Category: Music and Cinema

The twenty-second day of songs in this series.

Happy Birthday AR Rahman 06 January

In the last twenty-one days, we have taken up songs of eleven male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman, KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick and Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’. We also took up songs of ten female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali, Sudha Malhotra and Amirbai Karnataki.

Tonight, in order to do something new on the third day of the new year, I shall give you a duet between our twelfth male singer Hariharan and eleventh female singer Kavitha Krishnamurthy. We also jump several decades ahead, more precisely to the year 1995. Less than two years after the infamous Bombay Blasts, after the demolition of Babri Masjid, Mani Ratnam released this movie which based on a love story between a Hindu male and a Muslim female in the backdrop of the Mumbai blasts. Unsurprisingly, the film won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.

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 (three days later is his 51st Birth Anniversary) 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.

Some of my favourite Hindi songs of AR Rahman in are: Vande mataram (non-filmy),  Columbus Columbus chhutti hai aayi (Jeans, 1998), Anjali Anjali pushpanjali (Tu hi mera dil, 1995), Ai ajnabi tu bhi kabhi, Ik suraj nikala tha, Jiya jale jaam jale, Kar thaiya thaiya, Tuu hi tuu tuu hi tuu satrangi re (Dil Se, 1998), Awaara bhanvre jo haule haule gaaye (Sapney, 1997), Bharat hamako jaan se bhi pyaara hai, Dil hai chhota sa chhoti si aasha, Roja jaan-e-man, Rukmani Rukmani shaadi ke baad, Ye hasin waadian ye khula aasman (Roja, 1993), Chand aaya zameen par aaj garbe ki raat mein (Dil Hi Dil Mein, 1999), Dil se nikalegi naa mar ke bhi watan ki ulfat, Jogiya jogiya ve, Maahi ve maahi ve (Also sung by him together with Sukhwinder Singh, The Legend of Bghagat Singh, 2002), Dholna dholna, Khamosh raat sahami hawa, Mujhe rang de (Thakshak, 1999), Duur kahin ik aam ki bagiya, Mehaki mehaki hain raahen behaki behaki hain nigaahen (Zubeidaa, 2000), Ek ho gaye hum aur tum, Gumsum gumsum gulchup…kehna hi kya, Kuchi kuchi rakamma sun lo tum (Bombay, 1995), Ekla chalo re (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – The Forgotten Hero, 2005), Ghanan ghanan ghir ghir aaye badra, Radha kaise na jale, Mitwa O mitwa tujhako kyaa dar hai re, O paalanhaare nirgun aur nyaare (Lagaan, 2001), Haay Rama ye kyaa hua, Ho jaa rangeela re, Kya karen kya na karen kaisi mushkil haay, Tanha tanha yahan pe jeena, Yaai re yaai re jor laga ke naache re, Yaaro sun lo zara (Rangeela, 1996), Jangal mein bole hai koyal ku ku kuu – Kahin aa lage lag jaave, Taal se taal mila (Taal, 1999), Jhuum jhuum naachen ham (Chor Chor), Khamoshiyan gungunane lagi (One Two Ka Four, 2001), Muqaabla muqaabla Laila o ho Laila, Urvashi Urvashi take it easy Urvashi (Humse Hai Muqabla, 1995), Mustafa Mustafa don’t worry Mustafa (Duniya Dilwalon Ki, 1996), O bhanvre dekhi ham deewano ko (Daud, 1997), Piya Haji Ali (Fizaa, 2000), and Ye jo des hai tera (Swades, 2004).

Mehboob, the lyricist of this song, was born in Nasik (Maharashtra) on 13th Jul 1953. When he was only seven years old, his family moved to Mumbai for good whereat he received education in English and later in Urdu. He was given a break by Ram Gopal Verma in his 1992 Drohi whose songs were composed by RD Burman. His big break actually came with Ram Gopal Verma’s 1996 movie Rangeela, wherein he worked with AR Rahman and for which he received the RD Burman Filmfare Award for Best New Talent. He went on to work for Bombay, One Teo Ka Four, Thakshak, Daud, Dil Hi Dil Mein, and Yuva. He penned AR Rahman’s popular number Maa tujhe salaam (Vande Mataram).

Now about the singers Hariharan and Kavita Krishnamurthy.

Hariharan was born on 03 Apr 1955 in Trivanthapuram in Kerala to Tamil parents. The son of renowned Carnatic vocalists, Shrimati Alamelu and the late HAS Mani (full name : Anantha Subramani ), he inherited his parents’ musical talents. However, he went into the Hindustani music stream and emerged as one of the finest ghazal singers, with his idol being Mehdi Hassan. Initially, he started off being a TV artiste. In 1977 he won the All India Sur Singaar competition and that’s how music director Jaidev gave him break in 1978 movie Gaman. His first song in that movie Ajeeb sa neha mujh par guzar gaya yaaron became so popular that it was nominated for National Award. Gradually, his songs have been featured in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Telugu films. Presently, he is the foremost ghazal singer in India. He was honoured with Padma Shri and he is a two time National Award winner. His association with Lesle Lewis resulted in forming a two member band Colonial Cousins.

Some of my favourite songs of Hariharan are: Bharat hamako jaan se bhi pyaara hai (Roja, 1993), Apni zulfen mere shaano pe bikhr jaane do (Taj Mahal, 2005), Chappa chappa charkha chale, Chhod aaye ham vo galiyan (Maachis, 1996), Dheemi dheemi bheeni bheeni khushbu hai tera badan (1947 Earth, 1999), Gungunaayi hawayen guunshi dishayen (Non-Film, with Alka Yagnik), Haay Rama ye kya hua (Rangeela, 1996), Ham bhool gaye hain rakh ke kahin (Aks, 2001), Ham tumase na kuchh keh paaye (Ziddi, 1997), Jhonka hawa ka aaj bhi (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, 1999), Kabhi chand ki tarah tapaki atthanni si zindagi (Jahan Tum Le Chalo, 1998), Khilli chandini hamen keh rahi (Priyanka, 1995), Likha hai ye in hawayon pe (with Lata Mangeshkar, Darr, 1993), Mil gaye mil gaye dilbar mere (Love Birds, 1996), Mujhe phir wohi yaad aane lage hain jinhe bhulne mein zamaane lage hain (Khumar Barbankwi’s famous ghazal composed by Hariharan and sung by him), Naghme hain shikwe hain kisse hain baaten hain (Yaadein, 2001), Pehle bhi jeete the magar jab se mili hai zindagi (Nida Fazli’s ghazal with Asha Bhosle), Phuulon mein jo khushbu hai kaise wo aayi hai ajuuba (with Sadhana Sargam in Jeans, 1998), Sawan barse tarse dil (with Sadhana Sargam in Dehak, 1998), Sun ri sakhi meri pyari sakhi (Hum Se Hai Muqabla, 1995), Ye duniya ik dulhan (Pardes, 1997), and Youn hi chala chal rahi (Swades, 2004).

Kavita Krishnamurthy was born Sharada Krishnamurthy in a Tamil Iyer family in New Delhi on 25 Jan 1958. Her father TS Krishnamurthy was an employee in Education Ministry. She began her music training upon insistence of her aunt, Ms. Protimma Bhattacharya who enrolled her to Ms. Suruma Basu, who taught her Rabindra Sangeet. She began her formal training in Hindustani classical music under Balram Puri, a classical singer. At the young age of eight, Kavita won a gold medal at a music competition.She was given a break in Hindi movies by Laxmikant Pyarelal who were impressed by her Hindutani Classical singing. To start with she used to dub for Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. But later, in 1980, a song Kaahe ko biyahi was recorded in her own voice for the movie Maang Bharo Sajana. She became famous for Hawa Hawaii and Karte hain hum pyaar in 1986 movie Mr. India. She has been awarded Padma Shri by the government of India and she has won four Filmfare awards so far.

Some of my favourite songs of Kavita Krishnamurthy are: Aankhon ki gustakhiyaan maaf hon, Albela sajan aayo ri, Dholi tharo dhol baaje, Hum dil de chuke sanam (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, 1999), Aaj main ooper aasman neeche (Khamoshi, 1996), Are karte hain ham pyaar Mr India se, Hawa hawaii (Mr India, 1987), Chalon chale mitwa (Nayak The Real Hero, 2001), Ho chhal chhal chhalke in aankhon ki hgagariya (Janam Janam, 1988), Dhol bajane laga koi laut ke aaya hai (Viraasat, 1997), Deewana deewana ye dil tera deewana (with Abhijeet, Jung, 1996), Dil chura liya (with Abhijeet in Qayamat 2003), Dil ne kaha chupke se (1942 A Love Story, 1993), Dola re dola re, Maar daala (with Shreya Ghoshal and KayKay in Devdas, 2002), Ganpati bappa morya (Agnipath, 1990), Har karam apna karenge (Karma, 1986), Jaise ik chand ka tukada (Inteqaam, 1988), Jo main aisa jaanati preet kiye dukh hoy (Batwara, 1989), Koi mil gaya (Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai, 1998), Kuchi kuchi rakamma (Bombay, 1995), Tu mujhe qabool main tujhe kabool (with Mohammad Aziz in Khuda Gawah, 1992), Mera piya ghar aaya (Yaarana, 1995), Nayak nahin khalnayak hoon main (Khalnayak, 1993), Nazaron ke milane se kyun hoti hai halchal (Vishwavidhata, 1997), O baalam kesariya (Bhairavi, 1995), Pal do pal ka ye safar pal do pal ka saath (with Udit Narayan in  Hadd Kar Di Aapne, 2000), Raja ki kahani purani ho gayi (with Usha Uthup in Godmother, 1998), Tu cheez badhi hai mast mast (with Udit Narayan, Mohra, 1994), Tu hi tu satrangi re (with Sonu Nigam, Dil Se, 1998), Ye duniya ik dulhan (Pardes, 1997), and Na jaane kahan se aayi hai – ye ladaki (with Amit Kumar in Chaalbaaz 1989).

Before we take up the song, a word about the movie.

Bombay was a 1995 film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film starred Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala as Shekhar Narayanan Pillai and Shaila Bano respectively. The film, made in Tamil (later dubbed in Hindi and Telugu with the same title), is centered on events that occurred particularly during the period of December 1992 to January 1993 in India, and the controversy surrounding the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, its subsequent demolition on 6 December 1992 and increased religious tensions in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) that led to the Bombay Riots. It is the second one of Mani Ratnam’s tiriology on human relations in the backdrop of events that shook India; the first one being Roja in 1992 and third one being Dil Se in 1998.

The Hindi dubbed film had the following songs, all penned by Mehboob and all composed by AR Rahman:

1.	“Hamma Hamma”	Remo Fernandes, Swarnalatha & Suresh Peters	5:10
2.	“Kehna Hi Kya”	K. S. Chithra, A. R. Rahman & Chorus	5:52
3.	“Tu Hi Re”	Hariharan & Kavita Krishnamurthy	7:14
4.	“Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma”	Udit Narayan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, G. V. Prakash Kumar & Sharadha	5:07
5.	“Kuch Bhi Na Socho”	Pallavi, Shubha, Anupama, Noel James & Srinivas	5:53
6.	“Bombay Theme”	Instrumental	5:18
7.	“Aankhon Mein Ummeedon”	Sujatha Mohan & Chorus	2:43
8.	“Apna Zameen Yeh”	Sujatha Mohan, Noel James, Srinivas, Sivanesan, Ganga Sreenivasan, Renuka & Anuradha Sriram	3:28

Please enjoy Hariharan and Kavita Krishnamurthy sing: Tu hi re, tu hi re, tere bina main kaise jiyun….

तू ही रे, तू ही रे तेरे बिना मैं कैसे जियूं
आजा रे, आजा रे, यूं ही तड़पा ना तू मुझको
जान रे, जान रे, इन सांसों में बस जा तू
चाँद रे, चाँद रे, आजा दिल की ज़मीन पे तू

चाहत है अगर आके मुझसे मिल जा तू
या फिर ऐसा कर, धरती से मिला दे मुझको
तू ही रे, तू ही रे तेरे बिना मैं कैसे जियूं
आजा रे, आजा रे, यूं ही तड़पा ना तू मुझको

इन सांसों का देखो तुम पागलपन के
आये नहीं इन्हें चैन
मुझसे ये बोली मैं राहों में तेरी
अपने बिछा दूं ये नैन
इन ऊँचे पहाड़ों से जां दे दूंगा मैं
गर तूम ना आई कहीं
तुम उधर जान उम्मीद मेरी जो तोड़ो
इधर ये जहाँ छोड़ू मैं
मौत और, जिन्दगी, तेरे हाथों में दे दिया रे

आई रे, आई रे, ले मैं आई हूँ तेरे लिये
तोड़ा रे, तोड़ा रे, हर बँधन को प्यार के लिये
जान रे, जान रे, आजा तुझमें समा जाऊं मैं
दिल रे दिल रे, तेरी सांसों में बस जाऊं मैं

चाहत है अगर आके मुझसे मिल जा तू
या फिर ऐसा कर, धरती से मिला दे मुझको
तू ही रे, तू ही रे तेरे बिना मैं कैसे जियूं
आजा रे, आजा रे, यूं ही तड़पा ना तू मुझको

आ …

सौ बार बुलाए मैं सौ बार आऊं,
इक बार जो दिल दिया
इक आँख रोये तो दूजी बोलो,
सोयेगी कैसे भला,
इन प्यार की राहों में पत्थर हैं कितने
उन सब को ही पार किया
इक नदी हूँ मैं चाहत भरी आज मिलने
सागर को आई यहाँ
सजना, सजना, आज आँसू भी मीठे लगे

तू ही रे, तू ही रे तेरे बिना मैं कैसे जियूं
आजा रे, आजा रे, यूं ही तड़पा ना तू मुझको
जान रे, जान रे, इन सासों में बस जा तू
चाँद रे, चाँद रे, आजा दिल की ज़मीन पे तू

पल पल पल पल वक्त तो बीता जाये रे
ज़रा बोल ज़रा बोल वक़्त से के वो थम जाये रे
आई रे, आई रे, ले मैं आई हूँ तेरे लिये
जान रे, जान रे, आजा तुझमें समा जाऊं मैं

The song is dear to me because of the intensity of emotions of a lover for a beloved. It reminds me of my favourite lyricist Shakeel Badayuni’s best song with Naushad: Mere mheboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam. Look at the similarity, especially in this stanza:

सामने आ के ज़रा पर्दा उठा दे रुख़ से
इक यही मेरा इलाज-ए-ग़म-ए-तन्हाई है
तेरी फ़ुरक़त ने परेशान किया है मुझको
अब तो मिल जा के मेरी जान पे बन आई है
दिल को भूली हुई यादों का सहारा दे दे
मेरा खोया …

And in both the songs, the lover had seen the beloved only from a distance. Can love get to be so strong between virtual strangers? Are there vibes that are only later converted into lyrics but at that time when they strike the lovers, they are just vibes that cannot be described? And can these vibes make Love become so intense that one feels that one cannot live without seeing the object of love? It happened in 1963 Mere Mehboob, it happened in various other movies after that and in happened in 1995 Bombay.

I get goose pimples thinking of this kind of love. When I listen to the song, I get answers to all my silent questions. Even after that it keeps tugging at my emotions.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

 

The twenty-first day of songs in this series on the first day of the New Year 2018.

In the last twenty days, we have taken up songs of eleven male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman, KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick and Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’. We also took up songs of nine female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali and Sudha Malhotra.

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our tenth female singer: Amirbai Karnataki and the song is a huge favourite: Vaishanav jana to tene kahiye. This bhajan was penned in the 15th century by Narsinh Mehta in Gujarati. The bhajan brings out how a Vaishnav Jan (Vishnu’s follower) must tailor his/her life

Amirbai Karnataki was born in Bilgi town, District of Bijapur in Karnataka into a middle-class family. She was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema and was popular as Kannada Kokila. This bhajan by Narsi Bhagat (she acted in the 1940 movie with that name) made her very famous, indeed. The Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi became an ardent fan of her singing this bhajan. Amirbai was not just an accomplished actress and singer in Hindi movies, she was well versed in her mother tongue Kannada and also Gujarati in which this bhajan was penned by Narsi Bhagat.

When it comes to her singing, we first of all recall Kavi Pradeep’s rebellious songs, before independence, that she sang together with Khan Mastana. She also acted in the movie. Anil Biswas had composed it: Door hato duniya waalo Hindostan hamaara hai (Kismat, 1943). Other of her songs that I recall are: Chanda des piya ke jaa (Bharthari, 1944), O janewale balamwa laut ke aa, and Rum juhum barase badarva (Rattan, 1944).

Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsi Mehta or Narsi Bhagat was a Vaishnav bhakat and poet who lived in Gujarat from 1414 to 1481. In Gujarati literature he is known as Adi Kavi (first amongst poets). He was from Junagarh in Saurashtra. He lost his parents when he was five years old. He couldn’t speak until becoming eight years old. He married when he was 15 years old. He and his wife stayed at his brother Bansidhar’s house in Junagadh. However, Bansidhar’s wife (Sister-in-law or bhabhi) did not welcome Narsinh very well. She was an ill-tempered woman, always taunting and insulting Narsinh Mehta for his devotion (Bhakti). One day, when Narasinh Mehta had enough of these taunts and insults, he left the house and went to a nearby forest in search of some peace, where he fasted and meditated for seven days by a secluded Shiva lingam until Shiva appeared before him in person. On the poet’s request, the Lord took him to Vrindavan and showed him the eternal raas leela of Krishna and the Gopis. A legend has it that the poet, transfixed by the spectacle, burnt his hand with the torch he was holding, but he was so engrossed in the ecstatic vision that he was oblivious to the pain. Mehta, as the popular account goes, at Krishna’s command, decided to sing His praises and the nectarous experience of the rasa in this mortal world. He resolved to compose around 22,000 kirtans or compositions.

Vaishnava Jan To ishis most popular bhajan. The bhajan is about the life, ideals and mentality of a Viashnava Jana (a follower of Vishnu). In the Hindu trinity (trimurti) that includes Brahma. Shiva and Vishnu, whilst Brahma is the Creator God and Shiva is the Destroyer of Evil and Transformer, Vishnu is the Preserver or the Protector.

વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહિયે જે પીડ પરાયી જાણે રે પર દુ:ખે ઉપકાર કરે તો યે મન અભિમાન ન આણે રે. ॥ધૃ॥	वैष्णव जन तो तेने कहिये जे पीड परायी जाणे रे । पर दुःखे उपकार करे तो ये मन अभिमान न आणे रे ॥	vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re, para duḥkhe upakāra kare to ye mana abhimāna na āṇe re	Call those people Vaishnavas who Feel the pain of others, Help those who are in misery, But never let self-conceit enter their mind.
સકળ લોકમાં સહુને વંદે, નિંદા ન કરે કેની રે વાચ કાછ મન નિશ્છળ રાખે ધન ધન જનની તેની રે. ॥૧॥	सकळ लोकमां सहुने वंदे, निंदा न करे केनी रे । वाच काछ मन निश्चळ राखे, धन धन जननी तेनी रे ॥	sakaḷa loka māṁ sahune vande, nindā na kare kenī re, vāca kācha mana niścala rākhe, dhana dhana jananī tenī re	They respect the entire world, Do not disparage anyone, Keep their words, actions and thoughts pure, The mother of such a soul is blessed.
સમદૃષ્ટિ ને તૃષ્ણા ત્યાગી પરસ્ત્રી જેને માત રે જિહ્વા થકી અસત્ય ન બોલે પરધન નવ ઝાલે હાથ રે. ॥૨॥	समदृष्टि ने तृष्णा त्यागी, परस्त्री जेने मात रे । जिह्वा थकी असत्य न बोले, परधन नव झाले हाथ रे ॥	sama-dṛṣṭi ne tṛṣṇā tyāgī, para-strī jene māta re, jihvā thakī asatya na bole, para-dhana nava jhāle hātha re	They see all equally, renounce craving, Respect other women as their own mother, Their tongue never utters false words, Their hands never touch the wealth of others.
મોહ માયા વ્યાપે નહિ જેને, દૃઢ વૈરાગ્ય જેના મનમાં રે રામ નામ શુ તાળી રે લાગી સકળ તીરથ તેના તનમાં રે. ॥૩॥	मोह माया व्यापे नहि जेने, दृढ़ वैराग्य जेना मनमां रे । रामनाम शुं ताळी रे लागी, सकळ तीरथ तेना तनमां रे ॥	moha māyā vyāpe nahi jene, dṛḍha-vairāgya jenā manamāṁ re, rāma-nāma śuṁ tāḷī re lāgī, sakaḷa tīratha tenā tanamāṁ re	They do not succumb to worldly attachments, They are firmly detached from the mundane, They are enticed by the name of God (Rama), All places of pilgrimage are embodied in them.
વણ લોભી ને કપટ રહિત છે, કામ ક્રોધ નિવાર્યાં રે ભણે નરસૈયો તેનું દર્શન કરતાં કુળ એકોતેર તાર્યાં રે. ॥૪॥	वणलोभी ने कपटरहित छे, काम क्रोध निवार्या रे । भणे नरसैयॊ तेनुं दरसन करतां, कुळ एकोतेर तार्या रे ॥	vaṇa-lobhī ne kapaṭa-rahita che, kāma krodha nivāryā re, bhaṇe narasaiyo tenuṁ darasana karatāṁ, kuḷa ekotera tāryā re	They have forsaken greed and deceit, They stay afar from lust and anger, Narsi says: I’d be grateful to meet such a soul, Whose virtue liberates their entire lineage.

The movie Narsi Bhagat was a 1940 Vijay Bhatt movie. Vijay Bhatt later covered himself in glory by making the iconic movie Ram Rajya (1943) Baiju Bawra (1952) and Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) that had Shehnai Vaadan by Ustaad Bismillah Khan throughout in the movie. The movie starred Vishnupant Pagnis in the title role and Durga Khote as Manekbai. Shankar Rao Vyas was the music director and also composed this bhajan and other songs of the movie.

Please enjoy Amirbai Karnataki sing one of the most popular bhajans in Indian culture: Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye….

I don’t think there is another bhajan in our culture that touches the chords of our hearts more than this. Its composition is in Raag Khammaj, Tal Kaherava that I have already told you enough about. I have also told you that since Khammaj employs both Shuddha and Komal Nishad, it is both happy (Shuddha) and has pangs of separation (Komal). Here too, the happiness is in being a Vaishanav Jan and the ache is in empathising with someone who is in pain.

The bhajan is often in the creases of my mind and truly tugs at my emotions.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

 

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Kuchh to log kahenge….
Raag Khammaj, Tal Kaherava

Remembering Rajesh Khanna on His Birth Anniversary, 29th Dec

Rajesh Khanna was born as Jatin Khanna in Amritsar on 29 Dec 1942. He died on 18 Jul 2012 in Mumbai. Millions of his fans were saddened by his death.

He was born to Lala Hiranand and Chandrani Khanna but was adopted and raised by Chunnilal Khanna and Leelawati Khanna, relatives of his biological parents. His interest in theatre during his school and college days (in Mumbai) led to his joining Hindi films. Nowadays talent contests are in hundreds.  However, during his days, in 1965, Rajesh Khanna was one of eight finalists from more than 10,000 contestants in the 1965 All India Talent Contest, organised by United Producers (BR Chopra, Bimal Roy, GP Sippy, HS Rawail, Nasir Husain, J. Om Prakash, Mohan Saigal, Shakti Samanta and Subodh Mukherji and others had created this organisation and were judges of the contest) and Filmfare.

As a result of winning the talent contest, he won acting in Chetan Anand’s 1966 movie Aakhri Khat and Ravindra Dave’s Raaz. Aakhri Khat was India’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Oscar Academy Awards in 1967.

He soon emerged as a super-star and has record number of movies to his credit that consecutively became super-hits. Indeed, at one time in the seventies, anything that he touched became gold. Heroines lined up to act with him and he made all of them swoon with his irresistible charm. As an example, I do remember this anecdote when I went to see his 1970 movie Aan Milo Sajna with Asha Parekh. This was in Chandigarh where I was studying. When it came to the song: Achha to ham chalte hain, the moment he sang on the screen: “Phir kab miloge?”, hundreds of girls in the hall, in unison responded: “Jab tum kahoge”. Some of this magic has been recorded by his co-star of several movies: Sharmila Tagore.

With his pimpled face and a little obese frame, he still gave the impression of being the most romantic hero that Hindi films ever saw. That was because of the strength of his adorable acting. Many people actually cried when he passed away on screen in Anand and Andaz. He did it so well. All of us loved Kaka (Rajesh Khanna’s nickname) and we couldn’t ever get enough of him.

To see the comparison between him and the other super-star Amitabh Bachchan, you must see the song: Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye; AB stands there like a school kid in front of a maestro.

To remember him by I shall give you a song lip-synced by him in the 1972 Shakti Samanta movie Amar Prem: Kuchh to log kahenge.

Shakti Samanta is in news these days, more than eight years after his death, for reasons other than what he used to be in news for; which was that he too was considered an alchemist: anything that he touched turned to gold. He made a super-hit movie literally every alternate year. Howrah Bridge, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, Aradhana, Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Amanush, Pagla Kahin Ka, Ajanabee, Mehbooba, Anurodh and Aavishkar are some of the movie that he made.

If SD Burman did wonders for Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana, Sachin’s son Rahul Dev Burman did wonders for Amar Prem songs. Rahul Dev was well versed in both majot genre’s of music: the Western Beat or Pop and the Raaga Based. Here he preferred to compose it in Khammaj, the raaga Bengali composers were and are so much at home, with from Pandit Ravi Shankar himself (Mere to Giridhar Gopal) to Salil Chowdhary (O sajana barkha bahaar aayi), to SD Burman (Nazar laagi raja tore bangle pe, Piya tose naina laagi re and Deewana mastaana huaa dil), and Hemant Kumar (Sakhi re sun bole papiha).

One of my friends, Anand Desain quoted Pandit Bhimsen Joshi: “Anyone who does not listen to RD’s compositions does not know and understand what music is all about……. Look at Kuchh toh log kahenge…. Look how beautifully Kishore has rendered this difficult composition, hats off. Are you aware my dear friend that this song is purely based on Raag Khammaj in the beginning but beautifully dissolves into Raag Kalavati in-between? Brilliantly sung and what voice. We are thankful that Kishore never learned music and hence never ventured into our domain or else we classical singers would have found it extremely difficult to earn our bread and water”. Such was the admiration for Kishore and RD in the music fraternity.

We have completed eighty-seven 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 eighty-seventh post or the last post was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #87’ and the song was a Lata Mangeshkar song from the 1965 Ramanand Sagar movie Arzoo starring Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana and Feroze Khan: Bedardi baalma tujhako mera man yaad karta hai. It is in Raag Charukesi, Tal 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 Yaman – Part I’.

In the last eighty-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 and Sohani. Today, I am repeating Raag Khammaj.

Khammaj, a Shadhav-Sampurna raag (In aaroha Rishab is varjaya) employs both Nishad: ie, Shuddha Ni in Aaroha and Komal Ni in Avaroha. The result is that it is well suited for both types of Shringar Ras: Uttan (Union) Shringar wherein Shuddha Ni is used and Vibralambh (Separation) where Komal Ni is used. Take the bhaav of this song itself: it has both sadness (separation) because people gossip and gossip is malicious. However, the underlying theme of the lyrics is also happy (chhodo bekaar ki baaton mein; that they are together despite the malicious gossip. One should remember Rajesh Khanna’s famous dialogue before the song, addressed to Sharmila Tagore: “Pushpa, I hate tears”!)

Khammaj is the representative raag of the Khammaj Thaat and the samay for singing it is the second prahar of the night: from 9PM to Midnight. Anyone listening to Khammaj or Khammaj based songs would know that the mood is light and enthralling but somewhere hidden in it is the pain (of separation). If one listens to O sajana barkha bahaar aayi, you get the same feelings: heart joyous at rain but full of ache for the lover.

Now, why did Pandit Bhimsen Joshi say that the song starts with Khammaj but dissolves into Raag Kalavati in between? The reason is that both Khammaj and Kalavati belong to Khammaj Thaat. Kalavati is a pentatonic raag (Audhav-Audhav); whereas Khammaj had Rishab varjaya in Aaroha (ascent) only, Kalavati has both Rishab and Madhyam vrajaya in both Aaroha and Avroha. The main similarity is the Komal Nishad found in Avaroha in Khammaj. In Kalavati, it is Komal in both Aaroha and Avroha.

Some of the Hindi films songs composed in Khammaj are:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44.

O Sajna Jaao Re Jogi Khanak Gayo HaayLaage Unki Suratiya Kaanaha Raadha Hui Tere Mere Milan Ki Ye Raina Kuchh To Log Kahenge Nazar Laagi Raaja Aayo Kahan Se Ghanshyam Kaise Din Beete Kaanha Kaanha Jeevan Daata Saajh Savere Suman Samaan Kanha Main To Chhavi Dikhla Jaa Vaishnav Jan To Tora Man Badav Raat Naujawan Jhoomta Mere To Girdhar Gopaal Sudh Bisar Gai Chori Chori Chupke Chupke Chha Gaye Baadal Tumhi Mere Sab Kuchh Bahut Suna Hai Naath Chaand Akela Jaaye Kaahe Manwa Naache Dhal Chuki Shaam Gauri Gauri Chaand ke Dheere Dheere Machal Tore Naina Laagev Kaahe Kaanha Karat Hamari Kahi Maano Ab Ke Saawan Ghar Aaja Mai Zindagi Ka Saath Jogan Ban Aayi Hoon Ye Tanhaai Haye Re Deewana Mastan Hua Dil Nain Lad Jaiyen To Soch Ke Ye Gagan Mai Ri Mai To Madhuvan Me Naina Dhoondhe Tohe Shyam Hum Apna Unhen Bana

Parakh Aamrapali Rishte NateMaa Baap Tumhare Liye Abhimaan Amar Prem Kaala Paani Buddha Mil Gaya Anuradha Shagird Sharafat Maadhvi Kotwal Sahab Shatranj Ke Khiladi Shatranj Ke Khiladi Narsi Bhagat Ganga Jamuna Geet Gaya Patthron Ne Meera Sangeet Samrat Tansen Aap Ki Kasam Chitralekha Chhote Babu Adhikaar Aalap Aalap Kohinoor Anita Anupama Mamta Baawarchi Dulhan Ek Raat Ki Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje Hum Dono Shabaab Tere Ghar Ke Saamne Bambai Ka Babu Ganga Jamuna Jyoti Chandralekha Dil Ki Raahen Bhanwara

Lata Lata LataLata Asha Lata, Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar Asha Manna Dey Lata Lata Lata Lata Hemlata Birju Maharaj Rewa Muhuri Manna Dey Asha Asha Vani Jayram, Dinkar Manna Dey Lata Rafi, Asha Manna Dey, Lata Lata Yesudas Lata Rafi Mukesh Lata Sandhya Mukherjee Laxmi Shankar Asha, Usha Lata Rafi Lata Lata Asha, Rafi Rafi Manna Dey, Lata Uma Devi Manna Dey

The song I have taken for you today is from the 1970 Shakti Samanta movie Amar Prem starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. It was penned by Anand Bakshi, composed by RD Burman and sung by Kishore Kumar.

I have already told you about Shakti Samanta, Rajesh Khanna and RD Burman. Let me tell you a bit about Anand Bakshi. We have already covered Kishore Kumar in Songs That Tug At Your Emotions #3 (Aa chal ke tujhe main le ke chalun),

Anand Bakshi was a master lyricist who matched his lyrics perfectly with the emotions of the protagonist. His most common  paired with Laxmikant Pyarelal with whom he worked in 302 movies. Here, he is with RD Burman, with whom he did the second highest movies of his career: 99. Amongst the old breed of lyricsts, Anand Bakshi was the only one who penned more than 3000 songs whilst lyricists like Sahir and Sahkeel only penned less than 800.

