asadullah Khan on 10 Jul 1921 in Bhopal.

Asad Bhopali wrote two songs for Fazli Brothers’ Duniya (1949): Rona hai to chupke chupke (sung by Mohammad Rafi) and Armaan lute, dil toot gaya (sung by Suraiyya). The next year, he wrote songs for a couple of films; these songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Shamshad Begum. Bhopali’s big break was BR Chopra’s Afsana (1951), for which he wrote 5 songs.

One of his early songs that really made him famous was ‘Woh jab yaad aaye bahut yaad aaye’ for the 1963 movie Parasmani (the debut movie of Laxmikant Pyarelal) (Please see: ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions #36‘).

He received his only Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist very late for the 1989 movie Maine Pyar Kiya’s song: Dil deewana bin sajna ke maane na.

I am fond of Music Director Ravi Shankar Sharma or simply Ravi, not just because he is my namesake. First of all, he was the discovery of my favourite Hemant Kumar. Together with Kalyanji, he was assistant to Hemant da in the 1954 movie Naagin. The film included thirteen tracks, including the hit ‘Man Dole Mera Tan Dole’, whose ‘Been Music’ was performed by Kalyanji on clavioline and by Ravi on harmonium. I am also fond of Ravi for having got two of the three Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist: Chaudhvin ka chand ho and Husn waale tera jawaab nahin. The instrument Sitar figured in many of Ravi’s songs, just like the one that I have selected for you tonight. Ravi was known for bringing poignancy of some of his songs to the fore through his excellent compositions. The song that comes to mind is Shakeel Badayuni’s Do Badan song picturised on Asha Parekh and sung by Lata Mangeshkar: Lo aa gayi unaki yaad woh nahin aaye.

Asad Bhopali and Ravi came together for the 1962 Nisar Ahmad Ansari movie Tower House starring Ajit and Shakila. The movie had very good songs:

1. Ai mere dil-e-nadaan tu gham se na ghabrana.
2. Main khushnaseeb hoon mujhako kisi ka pyar mila.
3. Aaj ki raat andhera bhi hai tanhai bhi.
4. Mausam hai jawan noor mein dube hain nazaare.
5. Ye sitam kya hai hamako bana kar deewana chale.
6. Zara bach ke shikari shikar karna.

And then there was this movie whose songs list I have already given you.

Surprisingly, for someone who learnt music mostly by himself Ravi was well rooted in raagas. His favourite raaga appears to be Bhopali or Bhupali. In the 1963 BR Chopra movie Ravi had two out of the seven songs composed in this raaga: Ye hawa ye fiza, and Tujhako mera pyar pukaare. One of the best songs in Raag Kedar: Darshan do Ghanshyam has also been composed by Ravi. Nobody can ever forget his Chaudhvinh ka chand ho in Raag Pahadi and Ye raatein ye mausam nadi ka kinara in Raag Kirwani.

This song, as I told you, is in Raag Kaushik Kanada, Tal Kaherava.

Raag Kaushik/Kaushi/Kausi Kanada belongs to the Asawari thaat. Its Jati is Shadhav – Sampurna Vakra, which means it is hexatatonic (six notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) with Re (Rishab) and Pa (Pancham) varjay. All seven swar (heptatonic) in Avroha (descending). Gandhar, Dhaivat and Nishad are Komal. Rest all swar are Shuddha. The raaga is well suited for the third prahar of the night (Midnight to 3 AM).

Other than this song there are no notable songs in Hindi movies composed in Kaushik or simply Kaushi/Kausi Kanada.

I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Kaherava Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here.

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last sixteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan, the finest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked about Ali Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Then, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music. Thereafter, we took up Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country. Then we learnt a little more about Ustaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain. Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion: Anand Shankar. Then we learnt about a Veena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro. Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar. And then we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj in the last post. We then covered violinist L Subramaniam. And finally we learnt about Sitarist: Ustaad Vilayat Khan.

Tonight, we shall take up another great sitarist: Nikhil Banerjee. He was born on 14 Oct 1931 in Calcutta. His father, Jitendranath Banerjee, was an amateur sitarist and Banerjee was fascinated by his father’s playing. Initially, his father didn’t encourage Nikhil becoming a sitarist but relented when he was five. The initial training of the young child was at the hands of his father. He became a child prodigy. He won an all-India sitar competition and became the youngest musician employed by All India Radio at the age of nine. Around 1946 Nikhil Banerjee met the great khyal singer Amir Khan through the master’s teaching of Nikhil Banerjee’s sister, and his enthusiasm for his music was reinforced by hearing him in concert a couple of years later.

In 1947 Banerjee met Ustad Allauddin Khan, who was to become his main guru along with his son, Ali Akbar Khan. Both were sarod players. Banerjee went to Allauddin Khan’s concerts and was desperate to have him as his teacher. Allauddin Khan did not want to take on more students, but changed his mind after listening to one of Banerjee’s radio broadcasts. Allauddin Khan was Banerjee’s main teacher, after he left Maihar he also learned from Ali Akbar Khan, the son of Allaudin Khan, for many years.

Ustad Allauddin Khan passed on to Nikhil not only playing technique but the musical knowledge and approach of the Maihar gharana. After Maihar, Banerjee embarked on a concert career that was to take him to all corners of the world and last right up to his untimely death on 27 Jan 1986. All through his life he kept taking lessons from Ustad Allauddin Khan and his children, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Smt. Annapurna Devi. Perhaps reflecting his early upbringing, he always remained a humble musician, and was content with much less limelight than a player of his stature could have vied for. Even so, in 1968, he was decorated with the Padma Shri, and in 1974 received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Today, he is commonly regarded as one of the greatest sitarists of the 20th century and is often spoken of as being on a level with the other two masters Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan.

Returning to the song now. The song, as I told you, is from the 1963 Brij movie Ustadon Ke Ustad. It is a soft melody in Raag Kaushik or Kaushi/Kausi Kanada that lends to the song a certain enigma that goes well with the vapour that rises from the water-fall. In that respect the song is in line with – though with better lyrics and picturisation – than such songs as Gumnaam hai koi.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Kaushik Kanada Tal Kaherava, Moahammad Rafi sing a composition of Ravi on the lyrics of Asad Bhopali in the 1963 Brij movie Ustadon Ke Ustad starring Pradeep Kumar, Shakila, Ashok Kumar and Sheikh Mukhtar: Sau baar janam lenge, sau baar fana honge…..