Anand Bakshi died on 30 Mar 2002 in Mumbai. However, the songs of Anand Bakshi with RD Burman kept appearing until the 2011 movie Dum Maaro Dum. They had started with the 1965 movie Teesra Kaun. Some of my favourite songs of the pair are: Pyaar ka fasaana bana de dil deewana (Teesra Kaun, 1965), Sharabi sharabi mera naam ho gaya (Chandan Ka Palna, 1967), Jis gali mein tera ghar na ho baalma, Mera naam hai Shabnam, Na loi umang hai, Pyaar deewana hota hai, Ye shaam mastani and Ye jo mohabbaty hai (Kati Patang, 1970), Gulabi aankhen jo teri dekhi (The Train, 1970), Aaj unase pehli mulaqaat hogi (Paraya Dhan, 1971), Chanda O chanda kisne churayi teri meri nindiya (Lakhon Mein Ek, 1971), Dum maro dum, Dekho O deewano aisa kaam na karo, Kanchi re kanchi re, Phoolon ka taaro ka sabka kehna hai (Hare Krishna Hare Raam, 1971), Badha natkhat hai re, Chingari koi bhadake, Kuchh to log kahenge, Raina beeti jaaye, Ye kya hua kaise hua (Amar Prem, 1971), Hawa ke saath saath (Seeta Aur Geeta, 1972), Jaan-e-jaan dhoondata phir raha, Ye jawani hai deewani (Jawani Deewani, 1972), Duniya mein logo ko dhoka kabhi ho jaata hai, Rona kabhi nahin rona, Sun  Champa sun Tara (Apna Desh, 1972), Neend chura ke raaton mein (Shareef Badmash, 1973), Main ek chor tu meri rani (Raja Rani, 1973), Jheel ke us paar (Jheel Ke Us Paar, 1973), Panna ki tamanna hai (Heera Panna, 1973), Diye jalate hain, Main shayar banaam, Nadiya se dariya dariya se sagar (Namak Haram, 1973), Bheegi bheegi raaton mein, Ek ajnabi haseena se, Hum dono do premi (Ajnabi, 1974), Chori chori chupke chupke, Karvate badalte rahe, Jay jay Shiv Shankar, Suno kaho kaha suna, Zindagi ke safar mein guzr jaate hain jo mukaam (Aap Ki Kasam, 1974), Do naino mein aansu bhare hain, O manjhi re (Khushboo, 1975), Jab taq hai jaan, Holi ke din, Mehbooba mehbooba, Ye dosti hum nahin chhodenge (Sholay, 1975), Ruk jaana O jaana (Warrant, 1975), Mere naina sawan bhaadon, Parbat ke peechhe (Mehbooba, 1976), Badhe achhe lagte hain (Balika Badhu, 1976), Aise na mujhe tum dekho seene se laga loonga (Darling Darling, 1977), Lallah lallah lori, Suhani chandini raaten hamen sone nahin deti (Mukti, 1977), Aati rahengi bahaaren, Kasme vaade nibhayenge hum (Kame Vaade, 1978), Ham bewafa hargiz na the, Lets do Cha cha cha (Shalimar, 1978), Do lafzon ki hai dil ki kahaani (The Great Gambler, 1979), Swan ke jhoole padhe (Jurmana, 1979), Maine poochha chand se (Abdullah, 1980), Pyaar karne wale pyaar karte hain shaan se, Yamma yamma ye khubsurat samaa (Shaan, 1980), Dekho maine dekha hai ek sapna, Yaad aa rahi hai teri yaad, Yeh ladki zara si deewani lagati hai (Love Story, 1981), Kya yahi pyaar hai (Rocky, 1981), E ri pawan dhoonde kise tera man (Bemissal, 1982), Jab ham jawan honge (Betaab, 1983), and Aur kya ahd-e-wafa hote hain (Sunny, 1984).

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last seven 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. Finally, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Tonight, we shall learn about Annapurna Devi, a great Surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani Classical Music.

Annapurna Devi was born as Roshanara Khan on 16 Apr 1927 in Maihar (a princely state in British India, now in Madhya Pradesh) to Alauddin Khan who was a court musician of Maharaja Brijnath Singh. It was the Maharaja who named her Annapurna. Ali Akbar Khan, the greatest Sarod Player that we have already taken up, was her brother. She became an accomplished Surbahar player of the Maihar Gharana founded by her father (For learning more about Surbahar please see Raaga Based Song Of The Day #54). Her father, Alauddin Khan’s sitar student Pandit Ravi Shankar married her; he was 21 years old and she 14 years old at that time. She converted to Hinduism after marriage. Their marriage lasted for two decades. One of the reasons for the breakup of the marriage was because she used to get applauded more than him. After their divorce, she never performed in public again. She took to teaching music. Over the years she has had notable disciples: Hariprasad Chaurasia, Nityanand Haldipur, Nikhil Banerjee, Amit Bhattacharya, Pradeep Barot and Saswatti Saha (Sitar). In 1982 she married her student Rooshikumar Pandya. He died in 2013. In 1977 she was awarded Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilan award. In 1991 she was awarded the highest in performing arts: the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Lastly, a word about the movie from where this song has been taken by me. The 1972 movie Amar Prem was produced and directed by Shakti Samanta and starred Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Vinod Mehra and Madan Puri. Sharmila Tagore was Pushpa in the movie, forced into become a courtesan by Madan Puri. Rajesh Khanna was Anand Babu. Fed up of the indifferent ways of his own wife, he used to love coming to her and listen to her sing (eg, Raina beeti jaaye). The story when it unfolded made some of our social values stand on their head and the audience just loved the silent love that gradually evolved between the two. This song is the representative of the hollowness of social values (viz: Hamako jo aane dete hain hum khoye hain in rang raliyon mein; hamane unako bhi chhup chhup ke aate dekha in galiyon mein). Superb lyrics by Anand Bakshi.

Please enjoy in Raag Khammaj, Taal Kaherava, Kishore Kumar sing a composition of RD Burman on the lyrics of Anand Bakshi in the 1972 Shakti Samanta movie: Kuchh to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna…..

(कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, लोगों का काम है कहना
छोड़ो बेकार की बातों में कहीं बीत ना जाए रैना ) – २
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, लोगों का काम है कहना

कुछ रीत जगत की ऐसी है, हर एक सुबह की शाम हुई – २
तू कौन है, तेरा नाम है क्या, सीता भी यहाँ बदनाम हुई
फिर क्यूँ संसार की बातों से, भीग गये तेरे नयना
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, लोगों का काम है कहना
छोड़ो बेकार की बातों में कहीं बीत ना जाए रैना
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे …

हमको जो ताने देते हैं, हम खोए हैं इन रंगरलियों में – २
हमने उनको भी छुप छुपके, आते देखा इन गलियों में
ये सच है झूठी बात नहीं, तुम बोलो ये सच है ना
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, लोगों का काम है कहना
छोड़ो बेकार की बातों में कहीं बीत ना जाए रैना
कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे …

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. And today, on the eighty-eighth day, we learnt about Annapurna Devi, the greatest Surbahar player in India.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

The twentieth day of songs in this series.

In the last nineteen days, we have taken up songs of ten male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman, KL Saigal and Pankaj Mullick. We also took up songs of nine female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali and Sudha Malhotra.

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our eleventh male singer: Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’ and the song is another favourite: Mujhe na sapno se behlaao. I have chosen this non-filmy number over Jagmohan’s Meghdoot song: O varsha ke pehle baadal. By the way, both songs are by the same lyricist Faiyyaz Hashmi and same composer: Kamal Dasgupta.

Jagmohan was born as Jaganmoy Mitra and as a composer and singer earned the title of ‘Sursagar’ (the ocean of notes (music)). The 1955 Gyan Mukherjee movie Sardar has one of his famous songs: Pyar ki talkhiyan jo na seh sakun karun main kya karun? It was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. As far as songs that he sang are concerned, the one from Meghdoot is his most famous one. However, there are the non-filmy songs by the team of Faiyyaz Hashmi, Kamal Dasgupta and Jagmohan. These include:

• Dil de kar dard liyaa mai.n ne
• Dil ko hai tumase pyaar kyo.n
• Ek baar muskuraa do
• Maaluum hai mujhako
• Mat kar saaj si.ngaar sundari
• Merii aa.Nkhe.n banii.n diwaanii
• Mujhe Kaamosh rahane do
• Niraas me.n aas prabhu meraa
• Prem kii nayyaa ko milaa hai prem nadii kaa kinaaraa
• Sapano.n me.n mujhako pyaar milaa
• Su.ndar ho kitanii su.ndar ho
• Tum mere saamane aayaa na karo
• Us raag ko paayal me.n jo soyaa hai jagaa do
• Ye chaa.Nd nahii.n terii aaratii hai

The Government of India honoured him with India’s fourth highest civilian award: Padma Shri. However, more than the award, Jagmohan has a cult-following and his fans swear by him and the title ‘Sursagar’.

Komol or Kamal Dasgupta was born on 28 Jul 1912 in Kalia, Narail district of Bengal; now in Khulna, Bangladesh. He matriculated from Calcutta Academy, graduated in commerce from Comilla Victoria Government College. He did his doctorate in music from Benares Hindu University in 1943. The subject of his specialisation was Mira Bai. His early inspiration came from his father, Tara Prasanna Dasgupta. He took his first music lessons from his brother, Bimal Das Gupta. Later he studied under Dilip Kumar Roy, Kana Kesta, and Ustad Jamiruddin Khan. He emerged as a versatile musical genius. Raaga and Thumri were the main elements of his music. He was also a singer in Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Tamil. He was a brilliant composer who composed nearly 8000 songs, mostly based on classical music. In 1956 he converted to Islam and took the name Kamal Uddin Ahmed. He married Feroza Begum, a renowned Nazrul Sangeet singer in the same year. Their second and third sons Hamin Ahmed and Shafin Ahmed are lead singers with Bangladeshi Band Miles.He died on 20 Jul 1974 in Dhaka.

Fayyaz or Faiyyaz Hashmi too was born in Calcutta in 1920.  His father, Muhammad Hussain Hashmi, was also a poet with pen name ‘Dilgeer’ as well as a writer of stage drama. Fayyaz Hashmi was employed as the resident lyricist by the British-owned Gramophone Company of India from 1943 to 1948. “Fayyaz Hashmi wrote his first verse, ‘Chaman mein ghuncha-o-gul ka tabassum dekhne walo – Kabhi tum ne haseen kalyon ka murjhana bhi dekha hai’, when he was in 7th class.” He wrote his very first full songs that Talat Mahmood sang in 1941 (Sab din ek samaan nahin tha) and the runaway hit Tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakay gi with music composed by Kamal Das Gupta. He is best known for his ghazal: Aaj jaane ki zid na karo. In 1951, he was transferred by his employer, Gramophone Company of India, to Lahore to organise the music scene in Pakistan. There he promoted many talented artists including Farida Khanum (who sang the ghazal Aaj jaane ki zid na karo), Saeen Marna, Saeen Akhtar and Saeen Budha. He died on 29 Nov 2011 in Karachi, Pakistan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBvdIsBmQ6g

The bhaav of these brilliant lyrics by Fayyaz Hashmi is that the lover is not carried away by showing him a dreamworld by his beloved. He wants it to be tangible; something that he can touch and own.

Please enjoy Jagmohan ‘Sursagar’ sing a composition of Kamal Dasgupta on the lyrics of Faiyyaz Hashmi: Mujhe na sapano se behlaao….

मुझे न सपनों से बहलाओ

( दूरी का दुख दिल पे सहूँ मैं
रह के पास भी दूर रहूँ मैं ) -२
छूना चाहूँ छू न सकूँ मैं -२
कौन ये रीत बताओ
है कौन ये रीत बताओ
मुझे न सपनों से बहलाओ

( गंगा से तुम आवो नहा के
केश सुखाओ बाँह फैला कर ) -२
मेरे तमन्नाओं पर छा कर -२
काहे फिर छुप जाओ
तुम काहे फिर छुप जाओ
मुझे न सपनों से बहलाओ

( रोज़ मेरे सपने में आना
नित नित रूप नया दिखलाना ) -२
रोज़ छुड़ा कर आँचल जाना -२
ऐसा ज़ुल्म न ढाओ
तुम ऐसा ज़ुल्म न ढाओ
मुझे न सपनों से बहलाओ -२

The whole world is Maya, they say, a mere dream or mirage. However much we enjoy it, it will always be transient. And yet, there is always this tendency to own, to possess, call something or someone your own, touch and feel. It is only human. This song transports me into that world, the world of earthly love that is incomplete without the physical part. In short, you can’t be married to a dream.

One of my favourite old English songs is Trini Lopez’s ‘What have I got of my own?’ It has matching lyrics to those of Hashmi though Lopez’s came much later in 1976:

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

 

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Bedardi baalma tujhako mera man yaad karta hai….
Raag Charukesi, Tal Dadra

Shankar – Jaikishan again today, in the eighty-seventh post on Raaga Based Songs of the Day. Actually, I should say: the genius of Shankar Jaikishan again. And this time, I have chosen a song from a non-Raj Kapoor starrer. Also, I have chosen a Raaga other than their favourite Bhairavi: Charukesi, that is.

This is the second time I am giving you a song composed in this Raaga. The first was on the 13th day: Bainya na dharo, O balmaa (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #13‘).

The song I have taken for you today is from the 1965 Ramanand Sagar movie Arzoo starring Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana and Feroze Khan. It was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri, composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Shankar Jaikishan were the best and my most favourite music-duo on several scales such as popularity, the number of Filmfare Awards that they bagged and were nominated for, and their range of compositions from classical music based, jazz, semi classical, piano based, party songs, sad songs, lively and lilting melodies, comic songs and even some foreign tunes. Let alone mukhadas and antaras of songs of their compositions, they paid particular attention to interludes. It is, therefore, not surprising that in addition to their songs, even their interludes became memorable. They hardly ever used the same interlude twice in a song. One of my favourites, when it comes to interludes, is the interlude after the mukhada in the Anaadi song: Tera jaana. Of course, Tera jaana is a piano based, Raaga based (Raag Bhairavi, Tal Kaherava) sad song sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Nutan at the time when she is forced to break-up with Raj Kapoor, her only love, at the behest of her rich father. We must also acknowledge the genius of the arranger Sebastian D’Souza in making this interlude memorable. Have a look:

Did you notice what the interludes do to you? The first one is agitated one; it is as unnerving as it should be for Nutan to say good bye to the love of her life. The interlude is like as if someone is playing like crazy on the chords of her heart. There is a calming effect in the second interlude as if the helplessness of the situation and the acceptance thereof have made her numb and increasingly silent; as if hit by chilling waves. Ladies and gentlemen, now you would understand why I use the word genius whilst describing Shankar Jaikishan to you. As they said in 1962: “We have never thought of the public as the ‘masses’, but as individuals who want the best from us.” Tell me how many others have you come across who would go to this extent to give you a musical experience.

Lets try one more. This is the song Ye raat bheegi bheegi ye mast fizaayen in the movie Chori Chori; sung by Manna Dey for Raj Kapoor and Lata Mangeshkar for Nargis. It is in Raag Kirwani or Keerwani, Tal Kaherava. The scene is about Nargis having run away from her father (shipping tycoon) in Bombay to be with her lover Pran in Bangalore. On the way, she is helped by Raj Kapoor, a small time journalist. As they are on the run together, there is, for the first time, quite a flux of feelings from both the sides since they appear to be heading towards being lovers. In the first interlude the music helps to bring out how she has no control over her emotions; she is merely a doll or a puppet. The second interlude is renumerative because of contemplating whether she has finally found someone who she can call her own (Main dhuund rahi hoon apne ko). And the third interlude has a little sadness laced with what-if feelings by both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1DZxkiMjRo

Truly, in both the songs that I have given above, Shankar Jaikishan helped by their arranger Sebastian D’Souza find a perfect match between music, notes, compositions, interludes, voice and emotions. These are just examples of the extent to which they used to go in making songs.

Now why did I labour to give you so much about interludes when generally I have been focusing on the raaga, the tal and the lyrics only? It is because you would enjoy the song that I have chosen for you more if you pay attaention to the interludes too. Let me at the outset itself tell you that in Bedardi baalma, the first and the third interludes are repeated. It is rare for Shankar Jaikishan to do so. The complete lyrics of the song are about comparing her (Sadhana‘s) situation now that she is alone and melancholic with the happy past when in the same Srinagar valley, he (Rajendra Kumar) was there with her in loving and romantic togetherness. The first and last interlude both bring out that intense feeling of longing for him when she can’t find him. The second interlude is about her current situation of extreme melancholy with matching lyrics. Shankar Jaikishan were really masters of this art. I am sure many of us remember the first and the last interludes and these help us to feel for her whilst she lays bare her desapondency.

We have completed eighty-six 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 eighty-sixth post or the last post was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #86‘ and the song was a Chhaya Ganguly song from the 1978 Muzaffar Ali movie Gaman starring Smita Patil and Farooq Sheikh: Aapki yaad aati rahi raat bhar; a ghazal penned by Makhdoom Moihuddin. It is in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Hinch.

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 Todi‘.

In the last eighty-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 and Sohani. Today, I am repeating Raag Charukesi.

Today’s song has been sung by Lata Mangeshkar on the lyrics of Hasrat Jaipuri and composition by Shankar Jaikishan. As I said, it is in Raag Charukesi, Tal Dadra. The song is picturised on Sadhana in the 1965 Ramanand Sagar movie Arzoo, in his own production.

We have already covered Shankar Jaikishan above.

Let me, therefore, come to Hasrat Jaipuri. Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri formed a team with Shankar Jaikishan. It was the most abiding team of Lyricists with Composer in Hindi movies. Although, Hasrat was a find of Prithviraj Kapoor who introduced him to his son Raj Kapoor, both the Filmfare Awards that he received were both non-Raj Kapoor movies: Andaz starring Rajesh Khanna and Shammi Kapoor and Suraj starring Rajendra Kumar. Hasrat Jaipuri was born as Iqbal Hussain in Jaipur, Rajashtan, on 15 Apr 1922. His schooling was entirely in English language and it is only later that he learnt Urdu and Persian. He came to Bombay at the age of 18 years and worked as a bus-conductor, similar to Johnny Walker. His first song was Jiya beqraar hai for the 1949 Raj Kapoor movie Barsaat, the debut film of Shankar Jaikishan.

Before penning lyrics for the songs, he was fond of poetry. Some of his poetry was written for his beloved in Jaipur: Radha including the famous song: Yeh mera prem patr padh kar ke tum naraaz na hona.