सौ बार जनम लेंगे, सौ बार फ़ना होंगे
ऐ जान-ए-वफ़ा फिर भी, हम तुम न जुदा होंगे

क़िस्मत हमे मिलने से, रोकेगी भला कब तक
इन प्यार की राहों में, भटकेगी वफ़ा कब तक
क़दमों के निशाँ खुद ही, मंज़िल का पता होंगे

ये कैसी उदासी है, जो हुस्न पे छाई है
हम दूर नहीं तुम से, कहने को जुदाई है
अरमान भरे दो दिल, फिर एक जगह होंगे

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTprvBjARLY

We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:

1. On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
2. On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
3. On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
4. On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
5. On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
6. On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
7. On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
8. On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
9. On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
10. On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
11. On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
12. On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
13. On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
14. On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
15. On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
16. On the sixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
17. On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
18. On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
19. On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
20. On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
21. On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
22. On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
23. On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
24. On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
25. On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
26. On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
27. On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
28. On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
29. On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
30. On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
31. On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
32. On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
33. On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
34. On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
35. On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
36. On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
37. On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
38. On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
39. On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
40. On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
41. On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
42. On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
43. On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
44. On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
45. On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
46. On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
47. On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
48. On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
49. On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
50. On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
51. On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
52. On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
53. On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
54. On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
55. On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
56. On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
57. On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
58. On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
59. On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
60. On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
61. On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
    
62. On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
63. On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
64. On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
65. On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
66. On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
67. On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
68. On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
69. On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
70. On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
71. On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
72. On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
73. On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
74. On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
75. On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
76. On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
77. On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
78. On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
    
79. On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
    
80. On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
81. On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
82. On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
83. On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
84. On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
85. On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
86. On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
87. On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
88. On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
89. On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
90. On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
91. On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
92. On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
93. On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
94. On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
95. On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer: Anoushka Shankar.
96. On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
97. On the ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.
98. On the ninety-eighth day, we learnt about one of the greatest sitarists: Ustaad Vilayat Khan.
99. And today, on the ninety-ninth day, we learnt about another great sitarist: Nikhil Banerjee.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Dil se re….
Raag Jog, Tal Kaherava

Today, we turn to living-legend and genius AR Rahman, the winner of more Filmfare Awards (Ten) than any other Music Director in history. Even though I have posted a song by him Tu hi re in my other songs series (Please see: ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions #22‘) I haven’t given you any of his songs in the present series on Raaga Based Songs.

After this post, I have just two to go before I finish a hundred posts in the present series before Diwali.

If the earlier AR Rahman song was from a Mani Ratnam movie Bombay, this song is from another Mani Ratnam film: the 1998 movie Dil Se in which for the production Ram Gopal Verma and Shekhar Kapur joined hands with Mani Ratnam. It was penned by Gulzar, composed by AR Rahman and sung by AR Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Anupama & Febi Mani. Pink Floyd bass guitarist Guy Pratt played bass in this song.

This is the first time I am taking up a song in this raaga.

We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge.  It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

Our ninety-seventh post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #97‘ and the song was a Yesudas and Hemlata song from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le. It is also in Raag Pilu Tal Kaherava.

This blog has a number of posts on Raaga based songs in Hindi movies titled similarly; for example: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies – Raaga Darbari Kanada – Part III‘.

In the last ninety-seven days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand and Mian Ki Malhar; making it a total of 61 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am giving you a new Raag Jog for the first time.

Today’s song is from the 1998 film Dil Se that was produced (together with Ram Gopal Verma and Shekhar Kapur) and directed by Mani Ratnam and also written by him together with Tigmanshu Dhulia. The film starred Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta.

The movie won AR Rahman one of his ten Filmfare Awards and Gulzar one of his twenty Filmfare Awards (of course for the song Chaiya Chaiya (for which Sukhwinder Singh won the Best Male Playback Singer Award. The movie won two National Awards and Six Filmfare Awards including one for Preity Zinta for Best Female Debut.

Lets understand the story-line to see where the song fits in the movie:

Shahrukh Khan plays Amarkant Varma, a programme executive for All India Radio. Whilst covering festivities in Assam, Amar has a chance encounter with Meghna (Manisha Koirala) at Haflong railway station. He doesn’t know her name but she keeps appearing in his life (for example in Lumding where she denies having met him earlier). He is of course much fascinated by her and  describes his encounter with her on the radio. She hears this and next he sees her at the Post Office.

And now she intervenes telling him to leave her alone but he stalks her and tells her that he is in love with her. She tells him she is married and gets him beaten up by two men. He comes to know later that she feigned marriage and the men are probably her brothers.

Once again she does the vanishing trick and he searches for her. He learns from a Public Call Office owner that she used to make calls to Ladakh. Amar travels to Leh to find her. Here a suicide bomber is chased to death by the army and Amar spots her again. This time she feigns to be his wife when a search is going on for suspected terrorists in the bus by which they travel.

For the first time he learns her name: Meghna. She again vanishes. It is later revealed that Meghna is part of a Liberationists group which plans multiple suicide attacks in New Delhi at the upcoming Republic Day celebrations).

Amar returns to his home in Delhi, where his family has found Preeti Nair (Preity Zinta) from Kerala as a potential bride for him. Amar agrees to marry Preeti because he has no hope that he will ever meet Meghna again.

On a date with Preeti, Amar spots one of Meghna’s associates, Kim. Amar chases him down to Connaught Place, where the man kills himself with a cyanide pill after being stopped by local police. The case is handed over to CBI.

Amar is a prime suspect. This time Meghna visits Delhi to get a job at All India Radio and stay with him to escape scrutiny by security forces. He learns that her real name is Moina and she is a rape victim of the army. Her mission, with her associates, is to target the Republic Day Parade and the President of India.

He tries to prevent all this claiming that his only motive is that he is in love with her. He embraces her whilst she is armed as a suicide bomber and they are both blown to smithereens.

He was in love with her Dil Se and she was seeking revenge with government of India Dil Se for being a rape victim as a child.

That’s the significance of this song in the movie. It is the title song and tells the story of the movie in a flash. 

The song has been penned by Gulzar. Lets talk a bit about Gulzar, the most versatile Lyricist that we have had in Hindi films: He has been poet, lyricist, director, dialogue, story and screen-play writer. He was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award — the highest award in Indian cinema. He has won several Indian National Film Awards, 20 Filmfare Awards, one Academy Award and one Grammy Award.

He was born as Sampooran Singh Kalra on 18 Aug 1943 in Dina, Jhelum District (now in Pakistan). After Partition Sampooran’s family shifted to Bombay. In his early boyhood and manhood days, he eked out a living by taking up various odd jobs including as a mechanic at a garage. He was fond of writing poetry and assumed the name of Gulzar Deenvi and later Gulzar.

He started his career as a songwriter with the music director Sachin Dev Burman for the Bimal Roy movie Bandini (1963) penning just one song: Mora gora rang layle whilst Shailendra penned the rest.

From that day on wards there has never been any looking back.

Gulzar has won the Filmfare Awards the maximum number of times: twenty; eleven of these have been for Best Lyricist. The next in the line is AR Rahman who has one fifteen Filmfare Awards including ten as Best Music Director.

The song belongs to its composer Allah Rakha Rahman more than to anyone else. Just as, the other day, we took up Surbahar player Annapurna Devi (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #88‘) who became a Hindu after having been born a Muslim as Roshana Khan, AR Rahman was born a Hindu, Dileep Shekhar, on 06 Jan 1967 and converted to Islam in 1989, at the age of 22. In recent past, no other composer and music director has occupied space in our hearts and minds more than Rahman. Rahman’s films career started with the 1992 Tamil movie Roja, also a Mani Ratnam movie and also starring Arvind Swamy, though with Madhoo and not Monisha Koirala. Roja not just won the National Award for Best Film on National Integration but was later dubbed in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Malyalam. In 2009, when AR Rahman won two Oscars (for Best Song (Jai ho)) and Best Original Score (together with Gulzar)(Slumdog Millionaire) many of us felt that the Roja songs and music were better than the Slumdog Millionaire. His first film Roja won him the National Award for Best Music Director. One of the songs from the movie is a favourite: Bharat hamako jaan se bhi pyaara hai. As of 2016, Rahman has garnered four National Film Awards, 15 Filmfare Awards and 16 Filmfare Awards South, a record for an Indian composer.