As far as my favourite songs of Hasrat Jaipuri are concerned, let me tell you first that what I regard as Lata Mangeshkar’s best song ever: Rasik balmaa, has been penned by him (Please see: ‘My Favourite Songs Of Lata Mangeshkar‘). Some of the others are: Aa neele gagan tale (Badshah, 1954), the title song of my Facebook group Yaad Kiya Dil Ne (Patita, 1953), Aansu bhari hain ye jeevan ki raahen (Parvarish, 1958), Aaye bahaar ban ke lubha kar chale gaye (Rajhath, 1956),  Awaaz de ke hamen na bulao (Professor, 1962), Ajahu na aaye baalma (Saanjh Aur Savera, 1964), Aji rooth kar ab kahan jaayiga, Chhalke teri aankho se (Arzoo, 1965), Rukh se zara naqaab utha do mere huzoor, Gam uthhane ke liye main to jiye jaayunga, Jhanak jhanak tori naaje payaliya, Jo guzr rahi hai mujhape use kaise main batayun, Kyaa kyaa na sahe hamne sitam aap ki khaatir (Mere Huzoor, 1968), Bat itani si hai kah do koi deevano se, Gori chalo na hans ki chaal (Beti Bete, 1964), Bahaaro phool barsaao (Suraj, 1966), Bhanvre ki gunjan hai mera dil (Kal, Aaj Aur Kal, 1971), Chale jaana zara thehro (Around The World, 1967), Chhod gaye baalam mujhe haay akela chhod gaye, Jiya beqraar hai chhayi bahaar hai, Meri aankhon mein bas gaya koi re (Barsaat, 1949), Dekho ruutha na karo, Tere ghar ke saamne ik ghar banayunga, Tu kahan ye bata is nasheeli raat mein (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne, 1963), Dheere dheere chal chand gagan mein (Love Marriage, 1959), Dil ek mandir hai, Ham tere pyaar mein saara aalam, Yahan koi nahin tera mere siva (Dil Ek Mandir, 1963), Dil ke jharokhe mein tujhako bithakar (Brahmachari, 1968), Mere yaar shab-ba-khair, Ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar, Jaa jaa jaa mere bachpan (Junglee, 1961), Duniya waalon se duur, Jhuumata mausam mast maheena, Tera jalwa jisne dekha (Ujaala, 1959), Ehsaan mere dil pe tumhaara hai dosto (Gaban, 1966), Falsafa pyaar ka tum kyaa jaano (Duniya, 1968), Gumnaam hai koi, Is duniya mein jeena hai to sun lo meri baat, Jaago sone waalo. Jaan-e-chaman shola badan pehlu mein aa jaao (Gumnaam, 1965), Ho maine pyaar kiya hai hai kya zurm kiya (Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai, 1960), Ibtidaa-e-ishq mein ham saari raat jaage (Hariyali Aur Raasta (1962), Ichak daana bichak daana (Shri 420, 1955), Ik bewafa se pyaar kiya, Jabase balam ghar aaye (Awaara, 1951), Ik but banayunga tera, Tera mera pyaar amar, Tujhe jeevan ki dore se baandh liya hai (Asli Naqli, 1962), Is rang badalati duniya mein (Rajkumar, 1964), Jaane kahan gaye woh din (Mera Naam Joker, 1970), Le gayi dil gudiya Japan ki, Koi matwaala aaya mere dwaare, Sayonara waada nibhayungi (Love In Tokyo, 1966), Janam janam ka saath hai nibhane ko (Tumase Achha Kaun Hai, 1969), Jiya o, jiya o jiya luchh bol do (Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai, 1961), Kaun hai jo sapano mein aaya (Jhuk Gaya Asmaan, 1968), Kuchh sher sunaata hoon main (Ek Dil Sau Afsaane, 1963), Manzil wohi hai pyaar ke raahi badal gaye (Kathputli, 1957), Maare gaye gulfaam (Teesri Kasam, 1966), Main Ka karun Raam mujhe buddha mil gaya, O mehbooba tere dil ke paas hi hai (Sangam, 1964), Main kahin kavi na ban jaayun (Pyaar Hi Pyaar, 1968), Main piya teri tu maane ya na maane (Basant Bahar, 1956), Mere mehboob tere dam se hai duniya mein bahar (Bhai Bhai, 1970), Meri zindagi mein aate to kuchh aur baat hoti (Kanyadaan, 1968), Mujhako apne gale lagalo ai mere humraahi, Vo chale haan vo chale, Ye aansu mere dil ki zubaan hain (Hamrahi, 1963), Nain se nain naahi milao (Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, 1955), Pankh hote to udh aati re, Taqdeer ka fasaana jaakar kise sunaayen (Sehra, 1963), Hai na bolo bolo (Andaaz, 1968), Parde mein rehane do (Shikar, 1968), Pyar aankhon se jataya to bura maan gaye, Tumhe aur kyaa doon main dil ke siva (Aayi Milan Ki Bela, 1964), Rungoli sajaao (Rungoli, 1962), Sau saal pehle mujhe tumase pyar tha, Teri zulfon se judaayi to nahin maangi thi (Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961), Sunate the naam ham jinaka bahar se (Aah, 1953), Suno chhoti si gudiya ki lambi kahani (Seema, 1955), Tere khayalon mein ham (Geet Gaya Pathron Ne, 1964), Teri pyari pyari surat ko (Sasural, 1961), Tujhe pyar karte hain karte rahenge (April Fool, 1964), Tuu mere saamne hai teri zulfen hain khuli (Suhaagan, 1964), Unake khayal aaye to aate chale gaye (Laal Patthar, 1971), Ye kya kar daal tune dil tera ho gaya (Howrah Bridge, 1958), and Ye raat bheegi bheegi (Chori Chori, 1956).

A word about the actress, Sadhana, on whom the song is picturised. As I have said many times earlier, some of Lata Mangeshkar’s best songs are picturised on her. These include: Aaja aayi bahar (Rajkumar, 1964), Aa jaan-e-jaan aa mera ye husn jawan, Geet tere saaz ka, Kaise rahun chup ke maine pi hi kya hai (Inteqaam, 1969), Aap youn hi agar hamase milate rahe (Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, 1962), Aji rooth kar ab kahan jayiyega (Arzoo, 1965), Ham

jab simat ke aap ki baahon mein aa gaye, Kaun aaya ke nigahon mein chamak jaag uthi (Waqt, 1965), Jo hamane daastan apni sunayi, Lag jaa gale ke phir ye haseen raat, Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim (Woh Kaun Thi, 1964), Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam (Mere Mehboob, 1963), Mila hai kisi ka jhumka, O sajana barkha bahaar aayi (Parakh, 1960), Nainon mein badra chhaye, Tu jahan jahan chalega (Mera Saya, 1966), Tera mera pyar amar, and Tujhe jeevan ki dore se baandh liya hai (Asli Naqli, 1962).

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last six 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. Finally, we shall take up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Today, lets learn a little more about the Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan.

The name Bismillah Khan and Shehnai have become synonymous. Single handedly he elevated this simplest of instruments from just being played on weddings to the classical music heights. He was born Qamaruddin Khan on Mar 1913 in Damraon, Bihar. So strong was his passion that he was the third awardee of the highest civilian honour in India: the Bharat Ratna; the third personality to be given the honour after MS Subbulaxmi and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Between 1961 and 1980, the government of India also conferred on him the next three civilain honours: Padma Vibushan (1980), Padma Bhushan (1968) and Padma Shri (1961). And to think that he overcame his religion (Shia) considering music as haraam. When he died on 21 Aug 2006, his Shehnai was buried with him since he used to call it his begum. He was invited by the Indian PM Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru to play his Shehnai at the Red Fort in 1947, on the eve of India’s independence. Since then, for a number of years, the tradition of Bismillah Khan’s Shehnai Waadan, after PM’s speech on Independence Day continued. Khan had a brief association with movies. He played the shehnai for super star Dr.Rajkumar’s role of Appanna in the Kannada movie Sanaadi Appanna which became a blockbuster. He acted in Jalsaghar, a movie by Satyajit Ray and provided sound of shehnai in Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959).

As I said, today’s song is in Raag Charukesi, Tal Dadra.

Charukesi or Charukeshi is a raaga of Carnatic music. The raaga is called Tarangini in Muthuswami Dikshitar school; he was an early 19th century poet and composer.

Charukesi is also very popular in Hindustani music. The Jati of the raaga is Sampurna – Sampurna, that is all seven swar in Aaroha andAvroha. All swar are Shuddha except Dhaivat and Nishad, which are Komal. The samay for the raag is the second prahar of the morning (9AM to Noon). The mood of the raag is pathos (karuna) and devotion. Some of Hindi films most beautiful songs have been composed in it, such as Aaj dil pe koi zor chalta nahin (that was deleted from some versions of the movie Milan), Akele hain chale aao kahan ho, Bedardi balma tujhko mera man yaad karta hai, Bekhudi mein sanam, Chhod de saari duniya kisi ke liye, Ek tu jo mila, Kisi raah pe kisi mod par, Koi jab tumhaara hriday tod de, Shyam teri bansi pukaare Radha naam, Teri umeed tera intezar and karte hain.

About Tal Dadra, I have already told a number of times.

Lastly, a word about the movie from where this song (ghazal) has been taken by me. The 1965 movie Arzoo was produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar and starred Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana and Feroze Khan. The story revolved around Rajendra Kumar (Gopal) and Sadhana (Usha) meeting in Kashmir and falling in love. He has given his name as Sanju. She reveals to him how she hates the physically disabled. Later, he meets with an accident nad becomes disabled and avoids her, knowing her revulsion. His best friend Feroze Khan (Ramesh), not knowing about what has happened between Sanju and Usha, falls in love with Usha and they are about to be married. And then, it is revealed to her that Sanju and Gopal are the same person. The song came about when Sanju distances himself from Usha and she is melancholic about his absence from her life.

Please enjoy in Raag Charukesi, Tal Dadra, a superb composition of Shankar Jaikishan on the extraordinary lyrics of Hasrat Jaipuri, a song sung by Lata Mangeshkar: Bedardi baalma tujhako mera man yaad karta hai...

बेदर्दी बालमा तुझको मेरा मन याद करता है
बरसता है जो आँखों से वो सावन याद करता है

कभी हम साथ गुज़रे जिन सजीली रहगुज़ारों से
फ़िज़ा के भेस में गिरते हैं अब पत्ते चनारों से
ये राहें याद करती हैं ये गुलशन याद करता है

कोई झोंका हवा का जब मेरा आँचल उड़ाता है
गुमाँ होता है जैसे तू मेरा दामन हिलाता है
कभी चूमा था जो तूने वो दामन याद करता है

वो ही हैं झील के मंदर वो ही किरनों कि बरसातें
जहाँ हम तुम किया करते थे पहरों प्यार की बातें
तुझे इस झील का ख़ामोश दरपन याद करता है

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. And today, on the eighty-seventh day, we learnt about the Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

The whole country must be saying this about him now that at about 5:20 PM today, the 4th Dec 17, he lost his battle with liver cirrhosis at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. He had been ailing for a number of years.

However, ailing and battling for life is not something that we would want to remember him by. The song is one of his most popular songs. However, he wasn’t pardesi (stranger) to winning hearts and minds of his fans.

First, we have to imagine three of a family getting Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award for cinematic excellence. Then we have to consider that since its inception in 1969 when Devika Rani got it, there have been only 47 recipients so far. Prithviraj Kapoor, the doyen of Kapoor family was the third recipient of it in 1971, his son Raj Kapoor received it in 1987 as the 18th recipient, and then Shashi Kapoor, the quintessential romantic boyish face got the 45th award in 2015.

Boyish Charm with Innocence and yet Superbly Romantic

Before I begin today, let me tell you about the Annual Navy Veterans Lunch hosted by the C-in-C (West) that Lyn and I attended four days ago, on Sunday the 26th Nov 17 that is. I was pleasantly surprised to know many people access my blog daily for these songs and also those in Raaga Based Songs of the Day series. It also came out that people know me more as Sunbyanyname than my real name. Thank you for your abiding interest, ladies and gentlemen.

The nineteenth day of songs in this series.

In the last eighteen days, we have taken up songs of nine male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, SD Burman and KL Saigal. We also took up songs of nine female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali and Sudha Malhotra.

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our tenth male singer: Pankaj Mullick and the song is my most favourite: Tere mandir ka hoon deepak jal raha, a bhajan.

Pankaj Mullick was one of the first few of Indian Cinema personalities who was awarded the highest: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. As a matter of interest, the award was introduced in 1969 and was won by Devika Rani, the first lady of Indian Cinema. In 1970, it went to Birendranath Sircar (founder of two production companies International Filmcraft and New Theatres) followed by Prithviraj Kapoor in 1971. That makes Pankaj Mulick the fourth ever recipient of this award in 1972.

Pankaj Mullick was a composer, music director, one of the earliest playback singers and he also acted in a few movies. He was born in Calcutta on 10 May 1905 and he died on 19 Feb 1978. An important turning point in his life came when, after finishing his studies, he came in contact with Dinendranath Tagore, who was Rabindranath Tagore’s great-nephew. This led to Pankaj Mullick’s lasting interest in Rabindra Sangeet. Rabindranath Tagore, in turn, grew fond of him, and soon Mullick became known as one of the leading exponents of Tagore’s songs.

Some of my favourite songs that Pankaj Mullick either composed or sang are: Aayi bahaar aaj aayi bahaar (Doctor, 1940), Ai qaatib-e-taqadiir mujhe itnaa bata de, Do naina matwaare tihaare (Sung by KL Saigal on his composition in Meri Behan, 1944), Chale pawan ki chaal (an all time favourite from Doctor, 1941, sung and composed by him on Kavi Pradeep’s lyrics), Duniya rang rangeeli baba (Dharmatama, 1938), Jeevan naiya behati jaaye (beautiful song on the lyrics of Ali Sardar Jafri for Zalzalaa, 1952), Karun kyaa aas niraas bhayi (Kl Saigal in Dushman, 1939), Mehak rahi phulwari hamaari (Doctor, 1941 again. Incidentally, Pankaj Mullick also acted in the movie), Main kyaa jaanu jaadu hai (KL Saigal in Zindagi, 1940), Pawan chale zor lahar machaaye shor (again from Zalzalaa but penned by Satya Kumar; it was a Dev Anand starrer), Piya milan ko jaana (an all time favourite of mine from Kapala Kundala, 1939. It was Pankaj Mullick all the way as Lyricist, Composer, Singer and Actor), Ye kaun aaj aaya savere savere (lyrics by Munshi Arzoo, sung and composed by Pankaj Mullick, 1940. He acted in the movie too), Jab chaand mera nikala chhayin thi ghataayen (Non-film, penned by Faiyyaz Hashmi and composed by F Casanovas), Kaun des hai jaana baabu (Mukti, 1937; once again Pnkaj Mullick all the way), and Ye raaten ye mausam hasna hasaana (Non film, another all time favourite).

Not many people know that Pankaj Mullick sacrificed his own interests in favour of KL Saigal. For example, the 1944 movie Meri Behan songs that I have listed above were actually recorded in the voice of Pankaj Mulick and he was already playing the lead role in the movie. Half way through, BN Sircar, the owner of New Theatres (I have already told you above that Sircar received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award two years before Pankaj Mullick) asked Pankaj Mullick to let KL Saigal sing the songs and be the lead actor in the movie. Pnakaj Mullick was more famous than KL Saigal at that time but he gracefully agreed.

The song Tere mandir ka hoon deepak was penned by Pt. Madhur. He was a writer, lyricist and producer. He wrote the following movies’ stories: Tulsidas (1954), Banjarin (1960), Parasmani (1963) and Mahabharat (1965). Some of his popular songs are: Chanda re mori patiya le jaa and Ek baar dharti pe aake dekh Bhagwan (Banjarin, 1960), Duniya ye duniya Toofan Mail, Rona hai bekaar pagli (Song sung by Kanan Devi in Jawab, 1942 on the composition of Kamal Dasgupta), Ho chand chamka andhere mein aaj hai (Humayun, 1945; song sung by Shamshad Begum on the composition by Ghulam Haider), Sanjh bhaye ghar aaya panchhi (Sanyasi, 1945; song composed by Naushad and sung by Shaam Kumar), Suno ji pyaari koyaliya bole (Also from Sanyasi, 1945 but sung by Zohrabai Ambalewali and Amar), and Zaara bolo kyaa logi is dil ka kiraaya (Song sung by Mukesh and Kusum and composed by Firoz Nizami in Us Paar, 1944).

The bhajan that I am giving you (this is the first song in the series that is a bhajan and a non-film one at that) is sung for Lord Krishna and talks about deep and abiding devotion to Him. In the first stanza, the devotee (Pankaj Mullick) asks the Lord if He is a stranger to the devotee’s ache for Him; if he is new to Him? In the second stanza, the devotee is longing to obtain just one glimpse of Krishna. The third stanza is by far the best. The devotee wants to change his destiny with that of Krishna’s Bansuri (Flute) since she is so close to the Lord.

Curiously, all the favourites of Krishna are in the lyrics of the song: the Kadamb tree in the second stanza, the Jamuna river in the last stanza, and thje Batasha sweet in the first stanza. Naturally, the song has lyrics that have been penned by Pt. Madhur who knew the history well. On top of that, Pankaj Mullick’s singing and composition not just bring out the dard of the devotee but instantly take you to the scenes that Krishna was popular for.

Please enjoy Pankaj Mullick sing on his own composition a non-film bhajan: Tere mandir ka hoon deepak jal raha….

तेरे मन्दिर का हूँ दीपक जल रहा
आग जीवन में मैं भर कर जल रहा, जल रहा
तेरे मन्दिर का हूँ दीपक जल रहा

क्या तू मेरे ददर् से अन्जान है
तेरी मेरी क्या नयी पहचान है
जो बिना पानी बताशा ढल रहा
आग जीवन में मैं भर कर …

इक झलक मुझ को दिखा दे साँवरे, साँवरे
मुझ को ले चल तू गधुम की छाँव रे, साँवरे
और छलिया आ आ आ
और छलिया क्यों मुझे तू छल रहा
आग जीवन में मैं भर कर …

मैं तो क़िसमत बाँसुरी के बाँछता
एक धुन से सौ तरह से नाचता
आँख से जमुना का पानी डल रहा
आग जीवन में मैं भर कर …

Bhajans are and have been my favourite genre of songs. I must be really passionate about this that I have always chosen this over Pankaj Mullick’s Piya milan ko jaana. Lord Krishna is not just our most beloved avatar of God but also close to my heart. There must be something that makes people of all ages, sex, religions and positions in life reach out to Him, long for Him and go through the pain (dard or peedha) of not having a glimpse of Him. I guess amongst various reasons for it, one prominent one is that Krishna as avatar of God is not on a high platform in heavens but lived the life in ordinary human form. All His extraordinary abilities run parallel with his ordinary, humane antics.

The bhajan is my favourite song of this great singer and composer. Another great, Lata Mangeshkar, paid tribute to Pankaj Mullick by singing the same bhajan on Pankaj Mulick’s composition. In the following video, Lata’s tribute starts from minute 3:14:

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Aapki yaad aati rahi raat bhar….
Raag Bhairavi, Tal Hinch

Today is the eighty-sixth post in the series on Raaga Based Songs of the Day. As already planned, I had kept Bhairavi for special treatment until the end after giving you the first song in Bhairavi on the 11th day: Babul mora naihar chhooto hi jaaye (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #11’) I gave you songs in many other raagas and now when we approach our 100th song, I am into repeating some of the important raagas. I have given you a few songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan (Jaikishan had Bhairavi as his favourite raaga). Today, I give you a special one composed by Jaidev.

Before I do, let me reiterate that I am primarily a Lyrics person. My interest in music and raagas is only to the extent of their adding to the emotions expressed through the lyrics. The purists would tell you, with enough justification, that in the Indian Classical Tradition, the instruments were made to express emotions without any lyrics. I agree but it is merely a question of my passion. A painter can do away with both lyrics and notes and tell you that a painting is worth thousands of words and notes. And finally, a spiritual person can do away with all thoughts to merge with his Parmatma: no words, no notes, not even thoughts. One has to search for one’s starting point; my starting point is lyrics and has always been.

Let me, therefore, start with the poet of this great ghazal. His name was Makhdoom Mohiuddin, or Abu Sayeed Mohammad Makhdoom Mohiuddin Khudri. He was born in the village of Andole in Medak district, Hyderabad State on 04 Feb 1908. Most Urdu poets of that era (with the exception of my favourite Shakeel Badayuni) were part of the Marxist political movement in India and Progressive Writers Union. Makhdoom Mohiuddin, indeed, founded the Progressive Writer’s Union in Hyderabad, was active in Marxist movements, and in 1946-47, was in the forefront of Telengana Rebellion against the Nizam of Hyderabad. The then-ruler of Hyderbad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, had issued orders to kill him for awakening people for freedom and the abolition of Nawab (“princely”) rule. He soon earned the sobriquet of Shayar-e-Inquilab (Poet of Revolution) and is honoured as a freedom fighter. He is best known for his collection of poems entitled Bisat-e-Raqs (“The Dance Floor”), for which he was awarded the 1969 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.

Here is what Mir Ayoob Ali Khan wrote about him in The Times of India (Hyderabad edition) on 16 Aug 2015 in an article titled ‘Makhdoom – Poet of Labour and Love’:

“Several years ago Ali Sardar Jafri made a documentary on Makhdoom. The character of Makhdoom was played by Irrfan Khan and music scored by Jagjit Singh. It gave some insight into the man and his passions but that it was too little. What still lacks is a well-researched book on him, especially in English that narrates his complete story, not bits and pieces that we find in Urdu.”

His ghazals have been used in Hindi films. Some of these are: Ik chameli ke mandve tale (for the 1964 movie Cha Cha Cha), Aap ki yaad aati rahi raat bhar (Gaman, 1978), and Phir chhidi raat baat phoolon ki (Bazaar, 1982).

The ghazal, Aap ki yaad aati rahi raat bhar has a history of its own. Makhdoom Mohiuddin breathed his last on 25 Aug 1969. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, another Marxist revolutionary, another notable member of Progressive Writer’s Union, and recipient of Pakistan’s highest civilian award Nishan-e-Imtiaz, wrote the following in Makhdoom’s memory:

“Makhdoom ki yaad mein”–Faiz Ahmed Faiz

“Aap ki yaad aati rahi raat bhar”
chaandni dil dukhaati rahi raat bhar

The night was haunted by your memories
And the moonlights made my heart bleed all night long

gaah jalti hui, gaah bujhti hui
shamm-e-gham jhilmilaati rahi raat bhar

Restlessly, it flickered at times, at times it didn’t
The flame of sadness kept shining all night long

koi khushboo badalti rahi pairahan
koi tasveer gaati rahi raat bhar

A fragrance kept changing its body all night
And a portrait kept singing all night long

phir sabaa saaya-e-shaakh-e-gul ke talay
koi qissa sunaati rahi raat bhar

And again, in the shades of blossomed tree
A gentle breeze narrated some tales  all night long

jo na aaya use koi zanjeer-e-dar
har sadaa par bulaati rahi raat bhar

The chains of the courtyard, with every call,
Sought him, who did not turn up, all night long

eik ummeed se dil behalta raha
ik tamanna sataati rahi raat bhar

A hope kept my heart at bay
And a desire kept burning within all night long

Naturally, Faiz being a more accomplished poet, penned his tribute even better than Makhdoom’s, as many feel. However, the fact is that the original still belongs to Makhdoom.

We have completed eighty-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 eighty-fifth post or the last post was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #85’ and the song was a Mukesh song from the 1966 Abhi Bhattacharya (Shailendra production) movie Teesri Kasam starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman: Duniya banane waale kya tere man mein samayi. It is in Raag Bhairavi, 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 Pilu – Part I’.

In the last eighty-five 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 and Sohani. Today, I am repeating Raag Bhairavi for the eighth time.

Today’s ghazal has been sung by Chhaya Ganguly on the lyrics of Makhdoom Mohiuddin and composition by Jaidev. As I said, it is in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Hinch. The song is picturised on Smita Patil in the 1978 Muzaffar Ali movie Gaman, in his own production.

Incidentally, Jaidev who won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction in 1979 for his work and for the Song Aap ki Yaad Aati Rahi, Chhaya Ganguly won a National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.

Lets know a little more about them in reverse order. First, the singer Chhaya Ganguly. She is best described by the expression: ‘A Forgotten Voice’. Indeed, this is how The Indian Express described her in an article on 20 Apr 2014 in its New Delhi edition. The occasion was her performance as a part of 21st Ustad Chand Khan Music Festival presented by Sursagar Society in New Delhi. And to think that she actually won the National Award for her singing this ghazal. She could have pushed to remain centre stage for years. But, instead, she chose to remain in the background in a most self effacing manner.

Chhaya Ganguli trained with ghazal singer Madhurani, whom she met through Jaidev, who composed Gaman’s score. She also sang the ballad “Piya Piya” for Jaidev in Trikon Ka Chauttha Kon (1983).

As if shy of her success, Ganguli took a long break from films, returning in 1990 for the Amol Palekar film Thodasa Roomani Ho Jaayen. The title track, composed by Bhaskar Chandavarkar, captures a great return to form by her.

Her songs in non-film albums include filmmaker and composer Muzaffar Ali’s  Husn-e-Jaana (1997) and Paigham-e-Mohabbat (2000). She sang the poems of Ahmad Faraz, Ibn-E-Insha, Nazeer Akbarabadi and Mir Taqi Mir. One of her most popular Sufi songs is “Zihaal-e-Miskin” from the album Husn-e-Jaana. She sings the poetry of Amir Khusro with passion.

Jaidev Verma, the composer and music director was born on 03 Aug 1919 in Nairobi. He was brought up in Ludhiana. At the age of 15 years he ran away to Bombay to become a film star. As a child-star he acted in eight films for Wadia Film Company. It was Prof Barkat Rai in Ludhiana who had initiated him into music. Later, in Bomaby, he learnt music from Krishnarao Jaokar and Janardan Jaokar. Unfortunately, he had to leave his budding films career to return to his family after his father’s blindness. He assumed the sole responsibility to look after his family. After his father died, in 1943 he left for Lucknow to learn music under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

He started his career in Hindi films after Ali Akbar Khan took him as his assistant for Navketan Films Aandhiyan (1952) and Hum Safar. He was the first music director to have won three National Awards.

Some of my favourite songs composed by Jaidev are: Ab koi gulshan na ujade ab watan aazad hai, Nadi naare na jao Shyam, Raat bhi hai kuchh bheegi bheegi, Tere bachpan ko jawani ki dua deti hoon (Mujhe Teene Do, 1963); Abhi na jao chood kar, Allah tero naam, Kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aaya, Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya (Hum Dono, 1961); Chand akela jaaye sakhi ri, Koi gaata main so jaata (Alaap, 1977); Chale jaa rahen hain mohabbat ke maare kinaare kinaare, Dekh li teri khudayi bas mera dil nhar gaya, Jab gham-e-ishq sataata hai to has leta hoon (Kinaare Kinaare, 1963); Dil ne tadap tadap ke tadpaana sikha diya (Faasla, 1974); Di deewane shehr mein (Gharaunda, 1977); Jaise suraj ki garmi se (Parinay, 1974); Tu chanda main chandini (Reshma Aur Shera, 1971); and Ye dil aur unaki nigaahin ke saaye (Prem Parbat, 1973).

A word about the actress, Smita Patil, on whom the song is picturised. Having been born on 17 Oct 1955 in Poona, she graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India and debuted in Shyam Benegal’s Charandas Chor in 1975. She soon became the favourite of Shyam Benegal. Her performances were often acclaimed, and her most notable roles include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985) and Mirch Masala (1985). Smita Patil was married to actor Raj Babbar. She died on 13 December 1986 at the age of 31 due to childbirth complications. Over ten of her films were released after her death. She won two National Awards for her roles in Bhumika and Chakra and three Filmfare Awards for her roles in Jait Re Jait, Umbartha and Chakra. For the intensity of her acting she was being hailed as a Meena Kumari in the making and then she died at a very young age of 31 years.

And lastly, lets know a little more about the producer and director of the 1978 movie Gaman: Muzaffar Ali. He was born on 21 Oct 1944 in Lucknow. is an Indian filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, music-lover, revivalist, and social worker. Gaman (1978) was his first movie. He went on to direct Umrao Jaan (1981), Aagman (1982), Anjuman (1986), and Jaanisaar (2015). In the last movie he also acted as Meer Mohsin Ali. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2005 and Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award in 2014.

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last five times onwards 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. And finally, we took up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi. Today, we shall take up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Hindustani tradition): Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

Bhimsen Joshi was born on 04 Feb 1922 in Ron town of Gadag district of Karnataka. As a child itself he was fascinated by music and musical instruments such as harmonium and tanpura. His first music teacher was Agasara Channappa of Kurtakoti, who had trained with the veteran singer Inayat Khan. He learnt raagas Bhairav and Bhimpalasi from him. Bhimsen Joshi next went to Pandit Shyamacharya Joshi, who hailed from Bagalkot. It is through Pandit Shyamacharya that Bhimsen Joshi got his first break. Pandit Joshi had gone to Bombay to record songs for HMV and after recording a few he fell ill, returned to Bagalkot and asked Bhimsen Joshi to continue. This proved a majot breakthrough for Bhimsen Joshi.

He soon emerged as a singer of Khayal and for devotional songs such as Bhajans and Abhangas. If we look at the awards that he won, one can make out his career progression: Padma Shree in 1972, Sahitya Natak Akademi Award in 1976, Padma Bhushan and National Award for Best Male Playback Singer (for the film Ankahee in which Jaidev too won the National Award as Best Music Director) in 1985, Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 2008.

As I said, today’s song is in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Hinch.

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 already given you this adequate number of times, this being the eighth time I am giving you a song in this raag.

About Tal Hinch, I can do no better than put up the link to a video explaining this:

Lastly, a word about the movie from where this song (ghazal) has been taken by me. The 1978 movie Gaman was produced and directed by Muzaffar Ali and starred Farooq Sheikh and Smita Patil. Farooq Sheikh, the gentlest actor in Hindi movies left us on 27 Dec 2013 at the age of 65 and Smita Patil died young at 31 years on 13 Dec 1986. The film deals with the issue of futility of urban migration, using the story of migrant from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai, who tries to find a foothold in his new life as a taxi driver. Farooq Sheikh as Ghulam Hasan, is from – hold your breath – Badayun in Uttar Pradesh (the town of my favourite lyricist and poet Shakeel Badayuni). He relocates to Mumbai and becomes a taxi driver through his friend Jalal Agha as Lallulal Tewari. He had to leave his ailing mother and wife Khairun (Smita Patil) behind in Badayun. And that’s how this song (ghazal) came about in the movie. With each note, word and each histrionic of Smita Patil the agony of the migration for better life from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai comes through so lucidly.

Please enjoy in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Hinch: Aapki yaad aati rahi raat bhar…

आप की याद आती रही रात भर
चश्म-ए-नम मुस्कुराती रही रात भर
आप की याद आती रही …

रात भर दर्द की शमा जलती रही
ग़म की लौ थरथराती रही रात भर …

बाँसुरी की सुरीली सुहानी सदा
याद बनबनके आती रही रात भर …

याद के चाँद दिल में उतरते रहे
चाँदनी डगमगाती रही रात भर …

कोई दीवाना गलियों में फिरता रहा
कोई आवाज़ आती रही रात भर …

Aap ki yaad aatee rahee raat bhar
Chashm-e-nam muskaratee rahee raat bhar

The night was haunted by your memories
And my teary eyes smiled all night long

Raat bhar dard ki shamma jaltee rahee
Gham ki lau thartharatee rahee raat bhar

The candles of pain kept the night awake
And the flames of sadness kept flickering all night long

Bansuri ki surilee suhanee sada
Yaad ban ban kay aatee rahi raat bhar

Ah, the sweet soulful yearning of the flute
Kept tugging at my memories all night long

Yaad kay chaand dil mein utartay rahay
Chandni jagmagatee rahi raat bhar

As the moons of a memory would set in my heart
The moonlight kept shining like a beacon all night long

Koee deevana galiyon mein phirta raha
Koee aawaz aati rahi raat bhar

A forelorn lover kept wandering the streets
And a voice could well be heard all night long

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. And today, 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.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

The seventeenth day of songs in this series.

In the last sixteen days, we have taken up songs of eight male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and SD Burman. We also took up songs of eight female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun), Suraiya and Zohrabai Ambalewali.

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our ninth male singer: Kundan Lal Saigal, not just the first Singing-Star in Hindi films but also the first Super-Star, much before Rajesh Khanna.

If you ask any person of my era, what is the commonest comment about Kundanlal Saigal that you are likely to hear. Only this: “My dad used to love his singing.” It was the same with my dad too. My dad’s favourite was Baabul mora naihar chhoto hi jaaye. I gave you that song as my first post on Raag Bhairavi in Raaga Based Songs Of The Day #11 since that is the finest example of Bhairavi in Hindi films songs.

So much is the popularity of this singer and actor that many people can’t imagine that he died on 18 Jan 1947 (at the age of 42 years only) when most people of our generation were not even born. He was born to Amarchand Saigal, a Tehsildar in the court of the Raja of Jammu and Kashmir. The singing influence on him was that of his mother Kesarbai Saigal. As a child he used to attend bhajans and kirtans with her. In his youth, he joined Remington Typewriter Company and had to travel all over India. In Shillong he came in touch with Mehrchand Jain who encouraged Saigal’s singing. In later years, KL Saigal credited Jain for having launched his career as a singer.