Gulzar and AR Rahman started together with this movie. They have worked together in twelve movies as Lyricist and Music Director.

Some of the popular songs of Gulzar with AR Rahman are: Chaiya chaiya, Jiya jale, Ai ajnabee and Satrangi re (Dil Se, 1998); Saathiya, Chupke se, Mera yaar mila de, and Chori pe chori (Saathiya, 2002); Jiya jale and Dil se re used again in 7 1/2 Phere (2005); Barso re megha megha, Jaage hain der tak, Maiyya and Aye hairati aashqi jaga mat (Guru, 2007); Main hoon yuvraaj, Shanno shanno, Tu meri dost hai, Mastam mastam and Dil ka rishta (Yuvraaj, 2008); Jai ho (Slumdog Millionaire, 2009 Both of them won Oscar); Ranjha Ranjha kardi ve, Behne de mujhe behne de and Thok de killi (Raavan, 2010); Saans mein teri saans mili to, Heer Heer na aakho adiyo, Saans, Jiya jaiya re jiya, and Jab taq hai jaan (Jab Tak Hai Jaan, 2012).

AR Rahman is so well versed with raagas that he has tried songs in raagas that were hitherto untried. Some of  his most memorable numbers are: Taal se taal mila (Bhairavi), Piya Haji Ali (Maand), Columbus (Madhyamaavathi), Karite na (Maru Bihag/Hemant), Hai Rama (Puria Dhanashree) (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #40‘), Deem tadare dhani (Megh Malhar), Anjali Anjali (Maand), Jiya jale (Misra Bhairavi), Boondon se baaten (Misra Kirwani), Ni main samajh gayi (Ahir Bhairavi), Mitwa (Bhupeshree or Vasanthi), Radha kaise na jale (Bhimpalasi), Chalo chalo (Chala Nathai), Mujhe rang de (Charukeshi), Chhodo meri bainyan (Patdeep), Jhoola bahon ka (Peelu), Ruth aa gayi re (Puria Dhanashree), Monalisa (Gawati), and Ghanan ghanan (Kafi). 

This song, as I told you, is in Raag Jog, Tal Kaherava.

Raag Jog belongs to the Kafi thaat. Its Jati is Audhav – Audhav, which means it is pentatonic (five notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) and  in Avroha (descending). The swar that are vrajay (missing) are Re (Rishab) and Dha (Dhaivat). Rishab is Komal and both (Shuddha in Aaroha and Komal in Avroha) Gandhars are used. Rest all swar are Shuddha. The dominant note (Vadi) is Ma or Madhyam. The raaga is a straightforward and melodious raaga. Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman have tried to contrast the soft melody against the harsh violence of terrorism. In that manner only it is somewhat similar to Louis Armstrong’s It’s A Wonderful World being used against the harsh reality of war in Barry Levinson’s 1987 movie Good Morning Vietnam starring Robin Williams. The raaga is well suited for the second prahar of the night (9 PM to Midnight).

Very few Hindi films songs have been composed in this raaga, Besides the present song, Hansraj Behl composed Naina dwar se for the 1959 movie Sawan.

I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Kaherava Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here.

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last fifteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan, the finest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked about Ali Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Then, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music. Thereafter, we took up Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country. Then we learnt a little more about Ustaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain. Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion: Anand Shankar. Then we learnt about a Veena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro. Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar. And then we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj in the last post. Finally we covered violinist L Subramaniam.

Tonight, we shall take up the great sitarist: Ustaad Vilayat Khan. He turned down all awards conferred on him by the government of India: the second, third and fourth highest; ie, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri on the ground that others less deserving Sitarists have been given these awards before him. His family, he rightly claimed, had originated gayaki ang of Sitar (attempt to mimic vocal music on Sitar) and it was not recognised for this. On the same grounds he turned down Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. This makes him a unique artiste who has turned down all awards conferred on him. The only titles he accepted were the special decorations of “Bharat Sitar Samrat” by the Artistes Association of India and “Aftab-e-Sitar” (Sun of the Sitar) from President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Vilayat was born on 28 Aug 1928 in Gouripur, Mymensingh in then East Bengal in British India and current Bangladesh. His father Enayat Khan was recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar (bass sitar) player of his time, as had been his grandfather, Imdad Khan, before him. He was taught in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani gharana or Etawah Gharana, after a small city close to Agra where Imdad Khan lived.

He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75. Vilayat Khan performed at All Bengal Music Conference, as his first concert, organized by Bhupen Ghosh in Kolkata with Ahmed Jan Thirakwa on tabla. His performance at the concert organized by Vikramaditya Sangeet Parishad, Mumbai in 1944 drew the headline “Electrifying Sitar”.

Vilayat composed and conducted the score for three feature films – Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar (1958) in Bengali, Merchant-Ivory Productions’ The Guru (1969) in English, and Madhusudan Kumar’s Kadambari (1976) in Hindi.

Returning to the song now. The song, as I told you, is from the 1998 Mani Ratnam movie Dil Se. Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman have had an abiding relationship that started with the 1992 movie Roja that was later remade into Hindi, Telugu, Malyalam and Marathi. When AR Rahman was conferred the Oscar for Jai Ho in 2009 movie Slumdog Millionaire, critics felt that the music of Roja was much better. As far as Hindi movies are concerned, both of them were together in Bombay (1995), Dil Se (1998), Guru (2007) and Raavan (2010).

Mani Ratnam directed the movie and the song very well. In the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival he won a special mention in Netpac Awards for this movie. This song was a chart topper of the year 1998 and this song’s lyrics in Urdu are said to be the finest. Its picturisation too got noticed. Santosh Sivan received Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography for the movie. The song has now achieved a cult status.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Jog Tal Kaherava, AR Rahman, Anuradha Sriram, Anupama & Febi Mani sing a composition of AR Rahman on the lyrics of Gulzar in the 1998 Mani Ratnam movie Dil Se starring Shahrukh Khan, Manisha Koirala and Preity Zinta: Dil se re…..

इक सूरज निकला था, कुछ तारा पिघला था
इक आँधी आयी थी, जब दिल से आह निकली थी
दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न, मीठी सी मुशकिल है न
पिया पिया, जिया जिया, पिया पिया
दिल से रे …

दो पत्ते पतझड़ के, पेड़ों से उतरे थे
पेड़ों की शाखों से, उतरे थे
फिर इतने मौसम गुज़रे, वो पत्ते दो बेचारे
फिर उगने की चाहत में, वो सहरों से गुज़रे
वो पत्तेए दिल दिल दिल थे, वो दिल थे दिल थे दिल दिल थे
दिल है तो फिर दर्द होगा, दर्द है तो दिल भी होगा
मौसम गुज़रते रहते हैं
दिल से दिल से दिल दिल से, दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न …

बन्धन है रिश्तों में, काँटों की तारें हैं
पत्थर के दरवाज़े, दीवारे.ब
बेलें फिर भी उगती हैं, और गुँचे भी खिलते हैं
और चलते है.ब अफ़साने
किरदार भी मिलते हैं
वो रिश्ते दिल दिल दिल थे, वो दिल थे दिल थे दिल दिल थे
ग़म दिल के बस चुलबुले हैं, पानी के ये बुलबुले हैं
बुझते हैं बनते रहते हैं
दिल से दिल से दिल दिल से, दिल से रे
दिल तो आखिर दिल है न …

We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:

1. On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
2. On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
3. On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
4. On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
5. On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
6. On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
7. On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
8. On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
9. On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
10. On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
11. On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
12. On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
13. On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
14. On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
15. On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
16. On the sixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
17. On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
18. On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
19. On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
20. On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
21. On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
22. On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
23. On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
24. On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
25. On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
26. On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
27. On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
28. On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
29. On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
30. On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
31. On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
32. On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
33. On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
34. On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
35. On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
36. On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
37. On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
38. On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
39. On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
40. On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
41. On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
42. On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
43. On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
44. On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
45. On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
46. On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
47. On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
48. On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
49. On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
50. On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
51. On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
52. On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
53. On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
54. On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
55. On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
56. On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
57. On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
58. On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
59. On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
60. On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
61. On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
    
62. On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
63. On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
64. On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
65. On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
66. On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
67. On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
68. On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
69. On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
70. On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
71. On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
72. On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
73. On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
74. On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
75. On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
76. On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
77. On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
78. On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
    
79. On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
    
80. On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
81. On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
82. On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
83. On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
84. On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
85. On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
86. On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
87. On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
88. On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
89. On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
90. On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
91. On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
92. On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
93. On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
94. On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
95. On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer: Anoushka Shankar.
96. On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
97. On the ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.
98. And today, on the ninety-eighth day, we learnt about one of the greatest sitarists: Ustaad Vilayat Khan.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le….
Raag Pilu, Tal Kaherava

After this post, I have another three to go before I finish a hundred posts in the present series before Diwali.

If you look at the image of this post you would notice the full-moon in it. Chand (Moon) is my favourite theme in songs. One of my first post on songs was ‘Hindi Songs And The Importance Of Chand (Moon)‘. Similarly, on my first Facebook group ‘Dil Ki Nazar Se’, the very first monthly music Fest was on the theme of Chand. On my second group ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne‘ too I have had a Fest on Chand with the difference that Chand would be actually there in the video of the song.

For the month of November 2018, I have announced a Fest on Preludes, Interludes and Codas in Chand and Chandni songs.

In the cover picture of this song, the lyrics that appear are:

Chandni raaton mein, haath liye haathon mein;
Doobe rahen ek doosre ki ras bhari baaton mein.

The song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor. It was composed by Ravindra Jain on his own lyrics and sung by Yesudas and Hemlata.

Even though it is a very popular raaga in Hindi movies, particularly for OP Nayyar, today is the second time that I give you a song in this raaga. The first time I gave you a song in this raag was on the tenth day: Dhadakte dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tu, (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #10‘). It is a beautiful composition of Ghulam Mohammad (of Pakeezah fame) on the lyrics of Kaifi Azmi in the 1961 movie Shama starring Suraiya, Nimmi and Vijay Dutt.

We have completed ninety-five days of Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Our first post in the series was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #1’ and the song was a Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Pagla Kahin Ka: Tum mujhe youn bhula na paoge.  It is in Raag Jhinjhoti, Tal Kaherava.

Our ninety-sixth post or the last post here was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #96‘ and the song was a Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1965 Raj Khosla movie Chirag starring Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh: Teri aankhon ke siwa. It is also in Raag Jhinjhoti but Tal is Dadra.

This blog has a number of posts on Raaga based songs in Hindi movies titled similarly; for example: ‘The Best Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies – Raaga Darbari Kanada – Part II‘.

In the last ninety-six days of sharing Raaga based songs of the day, I have given you songs based on Raag Jhinjhoti, Gara, Bhimpalasi, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani, Bihag, Pahadi, Sarang, Pilu, Bhairavi, Khammaj, Charukesi, Kalyan or Yaman, Desh, Malgunji, Kirwani, Kedar, Bageshri, Megh Malhar, Bhupali, Ahir Bhairav, Malkaush, Mand, Adana, Kafi, Rageshri, Jaunpuri, Tilang, Janasammohini, Chayanat, Shuddha Kalyan, Gaur Sarang, Jogiya, Asavari, Maru Bihag, Durga, Lalit, Puria Dhanashri, Bhinna Sahdja, Sohani, Multani, Patdeep, Jaijaiwanti, Tilak Kamod, Hemant, Basant Mukhari, Gujri Todi, Kalavati, Hamir, Bhatiyar, Gawati, Shyam Kalyan, Gorakh Kalyan, Madhamat Sarang, Manj Khammaj, Darbari Kanada, Vibhas, Shankara, Bahar, Nand and Mian Ki Malhar; making it a total of 61 raagas. The raagas that have been repeated so far are Pahadi, the raaga of my home place in the Himalayas, Maru Bihag, Raag Kirwani, Jhinjhoti, Bhairavi, Gara, Basant Mukhari, Malkauns, Bhairavi, Mand, Sohani, Madhuvanti, Shivaranjani and Adana. Today, I am repeating Raag Pilu for the second time.

Today’s song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra.  The film is a Rajshri Productions film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. It is based on a Bengali story, Chittachakor by Subodh Ghosh.

Lets understand the story-line to see where the song fits in the movie:

Geeta’s (Zarina Wahab) Mumbai based sister Meera sends a letter to Geeta’s father Pitamber (AK Hangal) that an engineer would be arriving at their village and he is a possible match for Geeta. The family dutifully receives Vinod (Amol Palekar) at the railway station. He takes an instant liking to the family, especially Geeta and even tries to teach her music and singing. The two fall in love. All seems to be going well until another letter is received from Meera informing the family that the engineer Sunil (Vijayendra) was earlier delayed and would be arriving soon. Vinod (Amol Palekar) was merely the overseer.

He was nevertheless the Heart-stealer (Chitchor) for the naive village belle Geeta. There is a happy ending for the two.

The song is lip-synced by Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab when Vijayendra arrives from Mumbai and the family is in the process of telling Zarina Wahab to switch her attention from Amol Palekar to Vijayendra.

The lyricist of the song was Ravindra Jain and he composed the song too.

This is the first time I am taking up a song by Ravindra Jain either in this series or in ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions’ series.

Ravindra Jain was born on 28 Feb 1944 in Aligarh. He was born blind to Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedacharya, Pandit Indramani Jain and mother Kiran Jain.

He started singing at a very early age singing bhajans. His parents gave him music training fairly early. Ravindra Jain received basic training under Pandit GL Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma, and Pandit Nathu Ram. His entry into the films world was at the age of 16 in Calcutta. Ten years later he moved to Bombay wherein he made his debut as a composer for Prathibhushan Bhattacharya’s movie Kranthi. In 1972 he became a full fledged Music Director when Mohammad Rafi recorded a song composed by him that was never released.