In the early 1930s, classical musician and music director Harishchandra Bali brought KL Saigal to Calcutta and introduced him to RC Boral who took an instant liking to his talents. Saigal was hired by BN Sircar’s Calcutta-based film studio New Theatres on a contract of Rs. 200 per month. There he came into contact with contemporaries like Pankaj Mullick, KC Dey and Pahari Sanyal.

Rest is history.

The first film in which Saigal had a role was the film Mohabbat Ke Ansu, followed by Subah Ka Sitara and Zinda Lash, all released in 1932. However, these films did not do very well. Saigal used the name Saigal Kashmiri for his first three films and used his own name Kundan Lal Saigal (KL Saigal) from Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933).

As a youngster, Lata Mangeshkar is alleged to have said that she wanted to marry KL Saigal after seeing his performance in Chandidas (1934).

Saigal picked up Bengali very well and acted in seven Bengali films, produced by New Theatres. Rabindranath Tagore first heard Saigal before giving consent for the first time to a non-Bengali singing his songs. Saigal endeared himself to the whole of Bengal through his 30 Bengali songs.

In Dec 1941 he moved to Bombay and in 1947, seven months before independence, he died. The over use of alcohol, which he took to in his later years, finally had its toll on him.

Parwana (1947) was his last film, released after his death, in which he sang under the baton of Khawaja Khurshid Anwar. The four songs which Saigal sang in Parwana are: “Toot gaye sab sapne mere”, “Mohabbat mein kabhi aisi bhi haalat”, “Jeene ka dhang sikhaae ja”, and “Kahin ulajh na jaana”.

Some of my favourite songs of KL Saigal are: Ai qaatib-e-taqadeer mujhe itnaa bata de, Do naina matwaare tihaare ham pe zulm karen (Meri Behan, 1944), Babul mora naihar chhooto hi jaye (Street Singer, 1938), Baag laga doon sajani, Barso re barso re, Diya jalayo jagmag jagmag (Tansen, 1943), Chaah barbaad karegi mujhe maaluum na tha, Gham diye mustaqil (Shahjehan, 1946), Duniya rang rangeeli baba (Dhartimata, 1938), Ek bangla bane nayaara (President, 1937), Kahe ko raad machayi (Lagan, 1941), Karun kyaa aas niraas bhaii (Dushman, 1939), Madhukar Shyam hamare chor (Bhakt Surdas, 1942), Main kyaa jaanu kyaa jaadu hai, and So jaa rajkumari so ja (Zindagi, 1940). Often as a singer-actor, KL Saigal played the title roles of the films in which he sang.

Presently, on my Facebook page Lyrical, I am engaged in covering Lyricist #5: Majrooh Sultanpuri under Remembering Great Lyricists series. I have kept my favourite Shakeel Badayuni out of this series since I already have a number of articles and tributes on him. So far I have covered: Shailendra, Rajendra Krishan, Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi. I have a long way to go before I complete the thirty top lyricists of our era.

Majrooh is the fifth of our lyricists who was a contemporary of Shakeel Badayuni. Out of all these six (*including Shakeel), three have been from Uttar Pradesh, which says something about that region producing some great poets and lyricists.

Majrooh Sultanpuri was born on 01 Oct 1919 as Asrar ul Hassan Khan in a Tarin Pashtun family, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father was an officer in the police department, but, preferred to send his son for traditional madrasa (Urdu school) rather than provide him with English schooling.

He tried his hand at being a quack until he was noticed in a mushaira in Sultanpur.

He was a disciple of the great Urdu poet Jigar Moradabadi. When he visited Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, the director Abdul Rashid Kardar noticed him and invited him to write for the movies. Majrooh turned it down as he looked down upon movies! He was persuaded through his mentor Jigar Moradabadi and then there was no turning back.

Many traditionalists of the Urdu literature, however, felt that Majrooh sold his soul to the Hindi films and that he could have emerged a great poet in the likeness of Ghalib and Jigar.

The takhalus Majrooh means “injured” or “wounded”.

Majrooh was awarded, in 1993, the highest award – Dadasaheb Phalke award – for his lifetime contribution towards lyrics and poetry. He was the first lyricist ever to be given that award. For the film Dosti, that made Laxmikant Pyarelal famous, he was awarded the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song: Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere.

For someone who didn’t want to join Hindi movies, Majrooh emerged as a natural lyricist, very popular, very romantic without too deep poetry. I won’t like to compare him with Shakeel since Shakeel maintained the purity of Urdu lyrics and traditional Urdu poetry style.

Most of Majrooh’s songs are of Dil vil pyaar vyaar main kyaa jaanu, Baahon mein chale aao, Bangle ke peechhe, Ye raaten ye amusam nadi ka kinaara, and Dekho mausam kyaa bahaar hai. However, some of his lyrics are still comparable to Shakeel’s such as Hui shaam unaka khayaal aa gaya, Woh jo milate the kabhi, Rahe na rahe ham, Chhupa lo youn dil mein pyaar mera, Tu kahe agar jeevan bhar main geet sunaata jaayun, Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha, Hamaare baad ab mehfil mein afsaane bayaan honge, and the great song on eyes: Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kyaa hai.

The last one is from the 1969 movie Chirag. Hats off to Majrooh for writing this at the age of fifty! Hats off to Madan Mohan too for having composed it in Raag Jhinjhoti, the raag named after an apsara. There are two versions of this song: Mohammad Rafi singing for Sunil Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar singing for Asha Parekh.

The lyrics are exquisite and each word hangs on the notes of the composition like raindrops from green leaves.

The movie from which the song of this post has been taken is the 1946 movie Shahjahan. The movie was directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar and the song was composed by Naushad. These two personalities, one year later, launched the career of Shakeel Badayuni in their 1947 movie Dard and in the present series I have given you the first song of Shakeel in Hindi movies: Afsaana likh rahi hoon sung by Uma Devi who was to later become the comedienne Tun Tun (Please see: ‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions – Song #14’).

In his very first movie, Majrooh Sultanpuri penned exquisite songs:

1. Jab dil hi toot gaya.
2. Chah barbaad karegi hamen maluum na tha.
3. Gham diye mustaqil.
4. Mere sapno ki rani ruhi, ruhi ruhi.
5. Jab usne gesu bikhraaye baadal aaye jhuum ke.
6. Kar leejiye chal kar meri jannat ke nazare.
7. Jawani ke daaman ko rangi bana le.
8. Aag lagi dil mein.

The songs of the movie became so popular (amongst the best ever sung by KL Saigal) that KL Saigal wanted Jab dil hi toot gaya to be sung at his funeral.

The movie’s story is a fictionalised account of an episode during the reign of Emperor Shajahan: “Circa the Mugal rule in Hindustan, Shahjahan, the present emperor is approached by one of his subjects, whose daughter, Ruhi, is so beautiful, that her suitors have killed her to-be grooms, as well as two of her brothers, who came to her aid. He now seeks the Emperor’s assistance. Appalled at this, the Emperor confers with his Queen, Mumtaz, and upon her advise asks the father to bring his daughter to be a guest of the palace, and it is from here that a suitor will be chosen by none other than his royal majesty himself. The father does as asked, but one of the Queen’s aide is troubled by Ruhi’s august presence, that she fears that the Emperor may take a liking to her, and make her his begum. She plots a devious scheme so that Ruhi is promised to get married to Shiraz. The matter gets quite complicated as Ruhi has already been promised to Sohail. The Emperor and his Queen are so perturbed by this situation, that both become ill. The situation is resolved when Sohail decides to give Ruhi up so that she can marry Shiraz – but not until Mumtaz tragically passes away. Devastated and heart-broken by her death, Shah Jahan feels that she can be made immortal by the building of a royal tomb, and asks Shiraz to come up with such a Mahal. Watch as events begin to unfold, that will finally give rise to one of the seven wonders of the world – The Taj Mahal.”

The story of the movie was penned by Kamal Amrohi. It starred KL Saigal as Sohail, Rehman as Shahjahan, Ragini as Ruhi and Nasreen as Mumtaz. P Jairaj, who palyed Bahadur Shah Zafar in the movie Laal Qila played Shiraz. He was an Indian film superstar, director and producer known for his works primarily in Hindi cinema, Marathi and Gujarati language films, and Telugu theatre. In the year 1980, he was awarded the highest award in Indian Cinema: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Not many people know about it but Paidi Jairaj is the one who was involved in instituting Filmfare Awards in India.

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 director 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.

Please enjoy KL Saigal sing: Jab dil hi tuut gaya….

जब दिल ही टूट गया, जब दिल ही टूट गया
हम जी के क्या करेंगे, हम जी के क्या करेंगे
जब दिल ही टूट गया – २

उलफ़त का दिया हमने, इस दिल में जलाया था – २
उम्मीद के फूलों से, इस घर को सजाया था – २
इक भेदी लूट गया, इक भेदी लूट गया
हम जी के क्या करेंगे, हम जी के क्या करेंगे
जब दिल ही टूट गया

(मालूम ना था इतनी, मुश्किल हैं मेरी राहें
मुश्किल हैं मेरी राहें ) – २
अरमां के बहे आँसू, हसरत ने भरीं आहें – २
हर साथी छूट गया, हर साथी छूट गया
हम जी के क्या करेंगे, हम जी के क्या करेंगे
जब दिल ही टूट गया

Imagine the songs of Majrooh Sultanpuri, in his very first movie; they became so popular that the great singing-star KL Saigal, the first super star of the Hindi movies, wanted that this song should be played at his funeral. Anyone who listens to this song is instantly reminded of his father. Also imagine that three of the personilities in this post were given the highest honour of Dadasaheb Phalke Award in later years: Majrooh Sultanpuri – the Lyricist, Naushad Ali – the Composer of this song and Music Director, and Paidi Jairaj – the actor – director for his portrayal of historical characters.

After Babul mora naihar chhooto ji jaye, this is the most popular song of KL Saigal and we kept listening to it during our childhood together with another great from the same movie: Gham diye mustaqil, itna naazuk hai dil ye naa jaana.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

Raaga Based Song of the Day: Duniya banane waale kya tere man mein samaayi….
Raag Bhairavi, Tal Kaherava

A few days ago, I had mentioned that time had come for me to give you songs in the favourite raaga of Shankar Jaikishan (especially Jaikishan, who named his daughter Bhairavi, the name of his favourite raaga). Since then, I have given you, two of their compositions: Sab kuchh seekha hamane (the title song of Anaadi; please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #79‘) and O sahama mujhe phoonk de (Aashiq; Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #81‘).

Today’s song too has been sung by Mukesh, the singer of the last Raaga Based Song Of The Day #84 when we broke off on 20 Oct 17. Mukesh sang for many actors but no one more than Raj Kapoor who called him his ‘Singing Voice’. Some of the memorable songs that Mukesh sang for Raj Kapoor are: Aaja re ab mera dil pukaara, Zindaa hoon is tarah ke gham-e-zindagi nahin (Aah, 1953 and 1948), Aansu bhari hain ye jeevan ki raahen (Parvarish, 1958), Awara hoon (title song of 1951 movie Awara), Ai sanam jisane tujhe chand si surat di hai (Diwana, 1967), Begaani shaadi mein Abdullah deewana, Hontho pe sachayi rehati hai, Mera naam Raju gharaana anaam, Pyaar kar le nahin to phansi chad jaayega (Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, 1960), Bhule se mohabbat kar baitha, Tum agar mujhako naa chaho to koi baat nahin, Tumhaari mast nazar gar idhar nahin hoti (Dil Hi To Hai, 1963), Dam bhar jo udhar moonh phere, Ham tujh se mohabbat karke sanama, (Awara, 1951), Dil ki nazar se, Kisi ki muskraahton pe ho nisaar, Sab kuchh seekha hamane (Anaadi, 1959), Dost dost na raha, Har dil jo pyaar karega, Mere man ki Ganga aur tere man ki Jamuna ka (Sangam, 1964), Hamane tujhako pyaar kiya hai jitana, Mujhe kehte hain Kallu Qawaal (Dulha Dulhan, 1964), Ik din bik jaayega maati ke mol (Dharam Karam, 1975), Jane kahan gaye woh dil, Jeena yahan marna yahan, Kehta hai Joker saara zamaana (Mera Naam Joker, 1970), Jaane na nazar pehchaane jigar (Aah, 1953), Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aaya nahin karte (Bawre Nain, 1950), Kuchh shair sunaata hoon main (Ek Dil Sau Afsaane, 1963), Mehtaab tera chehra, O shama mujhe phoonk de (Aashiq, 1962), Ramaiyya vastavaiyya (Shree 420, 1955), Mere toote huye dil se (Chhaliya, 1960), Mujhako yaaro maaf karna main nashe mein hoon (Main Nashe Main Hoon, 1959), Mujhe tumase kuchh bhi na chahiye, Ruk jaa o jaanewali ruk jaa, Yaad aayi aadhi raat ko (Kanhaiya, 1959), Sajan re jhoot mat bolo, Sajanvaa bairi ho gaye hamaar  (Teesri Kasam, 1966), and Wo subah kabhi to aayegi (Phir Subah Hogi, 1958).  With so many memorable songs no wonder that Raj Kapoor held Mukesh as responsible for his success as an actor.

The lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri has been called as the King of Romance. He has given us the best of songs on Love and Romance. This is a philosophical song and hence an exception for him. He really put his heart and soul into the song. The movie wasn’t a success at post office. This broke his fellow lyricisr  Shailendra’s heart to the extent that he took to heavy drinking, which ultimately led to his death. Hasrat addressed the present song to the Creator Himself and questioned Him in His motive in making the duniya (world). I often marvel at his bent of mind in the last stanza:

Priit banaake tuune jiinaa sikhaayaa, ha.nsanaa sikhaayaa,
Ronaa sikhaayaa
Jiivan ke path par miit milaae
Miit milaake tuune sapane jagaae
Sapane jagaake tuune, kaahe ko de dii judaaI
Kaaheko duniyaa banaaI, tuune kaaheko duniyaa banaaI

Indeed, this type of deep thinking is true of all songs of the 1966 movie Teesri Kasam. Shailendra had Basu Bhattacharya direct the movie. In later years (after the movie flopped at Box Office), people realised what a masterpiece it was. In any case, it won the National Award for Best Feature Film of that year. The film starring Raj Kapoor (there is a controversy about him delaying the film to ensure the success of his 1964 movie Sangam) and Waheeda Rehman is based on the short story Mare Gaye Gulfam by the novelist Phanishwarnath Renu. Mare gaye gulfam was also the title of a song in the movie and was also penned by Hasrat Jaipuri:

1.	“Aa Aa Bhi Jaa”	Shailendra	Lata Mangeshkar	5:03
2.	“Chalat Musafir”	Shailendra	Manna Dey	3:04
3.	“Duniya Bananewale”	Hasrat Jaipuri	Mukesh	5:03
4.	“Haye Ghazab Kahin Tara Toota”	Shailendra	Asha Bhosle	4:13
5.	“Maare Gaye Gulfaam”	Hasrat Jaipuri	Lata Mangeshkar	4:00
6.	“Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamaaro”	Shailendra	Asha Bhosle	4:08
7.	“Sajanwa Bairi Ho Gaye Hamar”	Shailendra	Mukesh	3:51
8.	“Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo”	Shailendra	Mukesh	3:43
9.	“Lali Lali Doliya Mein Lali Re”	Shailendra	Asha Bhosle	3:11
10.	“Kissa Hota Hai Shuru”	Hasrat Jaipuri	Shankar-Shambhu	2:57

Music Director Shankar Jaikishan were called the ‘house musicians’ of Raj Kapoor since the latter was responsible for having given them a break with his 1949 movie Barsaat. In the movie before that (the debut movie of Raj Kapoor as a director, the 1948 movie Aah, Shankar Jaikishan were assistants to music director Ram Ganguly. Raj Kapoor had a tiff with Ram Ganguly and hence invited S-J for Barsaat. The rest is history. Until Jaikishan died on 12 Sep 1971, Shankar Jaikishan had won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director eight times (including for Mera Naam Joker in 1972). Considering that the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director started in 1954, it makes them win the coveted award on an average of every alternate year. Raj Kapoor maintained a music bank of their compositions even after Jaikishan died and in his later movies used those compositions though the credit was given to music directors such as Laxmikant Pyarelal.

S-J emerged as the toppers in various genre of music such as raaga based songs, party songs, and dance numbers. Amongst all the raagas, Bhairavi was their (Jaikishan’s) favourite.

Their music and compositions for the 1956 Raja Nawathe film Basant Bahaar (surprisingly they didn’t get Filmfare Award for it as they were competing with their own Chori Chori) have some of their best raaga based songs:

1	Badi Der Bhai (Pilu)	Mohd. Rafi
2	Bhay Bhajana Vandana Sun (Mian ki Malhar)	Manna Dey
3	Duniya Na Bhaye (Todi)	Mohd. Rafi
4	Ja Ja Re Ja Balama (Jhinjhoti)	Lata Mangeshkar
5	Kar Gaya Re	Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle
6	Ketaki Gulab Juhi (Basant Bahar)	Manna Dey, Bhimsen Joshi
7	Main Piya Teri	Lata Mangeshkar
8	Nain Mile Chain Kahan	Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey
9	Sur Na Saje (Pilu)	Manna Dey

 

We have completed eighty-two 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 eighty-fourth post or the last post was titled ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #84’ and the song was a Mukesh song from the 1962 SN Tripathi movie Sangeet Samrat Tansen starring Bharat Bhushan in the title role and Anita Guha as his beloved Hansa: Jhumati chali hawa yaad aa gaya koi. It is in Raag Sohani, Tal 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 Jhinjhoti – Part II’.

In the last eighty-four 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 and Sohani. Today, I am repeating Raag Bhairavi for the seventh time.

Today’s song has been sung by Mukesh on the lyrics of Shailendra and composition by Shankar Jaikishan. As I said, it is in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Kaherava. The song is picturised on Raj Kapoor as Hiraman in the 1966 Basu Bhattacharya movie Teesri Kasam, a Shailendra production.

At this stage, letss take up Raj Kapoor, the actor, producer and director. He was known as the greatest showman in Indian Cinema. He was born on 14 Dec 1924 in Kapoor Haveli in Peshawar (now in Pakistan). He died on 02 Jun 1988 at the age of 63 years. Before that, in 1987, he was conferred with the highest award in Indian Cinema: the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. In 1971, he was also awarded Padma Bhushan. He won three National Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards. Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award is named after him. Raj Kapoor made 18 movies with Shankar Jaikishan as Music Director, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri as lyricists. This Teesri Kasam song is with Waheeda Rehman. However, the actress with whom he acted in most movies (16 of them) was Nargis.

Lets get to the movie: Teesri Kasam. As I said, this 1966 movie was the first and last production of the lyricist Shailendra and directed by Basu Bhattacharya. Basu Bhattacharya started as an assistant to Bimal Roy in Madhumati and Sujata and later married Bimal Roy’s daughter Rinki. Some of his memorable movies are: Anubhav, Aavishkar, Sparsh, Aastha and Griha Pravesh.  It is the story of a naive bullock cart driver Hiraman (Raj Kapoor) who falls in love with a dancer Hirabai (Waheeda Rehman) at nautanki, the popular folk theatre of the Bihar region. Hiraman takes two vows based on difficult situations in his life. After he meets and befriends Hirabai, a nautanki dancer, who is a passenger in his bullock cart, he takes a third vow never to get himself involved in such love again. And that’s why the name of the movie.

Before we actually take up the song, first, lets take up the value added learning of today. From the last four times onwards 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. And finally we took up Pandit Ravi Shankar, the greatest Sitar player in the world. Today, we shall take up the greatest classical singer in the country (of Carnatic tradition): MS Subbulakshmi.

MS Subbulakshmi lived between 16 Sep 1916 and 11 Dec 2004. She was the first music personality to be awarded the highest award: the Bharat Ratna. She was also the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered the Nobel Prize of Asia.

MS Subbulakshmi was born on September 16, 1916 in Madurai, to Veena player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist. She started learning Carnatic music at an early age and trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and subsequently in Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. She gave her first performance at the age of 11 in the year 1927. This was inside the 100 pillars hall of Rockfort temple in Trichurapalli.

By the age of seventeen, Subbulakshmi was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the Madras Music Academy.

She travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India’s cultural ambassador. Her concerts at

• Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama in 1963
• Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966
• Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982
• Festival of India in Moscow in 1987

were significant landmarks in her career.

As far as films are concerned, she acted in Tamil films in her youth, the 1938 movie Sevasadanam being her first one. She also played the male role of Narada in Savitri (1941) to raise money for launching Kalki, her husband’s nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of Meera in the 1945 film gave her national prominence. This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947.

As I said, today’s song 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 already given you this adequate number of times, this being the seventh time I am giving you a song in this raag.

About Tal Kaherava, I told I have already told you adequately, this being the most commonly used Tal.

Please enjoy in Raag Bhairavi, Tal Kaherava: Duniya banane waale kya tere man mein samaayi….

(duniyaa banaane vaale, kyaa tere man me.n samaaI
kaaheko duniyaa banaaI, tuune kaaheko duniyaa banaaI ) – 2

kaahe banaae tuune maaTii ke putale,
dharatii ye pyaarii pyaarii mukha.De ye ujale
kaahe banaayaa tuune duniyaa kaa khelaa – 2
jisame.n lagaayaa javaanii kaa melaa
gup-chup tamaashaa dekhe, vaah re terii khudaaI
kaaheko duniyaa banaaI, tuune kaaheko duniyaa banaaI …

tuu bhii to ta.Dapaa hogaa man ko banaakar,
tuufaa.n ye pyaar kaa man me.n chhupaakar
koI chhavi to hogii aa.Nkho.n me.n terii – 2
aa.Nsuu bhii chhalake ho.nge palako.n se terii
bol kyaa suujhii tujhako, kaaheko priit jagaaI
kaaheko duniyaa banaaI, tuune kaaheko duniyaa banaaI …

priit banaake tuune jiinaa sikhaayaa, ha.nsanaa sikhaayaa,
ronaa sikhaayaa
jiivan ke path par miit milaae – 2
miit milaake tuune sapane jagaae
sapane jagaake tuune, kaahe ko de dii judaaI
kaaheko duniyaa banaaI, tuune kaaheko duniyaa banaaI …

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. And today, on the eighty-fifth day, we learnt about the greatest Indian vocalist of Carnatic tradition: MS Subbulakshmi.

There is much more still to be learnt and enjoyed.

Please stay tuned!

The sixteenth day of songs in this series.

I shall pause here to thank you for the overwhelming response that I am receiving on this new series. Even though enormous research goes into the making of every post, especially in this series, it is still a work of love. It is due to the fact that these are actually the songs that have moved me all these years and all that I am doing is to open my own heart to you whilst those associated with the song – the singer, lyricist and composer – do it in their own inimitable ways.

In the last two weeks, we have taken up songs of eight male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and SD Burman. We also took up songs of seven female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Uma Devi (Tun Tun) and Suraiya.

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our eighth female singer: Zohrabai Ambalewali, amongst the first generation of playback singers in Hindi films.

In my early childhood, I don’t think another song that impinged on my senses more than this. Those days were different; we won’t hear songs being played over and over again on various channels of radio and television. Even at that, I would say that this song was so popular that one could hear it everywhere. Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar paid tribute to this song. Just about everyone seemed to sing it but no one could match the contralto or low voice range singing of Zohrabai Ambalewali.

The song is from the 1944 movie Rattan, an Abdul Rashid Kardar production directed by M Sadiq, which starred Swaran Lata and Karan Dewan. The song Akhiyan milake jiya bharma ke chale nahin jaana 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: Akhiyan milake jiya bharma ke.

And finally, Karan Dewan (Dewan Karan Chopra), the actor driving the tonga to whom Swaran Lata lip-syncs this song sung by Zohrabai Ambalewali. He was another Singing-Star. The movie Rattan was produced by his brother Jaimini Dewan under Kardar Productions. His song in the movie Jab tum hi chale pardes became popular. In a way, this movie was a defining movie for him too. He worked in the movies from 1941 to 1979. He married Manju, a character actress in Rattan, who too sang a song in the movie. He acted opposite Meena Kumari in 1948 movie Piya Ghar Aaja.

Please enjoy Zohrabai Ambalewali sing: Akhiyan milake jiya bharma ke chale nahin jaana….

(अखियाँ मिलाके जिया भरमा के
चले नहीं जाना, (हो चले नहीं जाना – २) ) – २

जाओ तो जाने ना दूंगी मैं रस्ता रोक लूंगी – २
हो सैंया के पैंय्या पड़ जाऊंगी रोके कहूंगी – २
अखियाँ मिला के …

आहों के बदले आहें लेना जी दगा नहीं देना – २
हां नैन भरे ना रोए रोए दिल ये कहे ना – २
अखियाँ मिला के …

जाने का नाम न लो राजा जी दिल बैठा जाए – २
हां देखो जी देखो दुखी दिल की परे ना हाय – २
अखियाँ मिला के …

First of all what can you say about a movie (Rattan) which was the defining movie of so many involved with the making of this song? Naushad Ali became a much sought after music director because of this movie. Zohrabai Ambalewali (the singer), DN Madhok (Lyricist), Swaran Lata and Karan Dewan (the lead actors) all became popular because of this movie and particularly because of this song. Here is Lata Mangeshkar’s tribute to Zohrabai Ambalewali for this song:

The song takes me back to that era when songs made or marred the movies and the success of this song and others in the movie Rattan made the movie itself successful. As I said, Naushad Ali started demanding Rupees 25000 per movie, which was one third of the production cost of the movie.

The song takes me back to my childhood days that I relive over and over again.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

The fifteenth day of songs in this series.

I am back after a few days break necessitated due to my course reunion at my home place: Kandaghat.

In the last two weeks, we have taken up songs of eight male singers: Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor and SD Burman. We also took up songs of six female singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and Uma Devi (Tun Tun).

Tonight, we shall take up a song of our seventh female singer: Suraiya; a singing star.

In my other series: Raaga Based Songs Of The Day, we took up another song by the same singing star Suraiya on the tenth day (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #10’): Dhadakte dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tum.

The 1949 movie Bari Bahen, from where this song has been taken, was a DD Kashyap movie. In addition to the direction, he wrote the screenplay too and was also the producer. The songs of the movie were penned by Rajinder Krishan and Qamar Jalalabadi. This one was by the latter. the songs as well as dialogues of the movie. The song was composed by Husnlal Bhagatram. Hindi movies first music duo. The movie starred Suraiya in the title role with Geeta Bali as her younger sister. The movie was all about the sacrifices of Suraiya as Badi Bahen for her sister who was in love with a rogue (Pran) and that led to her (Suraiya) causing massive misundertanding with her own lover Rehman. This song is Suraiya singing it for Rehman before the misunderstanding.

The earlier Suraiya song that I mentioned to you about above, was from the 1961 Lekhraj Bhakri movie Shama that had Nimmi in the title role and Suraiya as Roshan Ara. Both were in love with a poet Parvez or Parwana played by Vijay Dutt. Nimmi as Shama had a heartbreak (Dil gham se jal raha hai par dhuaan na ho) when she arranges his marriage with Suraiya as Roshan Ara. Indeed, in the song Dhadakane dil ki tamanna ho mera pyaar ho tum both give vent to their feelings of love for him in the same voice of Suraiya!

Nevertheless, who does the song remind you of most? I would say: Suraiya. Suraiya died on 31 Jan 2004, at the age of nearly 75 years, a spinster. And it is not that she didn’t want to get married. Her love affair with actor Dev Anand started with working together for the 1948 movie Vidya. Their love affair, one of the most intense love-affairs in the history of Hindi films, lasted for three years. In those three years, she willingly let go of singing many a song in her movies to Lata Mangeshkar so that she could spend more time with Dev Anand. The two of them were paired in seven films together; Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Do Sitare (1951) and Sanam (1951), all of which were successful at the box office. In all these movies’ credits, her name was shown before Dev Anand’s since she was a bigger star than him. The movie Vidya had a popular song: Kinaare kinaare chale jayenge. During the shooting of the song in the river, her boat capsized. And who do you think rescued her? Well, Dev Anand did and it was a story in the making in real life as well as in reel life. By the time they came to their fourth movie Afsar, they were so much in love that Dev Anand proposed to her with a diamond ring that cost all of Rupees 3000, a huge sum during those days. Her maternal grandmother, who didn’t like the alliance, threw the ring into the sea. During the shooting of Rana Pratap’s film Jeet, both Dev Anand and Suraiya, with the help of the film cast and crew, namely Durga Khote (actress), Dwarka Divecha (cinematographer) and others, had made plans for marriage in a temple, and elopement, but at the last minute, an assistant director, jealous of their marriage, informed Suraiya’s grandmother, who dragged her home from the scene. Speaking to journalist Sheila Vesuna, Suraiya said: “Eventually, my grandmother succeeded in separating us. Dev was deeply hurt and offended by my lack of courage. But I was afraid for him. In retrospect, I don’t think anything would have happened if I’d been bold enough. But I was terrified of my grandmother. And was heartbroken. But time is the greatest healer.” Here are pictures of the love bitten couple in their heydays before their love was cruelly broken by a domineering grandmother:

Some of my favourite songs of Singing – Star Suraiya are: Aap se pyaar hua jaata hai and Mast aankhon mein sharaarat kabhi aise to na thi (Shama 1961), Chahat ka bhulana mushkil hai (Khiladi 1950), Chale din ki duniya barbaad karke and Dil dhadake aankh mori phadke (Dard 1947, Shakeel Badayuni’s debut film), Dil-e-naadan tujhe hua kyaa hai, Rahiye ab aisi jagah, Aaah ko chahiye, Nuktacheen hai gham-e-dil, and Ye naa thi hamari kismat (Mirza Ghalib 1954), Hamen tum bhuul baithe ho and Kyaa cheez hai mohabbat koi mere dil se puuchhe (Shair 1949, another Shakeel Badayuni song), Ho ho ho chandini raat hai (Dak Bangla 1947), Holi khele Nandlala Birj mein (Maashooqa 1953), Il bewafa ki yaad ne tadapa ke maar daala (Char Din, 1949, Shakeel), Ik teri nazar ik meri nazar and Khushiyon ka zamaana beet gaya (Amar Kahani 1949), Jab se chale gaye hain wo zindagi zindagi nahin (Natak 1947), Jab tum hi nahin apne duniya hi begaani hai (Parwana 1947), Kaagaz ki meri naav aur duur kinaara hai (Do Dil 1947), Kinaare kinaare chale jaayenge (Vidya 1948), Man more hua matwaala and Nain deewane ik nahin maane (Afsar 1950), Mohabbat badha kar judaa ho gaye (Dastan 1950), Mujhe tumase mohabbat hai (Do Sitaare 1951), Nigaahen kyun milaayi thi agar youn chhod jaana tha (Lal Kunwar 1952), O duur jaanewaale (Pyaar Ki Jeet, 1948), Rahi matwaale tu chhed ik baar (Waris 1954), Raaton ki neend chheen li aankhon ke intezaar ne (Shokhiyan 1951), Tera khayal dil se bhuallaya na jaayega and Tuu mera chaand main teri chandini (Dillagi 1949, Shekeel), Tum man ki peedha kya samajho (Jeet 1949), Ye kaisi ajab dastaan ho gayi hai (Rustom Sohrab 1963), and Zara thehro main haal-e-dil suna luun (Inaam 1955).

Lets turn to the lyricist Qamar Jalalabadi now. He was born as Om Prakash Bhandari on 09 Mar 1917, in the town of Jalalabad, near Amritsar in Punjab. To become a lyricist in Hindi movies he arrived in Pune in 1940s (he had started writing Urdu poetry at the age of seven). He wrote his first lyrics for the Pancholi Pictures movie Zamindar in which his song Duniya mein gareebon ko araam nahin milta, sung by Shamshad Begum became quite famous. You would recall his 1958 movie Howrah Bridge songs that sky-rocketed his career particularly Aaiye mehrabaan baithiye jaane jaan and Mera naam Chin Chin chu. Some of my favourite songs of Qamar Jalalabadi are: Chhaliya mera naam chhalna mera kaam, Chhota sa baalma, Dam dam digha digha mausam bigha bigha, Dekh ke teri nazar beqraar ho gaye, Deewano se mat puuchho, Din hai suhaana aaj pehli tareeq hai (That used to be played on Radio Ceylone on first of ewvery month), Ik dil ke tukade hazaar huye, Ik pardesi mera dil le gaya, Jab raat nahin katati, Main bewafa nahin huun tere pyaar ki kasam, Main soya akhiyan meeche, Main to ek khwaab hoon, Mere tuute huye dil se koi to aaj ye puuchhe, O duur jaane waale wada na bhool jaana (Suraiya in Pyaar ki Jeet 1948), Phir aane laga yaad wohi pyaar ka mausam, Phir tumhaari yaad aayi hai sanam, Piya piya na laage mora jiya, Rafta rafta woh hamare dil ke armaan ho gaye, Teri raahon mein khade hain dil thaam ke, Tum ruuthh ke mat jaana, Tumhin mere meet ho tumhin meri preet ho, Tu hai mera prem devta, and Ye kaisi ajab daastan ho gayi hai. I also like him due to his secularism in that he would quote from Bhagwad Geeta and Bible as much as he did from Koran.