Jain progressed his career in the early 1970s, composing for films such as Saudagar (1973 film), Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976), Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye (1977), Paheli (1977) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) and Nadiya ke paar (1982). Along with composing music, he also wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Ravindra Jain’s father died during the recording sessions of the film Saudagar. However, Jain did not leave the studio until the recordings were finalised giving utmost importance to his work.

As far as his association with Yesudas is concerned, Jain is credited for bringing this great South Indian vocalist to Hindi movies, in singing in many of his movies in the 1970s and 1980s.

It is said that Jain was so enthralled by Yesudas’s voice, if he ever received his vision, Yesudas would be the first person he would want to see. Jain has worked on songs after his liaison with Yesudas, but he has failed to attain the pinnacle of glory he achieved with the master singer during the 1970s. Jain has described Yesudas as the ‘Voice of India’.

I have posted two songs of Yesudas before in this blog: Ka karun sahani in Raag Kirwani, Tal Kaherava (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #17‘) and Koi gaata main so jaata (Please see: ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions #23‘).

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas was born on 10th January 1940 in Fort Kochi (Kerala) in a Latin-rite Roman Catholic Christian family to late Augustine Joseph and late Elizabeth Joseph. His father, a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru (teacher). Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: MB Sreenivasan) on 14th November 1961. He got a break in Hindi movies with the 1971 movie Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Therefore, in 2011 Yesudas completed 50 years as a playback singer. However, it was the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie, with songs composed by Salil Chowdhury that really made him popular. The song he sang in the movie was: Jaaneman jaaneman tere do nayan. Yesudas has recorded over 70,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Vibhushan (2017) and a record seven National Awards for Best Playback Singer. On 2 Oct 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, where he stated that “Women should not wear jeans and trouble others. You should dress modestly and do not behave like men”. This resulted in a number of protests from Women’s Rights and Political organizations, who asked him to withdraw the comment, which he never did.

Some of the popular songs of Ravindra Jain that have been sung by Yesudas are: Aaj se pehle, Gori tera gaanv badha pyara and Jab deep jale aana (Chitchor, 1976); Shikari raja aaye re and Utho he laal (Safed Haathi; 1977); Khushiyan hi khushiyan ho daaman mein jiske (Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye, 1977); Laal gulabi phool se bhari (Hamra Sansaar, 1978); Sabko chhuti mili mujhako mili kyun nahin and Tere honthon ke pyaale se jo chhalke (Mera Rakshak, 1978); Sunayana aaj in nazaron ko tum dekho and Aansu bhi hain khushiyan bhi hain (Sunayana, 1979); O goriyaa re, Oonchi neechi lehron ke kandhon par and Teara kuchh khoya ho to dhoond de (Naiyya, 1979); Neer bharan ka karke bahana (Gopal Krishna, 1979); Kaun hai aisa jise phoolon se (Raadha Aur Seeta, 1979); Ai mere udaas man and Ik but se mohabbat karke (Maan Abimaan, 1980); Sun sun gaon ki gori (Sasural, 1984); and Saambh sada shiv (Abodh, 1984).

The female singer of this song is Hemlata. Whilst Yesudas won the National Award for this song, she won the Filmfare Award for it (she has won five such awards so far). Having been born on 16 Aug 1954 in Hyderabad, when she was only 12 years old her family moved to Bombay. She had early influence by Ustad Allarakha and Ustad Rais Khan; the latter taught her ghazals. But, the one person who really took her up as a singer in the movies was Naushad Ali (is there no end to how many artistes Naushad helped become good and great including the playback singer Mukesh?) Later, she worked with Roshan and Khaiyyam.

Her association with Ravindra Jain was the most lasting. He used her voice for his debut movie in 1972: Kaanch Aur Heera. She thereafter sang in many of his movies such as Raakh Aur Chingari (1974), Geeta Gaata Chal (1975), Salakhen (1975), Tapasaya (1975), and Fakira (1976). Her singing for him in Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se made her very popular.

In the year 1977, when I was posted to Indian Navy’s Leadership School INS Agrani, we had the occasion to host a concert featuring both Yesudas and Hemlata. Chitchor had just been released and this song was on everyone’s lips.

Ravindra Jain composed many memorable songs based on Raagas. One of his most memorable numbers is in Raag Kalyan, Tal Kaherava from the same movie Chitchor: Jab deep jale aana.This song, as I told you, is in Raag Pilu, Tal Kaherava.

Raag Pilu belongs to the Kafi thaat. Its Jati is Audhav – Sampoorna, which means it is pentatonic (five notes or swar) in Aaroha (ascending) and heptatonic (all seven notes or sawr) in Avroha (descending). The swar that are vrajay (missing) in Aaroha are Re (Rishab) and Dha (Dhaivat). The dominant note (Vadi) is Dhaivat that lends to this raaga a light and tranquil touch. The raaga is full of devotion and piety and as both Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab lip-sync it you can notice these in the eyes and mannerisms of the protagonists. The raag is well suited for the third prahar of the day; that is, early evening and that’s precisely when it is played in the movie too.

One composer who used Raag Pilu extensively was Omkar Prasad Nayyar or OP Nayyar. Some of his songs (conveying the mood) of Pilu are: Jayiye aap kahan jayenge, Kabhi aar kabhi paar laaga teere nazar, Kaisa jadoo balam tune daala (my favourite Waheeda Rehman song from Guru Dutt movie 12 O’ Clock), Main soya akhiyan meeche, and Piya piya piya na laage mora jiya. But, I am not giving you any of these.

I am also not giving you Naushad’s jhule se pawan mein aayi bahaar (literally spring time) or SD Barman’s Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul or that beautiful Sujata number Kali ghata chhaye mora jiya tarsaaye.

I have, at various places earlier, told you about the Kaherava Tal and hence don’t feel the need to repeat it here.

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last fourteen times we started learning about some of the leading personalities in Indian Classical Music or Shastriya Sangeet. The first one that we took up was Ustaad Asad Ali Khan, the finest Rudra Veena player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Hari Parsad Chaurasia, the greatest Bansuri player in the country. Then we talked about Ali Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod player in the country. Then we took up Pandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Then we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Then, we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Then, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Then, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music. Thereafter, we took up Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the grestest Santoor player in the country. Then we learnt a little more about Ustaad Alla Rakha Qureshi or simply Alla Rakha, the Tabla Maestro and father of Ustaad Zakir Hussain. Then we learnt about the master and one of the pioneers of fusion: Anand Shankar. Then we learnt about a Veena player who was also a great filmmaker: Sundaram Balachander. Then we learnt about Sarod Player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. And then we learnt about Ustaad Zakir Hussain, the Tabla maestro. Then we learnt about Sitar Player and Composer Anoushka Shankar. And finally we covered vocalist Pandit Jasraj in the last post.

Tonight, we shall take up the great violinist: L Subramaniam. Talking about him takes me back to attending those musical concerts in the nights at St Xavier’s College, Bombay (now Mumbai). We used to sit spell bound listening to his art. Pandit Dr. Lakshminarayana Subramaniam in Madras Presidency, British India, just 22 days before India became independent.

L Subramaniam began training in violin under the tutelage of his father, Professor V Lakshminarayana. Mani, as he is fondly known by fellow musicians and his family, gave his first public performance at the age of only six.

L Subramaniam is also an MBBS from Madras Medical College and that explains the Dr in his name. He also has a Master’s degree in Western classical music, which he acquired at the California Institute of the Arts.

He is thus a unique violinist trained both in Carnatic tradition as well as Western classical tradition. Since 1973, Subramaniam has amassed over 200 recordings to his credit, releasing several solo albums, recording collaborations with musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Stéphane Grappelli, Ruggiero Ricci and Jean-Pierre Rampal, further to making albums and performing with Ruggiero Ricci, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke John Handy, and George Harrison.

Amongst the awards that he has won are: President’s Award for Best Violinist on All India Radio (1963), Grammy nomination for the album Indian Classical Music (1981), Padma Shri (1988), Padma Bhushan (2001), and Lifetime Achievement Award, Limca Book of Record (2012).

Returning to the song now. The song is from the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor. The movie was a Rajshri Production film produced by Tarachand Barjatya. Ravindra Jain has had a long association with Rajshri Production. It started with their 1975 movie Geet Gaata Chal starring Sachin and Sarika. Besides Chitchor, Ravindra Jain was Music Director for their Akhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978), Tapasya (1976), Abodh (1984), Jaana Pehchana (2011). All these have very melodious numbers.

Basu Chatterjee directed the movie and the song very well. There are people at Pitamber’s house to see the engineer (Vijayendra). Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab are putting up a song for the guest (a likely match for her). And true to the lyrics of the song as well as the bhaav of the raaga, for the loving couple there are only two people in the room: themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy in Raag Pilu Tal Kaherava, Yesudas and Hemlata sing a composition of Ravindra Jain on his own lyrics in the 1976 Basu Chatterjee movie Chitchor starring Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab: Tu jo mere sur mein sur mila le…..

ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
हे: तू जो मेरे मन का -२
घर बना ले, मन लगा ले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में

ये: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
हे: चाँदनी रातों में, हाथ लिए हाथों में
दोनों: डूबे रहें एक दूसरे की, रस भरी बातों में
ये: तू जो मेरे संग में -२
मुस्कुरा ले, गुनगुना ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल

हे: तू जो मेरे मन का…
दोनों: तू जो मेरे सुर में…

हे: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
ये: क्यों हम बहारों से, खुशियाँ उधार लें
दोनों: क्यों न मिलके हम खुद ही अपना जीवन सुधार लें
हे: तू जो मेरे पथ में -२
दीप गा ले ओ उजाले
तो बंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल

ये: तू जो मेरे सुर में -२
सुर मिला ले, संग गा ले
तो ज़िंदगी हो जाए सफ़ल

We have intended to learn about Raaga based music whilst we entertain ourselves with Raaga based songs. So, lets, once again, take stock of our collective learning so far:

1. On the first day we learnt about the Raaga system devised by Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, which is the prevalent system in Hindustani Classical Music and based on ten Thaats.
2. On the second day we learnt about Tal or Taal.
3. On the third day we learnt about characteristics of Raagas that included Swar, Jati, Thaat, Arohana and Avarohana, Vadi, Samvadi and Pakad.
4. On the fourth day, we learnt about Sargam.
5. On the fifth day, we learnt about notations used in Indian classical music or simply Swar Lipi.
6. On the sixth day, we learnt about the Ras (sentiments) that Raagas evoke.
7. On the seventh day, we learnt about various types of Swar: Shuddha, Achal, Vikrut, Komal and Teevra.
8. On the eighth day, we learnt the parts of a composition in Indian Classical Music.
9. On the ninth day, we learnt the names of some of the popular instruments used in Indian Classical Music.
10. On the tenth day, we learnt about the sources of names of Raagas.
11. On the eleventh day, we learnt about why Bhairavi is the first raag to be taught to beginners and also why it is the last in a performance.
12. On the twelfth day, we learnt about Khammaj Thaat.
13. On the thirteenth day, we learnt about Tal Punjabi Theka or Sitarkhani.
14. On the fourteenth day, we learnt about Alap.
15. On the fifteenth day, we learnt about List of Raagas (Raagmala) in my favourite book: Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
16. On the sixteenth day, we learnt about tips for raaga identification.
17. On the seventeenth day, we learnt the basics of Gharana system.
18. On the eighteenth day, we learnt about Filmi Sangeet.
19. On the nineteenth day, we learnt about the commonest Tal in Raagas: Tintal.
20. On the twentieth day, we learnt about the Kafi Thaat.
21. On the twenty-first day, we learnt a little more in detail about the classification of Raagas.
22. On the twenty-second day, we learnt the essential differences between Bhairavi and Bhairav.
23. On the twenty-third day, we learnt a little more in detail about the Jati or Jaati of a raaga.
24. On the twenty-fourth day, we learnt details of Thaat Bilawal, the most basic thaat in the Bhatkhande’s system of raagas.
25. On the twenty-fifth day, we learnt about Tintal.
26. On the twenty-sixth day, we learnt in detail about the Raaga – Samay linkage.
27. On the twenty-seventh day, we learnt about Lehar.
28. On the twenty-eighth day, we learnt about the history of the Hindustani Music.
29. On the twenty-ninth day, we learnt about Dhrupad.
30. On the thirtieth day, we learnt about Rupaktal that I was introduced to, a few months back, by my friend Anand Desai.
31. On the thirty-first day, we learnt about Khayal.
32. On the thirty-second day, we learnt about Thumri.
33. On the thirty-third day, we learnt about Tappa.
34. On the thirty-fourth day, we learnt about Tarana.
35. On the thirty-fifth day, we learnt about Tal Dipchandi (Moghali).
36. On the thirty-sixth day, we learnt about Tabla.
37. On the thirty-seventh day, we learnt about Kirtan.
38. On the thirty-eighth day, we learnt about Pakhawaj.
39. On the thirty-ninth day, we learnt about Hori.
40. On the fortieth day, we learnt about Dadra.
41. On the forty-first day, we learnt about Kajri.
42. On the forty-second day, we learnt about Chaiti.
43. On the forty-third day, we learnt about Sarangi.
44. On the forty-fourth day, we learnt about Shehnai.
45. On the forty-fifth day, we learnt about Sarod.
46. On the forty-sixth day, we learnt about Bansuri.
47. On the forty-seventh day, we learnt about Ektal and Tanpura.
48. On the forty-eighth day, we learnt about Veena.
49. On the forty-ninth day, we repeated our learning of Veena with a small excitement added.
50. On the fiftieth day, we learnt about Dilruba/Esraj.
51. On the fifty-first day, we learnt about Jaltarang.
52. On the fifty-second day we learnt about Qawwali.
53. On the fifty-third day, we learnt about Sitar.
54. On the fifty-fourth day, we learnt about Surbahar.
55. On the fifty-fifth day, we learnt about Harmonium.
56. On the fifty-sixth day, we learnt about Santoor.
57. On the fifty-seventh day, we learnt about Swarmandal.
58. On the fifty-eighth day, we learnt about the Shruti Box.
59. On the fifty-ninth day, we learnt about Alankar.
60. On the sixtieth day, we learnt about singing in Aakaar.
61. On the sixty-first day, we learnt about the Classification of Indian Musical Instruments.
    
62. On the sixty-second day, we learnt a little about Carnatic Music.
63. On the sixty-third day, we learnt about Natya Shastra.
64. On the sixty-fourth day, we learnt about evolution of musical instruments in India down the ages.
65. On the sixty-fifth day, we learnt about Riyaaz.
66. On the sixty-sixth day, we looked at a list of Raagas in Hindustani Classical Music.
67. On the sixty-seventh day, we learnt about the health benefits of raagas.
68. On the sixty-eighth day, we learnt a little more comprehensively about the moods and emotions that raagas evoke.
69. On the sixty-ninth day, we learnt about a mobile application to help identify raagas.
70. On the seventieth day, we learnt about Melakarta Raagas.
71. On the seventy-first day, we learnt about Sangita Makarand.
72. On the seventy-second day, we learnt about TaalMala an Android application for personalized accompaniment of musical instruments during Riyaaz or even during Concert.
73. On the seventy-third day, we learnt about Indian Classical Ragas, an Android application for mobile phones.
74. On the seventy-fourth day, we learnt about Saregama Classical, another application for Classical Raagas.
75. On the seventy-fifth day, we learnt about a free online service available to learn Indian Classical Music.
76. On the seventy-sixth day, we learnt about List of Hindustani Classical Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
77. On the seventy-seventh day, we learnt about List of Carnatic Musical Festivals in India and Abroad.
78. On the seventy-eighth day, we learnt about Jhaptal.
    
79. On the seventy-ninth day, we learnt about Ektal.
    
80. On the eightieth day, we learnt about Tivra Tal.
81. On the eighty-first day, we learnt about the greatest Rudra Veena player ever: Ustaad Asad Ali Khan.
82. On the eighty-second day, we learnt about the greatest Bansuri player alive: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
83. On the eighty-third day, we learnt about the best Sarod player in the country: Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan.
84. On the eighty-fourth day, we learnt about the greatest Sitar player in the world: Pandit Ravi Shankar.
85. On the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.
86. On the eighty-sixth day, we not just learnt about the greatest vocalist of Hindustani tradition: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi but also learnt about Tal Hinch.
87. On the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.
88. On the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.
89. On the eighty-ninth day, we learnt about Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the greatest Santoor Player in the country.
90. On the ninetieth day, we learnt about Ustaad Alla Rakha, the Tabla maestro.
91. On the ninety-first day, we learnt about Anand Shankar, the great fusion musician from Bengal.
92. On the ninety-second day, we learnt about Sundaram Balachander, the great Veena player and film-maker.
93. On the ninety-third day, we learnt about Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, the great Sarod player.
94. On the ninety-fourth day, we learnt about the Tabla maestro: Ustaad Zakir Hussain.
95. On the ninety-fifth day, we learnt about the Sitar player and Composer: Anoushka Shankar.
96. On the ninety-sixth day, we learnt about the Vocalist Pandit Jasraj.
97. And today, on the ninety-seventh day, we learnt about the great violinist L Subramaniam.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

Jatt kudian ton darda maara….
Lyricis: Varma Malik
Composer: Hansraj Behl
Singer: Shamshad Begum, Mohammad Rafi

Third song of the new series that we started day before yesterday.

The two songs that I have given you so far are: Ik meri akh kashni (‘My Favourite Punjabi Songs – Song #1 – Ik Meri Akh Kashni‘) sung by the Nightingale of Punjab: Surinder Kaur; and Mainu tera shabaab lai baitha (‘My Favourite Punjabi Songs – Song #2 – Mainu Tera Shabaab Lai Baitha’).

This song is from the 1959 Punjabi movie Bhangra that was directed by Jugal Kishore and starred Sunder, Nishi and Manju.

All these Punjabi songs that I am giving you are nostalgic to me, Punjabi being my mother tongue. However, the songs of this movie are really very dear to me as I saw the movie with my parents and after all these years (59 to be exact), I can recall all the songs and most of the lyrics. During those days, if I would listen to a song on the radio just once I would remember the lyrics.

Have a look at the songs of the movie (many of you too would be filled with nostalgia):

• Rabb na kare ke meri akh fadke, uton wagda hai meenh chham chham.
• Batti baal ke banere utte rakhdi haan.
• Chitte dand hasno nahio rehnde.
• Jatt kudian on darda maara.
• Ambiaan de booteaan te (Rut hai milaapan wali chann mera door).
• Been na wajaeen mundia.
• Mull wikda sajjan mil jaave lai lanvan main jind vech ke.

The songs of this movie are nostalgic to me for one more reason. My family was in Mandi, Himachal. However, during our summer holidays we used to go to my maternal grandparents house in Village Urapur, Jullunder District, Punjab.

Very often in the evenings visiting song and drama groups would go from village to village performing. We used to sit on the ground in a circle around them munching pop-corn that would have been made from corn taken from the house to the Bhatti (where these would be roasted over hot-sand and the Bhatti owner would accept a handful of corn as his remuneration). This song was performed for us by a visiting theater group. Because of the popularity of the song and the acting skills of the actors of the drama company, everyone enjoyed it to the hilt.

Here is the story (Sunder is Sunder in the movie and Nishi is Banto):

Sunder, the son of the moneylender Kaude Shah, goes to a poor farmer, Bulaki, in the village of Rangpur to get money-with-interest back from him, but falls in love with his daughter Banto. A suspended Munshi of Kaude Shah, Mehnga Mall, also tries to get Banto; he steals Kaude Shah’s jewellery and reaches Rangpur. He gives the jewellery to Sunder for staying away from him and Banto. Sunder gives the jewellery to Bulaki to pay back his debt and so did the unconscious Bulaki, the truth comes out and Bulaki is charged for stealing jewellery. He explains that the jewellery was given to him by Sunder and so Sunder is arrested. Finally, Mehnga Mall confesses and Bulaki and Sunder go free. After a little protest Sunder’s father, Kaude Shah, agrees to Sunder and Banto’s marriage.

Not that it is required, but, let me tell you at this stage about the actress Nishi who lip-syncs the song to Sunder, the actor.

Nishi’s full name is Nishi Kohli. She acted in many Hindi movies with Dara Singh and then with co-stars Raj Kapoor, Balraj Sahni, Bharat Bhushan, Helen, Ashok Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Madhubala, Mala Sinha, and Rajendra Kumar.

Her first movie was the 1955 Ramesh Saigal movie Railway Platform. Her last Hindi movie was the 1970 Ganwaar.

However, she made better name for herself in Punjabi movies wherein she emerged as the heart-throb of many. Bhangra was her first Punjabi film and then she went on to act in Banto, Main Jatti Punjab Di and finally in 1969 Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai wherein my favourite hymn: Mere sahib, mere sahib, sung by Asha Bhosle, is picturised on her.

Guess what? I still remember her role in Bhangra and when she lip-synced the sad numbers Mul wikda sahan mil jaawe lai lanva main jind vech ke, and Batti baal ke banere utte rakhdi haan, my heart went out to her. I was only six years old though.

I loved Sunder‘s acting too. He was the hero in many Punjabi movies and comedian and hero in many Hindi movies. He died on 05 Mar 1992 in Mumbai and was active from 1938 to 1980s.

Madari was his debut Punjabi movie in 1950 though he had acted in many Hindi movies before that. His memorable roles are in Do Lachhian, Vilayati Babu and Chann Pardesi.

Sunder watches Banto perform bhangra/giddha with another person in the song and then in the end he (Sunder) steps in to claim her for the first time, captivated by her beauty and her pleasing ways. This song is, therefore, important in the movie as Sunder expresses his interest in her. In the end, she responds in kind and tells him in a boli to disregard her earlier bolis and that she loved his ways.

This song is in the form of Boliyan. What exactly are Boliyan? Boliyan or Bolis are Punjabi couplets. These days these are written as lyrics but, during my boyhood days and before, these used to be passed from generation to generation; each generation adding some more.

Initially, as I remember, Boliyan used to be sung by women and some of them would break out in giddha, becoming much more energetic during the interludes. Here, these are performed in the form of bhangra (the name of the movie) with one boli by female and an answering one by him and vice-versa. The energetic interludes are not after every boli but after three or four boliyan, every time.

For me, these are very nostalgic as I have listened to my mother and her sisters singing Boliyan and dancing giddha. Also, in many Punjabi weddings that I have attended Jaago aayiyan boliyan is sung on the night before the wedding (the night of awakening and that’s why Jaago aayiyan).

Varma Malik, the lyricist, made a name for himself with the song Ek Tara Bole in the 1970 Manoj Kumar movie Yaadgaar.

He was born on 13 Apr 1925 in Ferozepur (now in Pakistan). He was an active freedom fighter during the British Raj. The composer of this song and other songs in the movie, Hansraj Behl, actually launched his career as a lyricist.

Hansraj Behl was born on 19 Nov 1916 in Ambala (then in Punjab). He received his early education in music from Pandit Chunnilal.

He opened a music school in Lahore and recorded a few songs for HMV. In 1944, he traveled to Bombay to seek a career in movies. He managed to make his debut as a composer with Pujari, (1946), directed by Ardeshir Irani. Noted playback singer Asha Bhosle made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song Saawan aaya for Hansraj Behl’s film Chunariya (1948).

In 1964 he gave music for hit Punjabi film by Padam Prakash Maheshwary titled Satluj De Kandhe, starring Balraj Sahni, Nishi, Wasti, and Mirza Musharraf. The patriotic hit, ‘Jahan Daal Daal Pe Sone Ki Chidiya Karti Hai Basera’ sung by Mohammed Rafi in the film Sikandar-e-Aazam (1965), starring Prithviraj Kapoor was one of his last memorable numbers.

I think in the movie Bhangra, he really excelled as the movie has a very good mix of fast dance numbers, slow romantic numbers and sad numbers. All songs became popular.

No lyrics of the song are available on the net. I have written them down both from my recollection and after listening to the song.

Please enjoy Shamshad Begum and Mohammad Rafi sing on the lyrics of Verma Malik and composition of Hansraj Behl, a song in the form of Boliyan in the 1958 Jugal Kishore movie Bhangra starring Sunder and Nishi: Jatt kudiyan to darda maara……..(F is for Female and M for Male)

F: Jatt kudiyan ton darda maara
Ke mode’ ute daang rakhda – 2
(Jatt, afraid of the girls,
Keeps a stick on his shoulder)

M: Othe daang na kise’ di chaldi
Ke jithe chale teer akh da – 2
(There no stick would be effective
Where the arrow of the eyes shoots)

F: Kaanu muchh nu maroden denven,
kehda tera saag todeya?
(Why are you twirling your moustache,
As I have I have picked your saag?)

M: Saara khet hawaale tere,
Ni asan tainu kadon modeya?
(The whole field (of crop) is yours
When have I stopped you?

F: Ve main haan pandran murebbeya waali,
Kachehri wich mile kursi
( I have 15 murabba of land in my name (One murabba = 25 acres)
I get a seat in a court.

M: Mainu bin tankha vich kudiye
Murebbeyan te rakh munshi
(You can keep me without pay
As a Munshi (clerk) in your lands)

M: Teri hasiyan chalan te chadiyan
Ki ik waar has ke vikha
(Your laughter can send one high,
Just once show your laughter)

F: Putt hatt da bada tut bhaida,
Hasdi de dand ginada
(As a Jatt’s son, you are naughty,
You count my teeth when I laugh)

M: Kithe wajadi patal wang kajadi,
Ni kaali daang meri soniye
(It bangs with the sound of metal,
My black stick, O beautiful)

F: Laddu vandadi gali te vich niklan
Ve shaala teri daang tut paye
(I’d walk through the street distributing laddus,
If sometime your stick would break)

M: Teri dhaun surahi wargi
Ki chak na tu tin matke
(Your neck is like a surahi
You shouldn’t balance three pitchers over it)

F: Hath laayin na beganiyan mundeyan,
Ke gal kar pare hat ke
(Don’t touch (me) you stranger boy,
Talk to me (only) from a distance.

M: Teri gutt gitteyan te wajadi,
Ke hauli hauli nach kudiye
(Your braids fall up to your knees,
You should dance very very slowly)

F: Kale naag de vaangan dang maare
Ke ede kolon wach mundeya
(It would bite like a black snake,
You should protect yourself, boy)

M: Tainu chand di main sait karaanva,
Ke Roos de rocket te
(I would take you for a moon-walk
On a Russian rocket)

F: Othe jaake main charkhi chalanvan
Ke jithe tera hal wagde
(There I would work on the spinning wheel
Where you plough the lands)

M: Saare pind wich chaanan tera,
Ke maan diye mombatiye
(Whole village is lit with your light,
You are your mom’s candle)

At this stage Sunder (who was a spectator so far) comes dancing in:

Sunder: Tainu lai jaanwan Kashmir,
Je tu ban jaayen meri Heer,
Paanvan sone di zanjeer
Ni tu bindiye…..
(I’d take you to Kashmir,
If you agree to become my Heer,
I’d give you a gold chain (for your neck)
You are like a bindi.

Nishi suddenly becoming aware of his presence. This is her first reaction

Nishi: Tere naal kadin na jaawan,
Tere bapu nu bulwaawan,
Ohnu jaa fariyaadan laanvan,
Jatt vairya -2
(I’ll never go with you,
I’d call your father,
I’d go there and pray to him (to keep you away)
My enemy Jatt

Sunder: Koi mere pind da raah
beshak bapu kol tu jaa
Nahin hai bapu di parwah
Ni tu bindiye
(You can find the path to my village,
Even if you go to my father,
I don’t care for my father
You are like a bindi

Nishi: Main taan ainvin kardi saan,
Mere dil wich teri thaan,
Aaja phad lai meri baanh
Mere makhna, mere sajna
(I was just like that saying it,
In my heart there is place for you,
Come and hold my arm
My dearest, my lover)

https://youtu.be/xFLXRH9828U

The song, in the form of Boliyan, is not just in Punjabi but, it also has the flavour of Punjab that was there in its villages; where men and women broke into bhangra and giddha; where love stories began and ended with songs.

In this case, since the name of the movie was Bhangra, this song had the beginning of the love between Sunder and Banto, he having gone there to collect money with interest from Banto’s father.

I hope you too enjoyed it.

Please await the next song in this series.