Husnlal Bhagatram were not just one of the first music director in Hindi movies but also the first duo. They trained Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Khayyam and singer Mahendra Kapoor. They were born in Village Kahma, Jalandhar, Punjab in the Batish family. Husanlal was an accomplished violinist and a good classical singer and Bhagatram was an ace harmonium player. They were the brothers of the famous composer of the 40’s, Pandit Amarnath, and both worked as his assistants. They gave their first hit with ‘Do dilon ko yeh duniya milne bhi nahin deti’ sung by Manju. Some of my favourite songs of Husnlal Bhagatram are: Abhi to main jawan hoon, Bhagwan tumhaari duniya mein kyun dil thukraaye jate hain, Chand sitaare karte ishaare, Do dilon ki ye duniya, Ik dil ke tukade hazaar huye, Jo tum badle jahan badla, Kabhi panghat pe aa ja, Khushiyon ke zamaane aaye dil pyaar ke gaane gaaye, Mera dil tod kar jaane wale, Mohabbat ke dokhe mein koi na aaye, O duur jaane wale, Shaam-e-bahaar aayi kar ke singaar aayi, Thukra ke hamen chal diye begaana samajh kar, and Yaad aa raha hai dil ko bhoola huaa zamaana.

Please enjoy Suraiya sing: Woh paas rahen ya duur rahen nazaron mein samaaye rehate hain….

वो पास रहें या दूर रहें
नज़रों में समाये रहते हैं
इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं

छोटी सी बात मुहब्बत की
और वो भी कही नहीं जाती
कुछ वो शरमाये रहते हैं
कुछ हम शरमाये रहते हैं

मिलने की घड़ियाँ छोटी हैं
और रात जुदाई की लम्बी
जब सारी दुनिया सोती है
हम तारे गिनते रहते हैं

वो पास रहें या दूर रहें
नज़रों में समाये रहते हैं
इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं

Some of us have this impression that film-stars are the favoured lot whose real lives reflect the glamour, pomp and show of the tinsel world. The fact is that they are people like us. Suraiya’s dream of marrying her lover Dev Anand was shattered by her domineering maternal grandmother. She was so much in love with him that she never married in her lifetime. She craved to be with him on the sets of their movies so much that she even let go recording songs that were offered to her in favour of Lata Mangeshkar. People can think of many of her songs reflecting her situation with Dev Anand. I have chosen this though in the movie she sang it for Rehman. The song brings out the joy and excitement of first love in a girl’s life. The last stanza truly portrays what she must have felt about Dev Anand:

मिलने की घड़ियाँ छोटी हैं
और रात जुदाई की लम्बी
जब सारी दुनिया सोती है
हम तारे गिनते रहते हैं

In the mukhada of the song Suraiya asks:

इतना तो बता दे कोई हमें
क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं?

Yes, indeed, it is Love but in some cases it doesn’t lead anywhere. I get goose pimples every time I listen to the song.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

The fourteenth day of songs in this series.

And since we are finishing two weeks of the new – or not so new now – series, lets take stock of the songs that we have covered so far:

1. We kicked off the series with Talat Mahmood’s: Raat ne kyaa kyaa khwaab dikhaaye.
2. On the 2nd day we took up Manna Dey’s: Aye mere pyaare watan.
3. On the 3rd day we took up Kishore Kumar’s: Aa chal ke tujhe main le ke chalun.
4. On the 4th day we took up Mohammad Rafi’s: Main ye soch kar us ke dar se utha tha.
5. On the 5th day we took up Mukesh’s: Guzra zamaana bachpan ka.
6. On the 6th day we took up Hemant Kumar’s: Tum pukaar lo.
7. On the 7th day we took up Mahendra Kapoor’s: Chalo ek baar phir se.
8. On the 8th day we took up Lata Mangeshkar’s: Ai mere watan ke logo.
9. On the 9th day we took up Asha Bhosle’s: Tora man darpan kehlaaye.
10. On the 10th day we took up SD Burman’s: Sun mere bandhu re, sun mere mitwa.
11. On the 11th day we took up Suman Kalyanpur’s: Nigaahen na phero chale jayenge hum.
12. On the 12th day we took up Shamshad Begum’s: Mere piya gaye Rangoon.
13. On the 13th day we took up Geeta Dutt’s: Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam.

Even though all songs in the series are eminently suitable to tug at our emotions, this is very very special to me. And it is not so much because of the singer with whom I have been starting the description of every song that I have shared so far. This song is special because it is the first song in Hindi movies of my favourite lyricist and poet Shakeel Badayuni.

The other contemporary poets and lyricists wrote; but, I feel Shakeel never wrote anything. I feel Shakeel reeved flowers of various shades and hues in a garland and put them around stars and moon. I feel he chiseled words until he achieved perfection. I feel that being a natural poet and lyricist of Love, he had dard and aansu as his close partners who probably used to play hide-n-seek with him whenever he used to pick up his pen to write.

कैसे कोई लिखे जज़्बात शकील के अलफ़ाज़ में,
हर किसी को नहीं मिलते तार दर्द – ए – साज़ के I

इश्क़ मोहब्बत ग़म ओ आंसू उनके हम जुबां थे,
दिल को झंझोटते थे बेकस आवाज़ में I

सागर में गोताखोर जैसे मोती ढून्ढ लेता है,
वह भी तराश लेते थे हकीकत दिल – ए – राज़ में I

कभी जब वह फ़िज़ाएं और बहारें बयान करते थे,
एक बेक़रारी छुपी रहती थी हुसन – ए – नाज़ में I

कैसे कोई लिखे जज़्बात शकील के अलफ़ाज़ में,
मीलों का फ़र्क़ है सबके और उनके अंदाज़ में I

Shakeel Badayuni has been my favourite for a long time and the reason is that I resonate the emotions expressed in his songs, ghazals and nazams. On this blog, I started off with ‘The Best Of Old Hindi Songs – Rafi, Shakeel, Naushad And Dilip Kumar Together’ to relive the era that I grew up in. It was followed by ‘Immortal Songs Of Mughal-E-Azam’, the movie that is still making waves more than 57 years after it was first released. And then, I just kept writing about him, eg, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – The King Amongst Lyricists And Poets – Part I’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – The King Amongst Lyricists And Poets – Part II’,  ‘Immortal Ghazals Of Shakeel Badayuni – Part I’, ‘Immortal Ghazals Of Shakeel Badayuni – Part II’, ‘Immortal Ghazals Of Shakeel Badayuni – Part III’, ‘Another Tribute To Shakeel Badayuni In The Month Of His Death Anniversary’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – Countdown To His Bith Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part I’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – Countdown To His Bith Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part II’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – Countdown To His Bith Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part III’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – Countdown To His Bith Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part IV’, ‘Shakeel Badayuni – Countdown To His Bith Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part V’, and ‘Shakeel Badayuni Birth Centenary 03 Aug 2016 – Part VI’. Besides these, Shakeel happens to be there in many other posts on songs on my blog.

What an outstanding coincidence it is that Shakeel Badayuni’s first song in the movies should be for a movie titled Dard? No one knew ‘Dard’ better than him; eg, इस दर्द की मारी दुनिया में, मुझसा भी कोई मजबूर न हो; जिस तरह ख़ुशी से दूर हूँ मैं, यूँ कोई ख़ुशी से दूर न हो (1949 movie Paras), and हम नहीं वो जो ग़म-ए-इश्क़ से घबरा जाएँ, हो के मायूस ज़ुबाँ पर कोई शिकवा लाएँ; चाहे कितना ही बढ़े दर्द-ए-जिगर, अपने होंठों को सिए जाएँगे I तुम हमें प्यार करो या न करो, हम तुम्हें प्यार किए जाएँगे (1964 movie Kaise Kahoon). Even though Uma Devi (later comedian Tun Tun) sang the song as a woman, if one changes the song into a male song, it would be very much like Shakeel writing for himself.

Naushad Ali, the composer, was the guide and mentor of Shakeel Badayuni. Naushad gave Shakeel a break in AR Kardar’s 1947 movie Dard thereby ending days of destitution for the latter and his large family. This fact was never lost on Shakeel. Even though Shakeel worked for many other composers such as Ravi (two of his three Filmfare Awards) and Hemant Kumar (the third Filmfare Award for Kahin deep jale kahin dil), he owed his unshakeable loyalty to Naushad. The duo was together for more number of years and movies than any other duo in Hindi movies and together they produced outstanding music. In his dying days, when Shakeel was suffering from tuberculosis, Naushad paid him ten times his fees. This was because Naushad would be tilted more in favour of values than money. One incident that comes to mind is when K Asif desperately wanted Naushad to create music for his Mughal-e-Azam and approached him with a suitcase full of money. Naushad was so annoyed with it that he threw the suitcase and K Asif out of his house. K Asif later apologised and that’s how Naushad worked for him. Surprisingly, whilst everyone loves Naushad’s music even now, he received only one Filmfare Award (for 1954 movie Bauju Bawra). In 1981, however, the highest award in Indian Cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, was conferred on him.

The songs of Baiju Bawra, put together by Shakeel and Naushad Ali are some of the most memorable songs in the Hindi movies. Both, ‘Man tadpat Hari darshan ko aaj’ (Raag Malkauns, Tal Tintal), and ‘O duniya ke rakhwale’ (Raag Darbari Kanada, Tal Kaherava) are amongst the best bhajans and best raaga based songs in Hindi movies. Naushad Ali is credited with bringing in raaga based songs in the movies and Shakeel supported him eminently in many of these.

Similarly, the songs of Mughal-e-Azam are so popular even after 57 years of the movie’s release. Recently, a Shapoorji Pallonji stage production, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan made big news with the original songs and dances from the movie. During the time when Khan was putting together the stage-play, Akademi did a tribute to the production in the making. Here is one of the dances:

Lets talk a little about the singer Uma Devi now. As with many singers of that era, she knocked at the door of Naushad Ali to be given a chance to sing in the movies. He listened to her and immediately signed her up. She made her debut as a solo playback singer in Nazir’s Wamiq Azra (1946). However, soon she had signed a contract with director AR Kardar and that’s how she sang for his 1947 movie Dard. So successful was this song – Afsana likh rahi hoon – for her that a gentleman from Delhi approached her and got married to her solely on the basis of this song. They had two daughters and two sons. This man whom she called Mohan died in 1992.

She had a very sucessful singing career until singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle arrived on the scene. And then her career went into tail spin because she had a limited vocal range. Naushad Ali then suggested to her to take up acting because of her bubbly nature. She thus emerged as Hindi movies first comedienne. It was her fervent desire that she should act in her first movie with Dilip Kumar. Naushad Ali made that too posible for her and the first movie that she acted as a comedienne was the 1950 Dilip Kumar starrer Babul.

The movie from where I have taken this song is the 1947 Abdul Rashid Kardar movie: Dard that starred Munnawar Sultana, Suraiya, Nusrat and Husn Bano. Munnawar Sultana’s name in the movie was Suraiya and Suraiya’s name was Hamida. Munnawar Sultana (a nawab’s daughter) and Suraiya (a poor village girl) both were in love with Nusrat who played Dr Iqbal. Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad created the following songs in the movie:

 

1	“Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon”	Uma Devi
2	“Aaj Machi Hai Dhum”	Uma Devi
3	“Yeh Kaun Chala Yeh Kaun Chala”	Uma Devi
4	“Betaab Hai Dil Dard-E-Mohabbat Ke Asar Se”	Uma Devi, Suraiya
5	“Beech Bhanvar Men Aan Phansa Hai”	Suraiya
6	“Dil Dhadke Aankh Meri Phadke”	Suraiya
7	“Hum Thay Tumhare Tum Thay Humare”	Suraiya
8	“Chale Dil Ki Duniya Barbaad Kar Ke”	Suraiya
9	“Yeh Afsana Nahin Zalim Mere Dil Ki Haqeeqat Hai”	Shamshad Begum
10	“Ham Dard Kaa Afsana Duniya Ko Suna Denge”	Shamshad Begum

Before we actually take up the song, a word about Abdul Rashid Kardar. 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.

Please enjoy Uma Devi sing: Afsana likh rahi hoon dil-e-beqraar ka….

अफ़सान लिख रही हूँ (२) दिल-ए-बेक़रार का
आँखोँ में रंग भर के तेरे इंतज़ार का
अफ़साना लिख रही हूँ

जब तू नहीं तो कुछ भी नहीं है बहार में
नहीं है बहार में
जी चाहता है मूँह भी
जी चाहता है मूँह भी न देखूँ बहार का
आँखोँ में रन्ग भर के तेरे इंतज़ार का
अफ़साना लिख रही हूँ

हासिल हैं यूँ तो मुझको ज़माने की दौलतें
ज़माने की दौलतें
लेकिन नसीब लाई
लेकिन नसीब लाई हूँ इक सोग़वार का
आँखोँ में रन्ग भर के तेरे इंतज़ार का
अफ़साना लिख रही हूँ

आजा कि अब तो आँख में आँसू भी आ गये
आँसू भी आ गये
साग़र छलक उठा
साग़र छलक उठा मेरे सब्र-ओ-क़रार का
आँखोँ में रन्ग भर के तेरे इंतज़ार का
अफ़साना लिख रही हूँ
(सोग़वार (Saugawar) is the opposite of Khushgawar)

When you are in love, which is the moment that you cherish most? Naturally, when you first saw your love, felt those vibrations coming from her/him to you, when your heart said yes, he or she is the one for me. Similarly, if you are in love with Shakeel’s poetry and lyrics, the way I am, you would cherish his first song in the movies. It has everything that makes you go back in time and freeze that moment when greatness, like a sprout, was just being born.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.

The thirteenth day of songs in this series.

Today, let me begin by thanking those of you who have commented either here on the blog or elsewhere about how much you have liked this new series.

Today, we take up a song by our fifth female singer after Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, and Shamshad Begum: Geeta Dutt whose birth anniversary was day before yesterday. Surprisingly, as seen by me, the lyrics of her debut song in the movies (1947 movie Do Bhai), Mera sundar sapana beet gaya (Penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan and composed by SD Burman) were representative of the last years of her life. She married the director of Baazi (1951) Guru Dutt, on 26 May 1953 and on 10 Oct 1964 he killed himself after an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pils. As the song brings out: “Meri prem kahaani khatam hui, mere jeevan ka sangeet gaya”. Geeta Dutt became totally listless after her husband’s death (they were wedded for eleven years only), ran into financial difficulties, took to alcohol and finally died of liver cirrhosis in 1972, at the age of 41 years (Guru Dutt had died at the age of 39 years). The middle stanza of her first song, at the age of 17 years was:

ओ छोड़ के जाने वाले आ
दिल तोड़ के जाने वाले आ
आँखें असुवन में डूब गयीं
हँसने का ज़माना बीत गया
मेरा सुन्दर सपना बीत गया

I have been giving you Raaga Based Songs of the Day (eg, ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #52’) for the last nearly three months now. Many of you, who know your music well, have at times pointed out that a particular song, though ostensibly close to one raaga has traces of other raagas or has deviated substantially from the chosen raaga. I have readily admitted that, pointing out that it is not the job of the film songs composers to stick to the purity of any raaga. Their job is to produce tunes that would be popular and would tug at the emotions of the listeners.

With that in mind, I started a new series twelve days ago to give you songs that tug at your emotions even when they are not based on any raagas.

These are the songs that stay in the creases of your mind long after you last heard them, somewhat like the strains of the song of The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth.

I also feel that these are the songs that make you wonder whether the lyrics influenced you more or the composition or is it the composition that made you look at the beauty of the lyrics?

The first of these was put together by lyricist Shailendra and composer Salil Chowdhury and singer Talat Mahmood for the 1957 Dulal Guha movie Ek Gaon Ki Kahani starring Talat Mahmood, Mala Sinha and Abhi Bhattacharya: Raat ne kyaa kyaa khwaab dikhaaye (‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions – Song #1‘).

Our last one, that is the eleveth one, was put together by lyricist Rajendra Krishan, composer C Ramchandra and singer Shamshad Begum for the 1949 HS Rawail movie Patanga starring Nigar Sultana and Gope: Mere piya gaye Rangoon (‘Songs That Tug At Your Emotions – Song #12‘).

Today, we shall take up this unforgettable song from the 1959 Guru Dutt movie Kaagaz Ke Phool that starred Guru Dutt and his favourite heroine Waheeda Rehman. The song itself is picturised on both of them in his studio as a director in the movie. The song was put together by Kaifi Azmi as lyricist, SD Burman as composer and Geeta Dutt as singer.

Geeta Dutt was Geeta Roy before she married Guru Dutt. He was the young dashing director of 1951 movie Baazi, his debut movie as a director. She was famous much before him as Geeta Roy. Indeed, hats off to her characteristic style of singing that she could convert a Sahir Ludhianvi ghazal (Tadbeer (through deliberation) se bighadi hui taqdeer (destiny) bana le) into a lilting and feisty song; of course credit has to be shared with Sahir Ludhianvi. Two years later when she married Guru Dutt, he gained but decline started in her career. The reason was that he wanted her to sing only for his productions. At the same time, he wasn’t totally hers especially after Waheeda Rehman arrived on the scene. So she took to drinking heavily to get over the let-down. This affected her singing so hugely that SD Burman who was looking for an alternative to Lata Mangeshkar had to finally give up.

The worst of it was that she had to sing playback for her husband’s passion: Waheeda Rehman. Take this song for example from Kaagaz Ke Phool. He is married in the movie and a director. He takes her, a no body, to do Paaro in his movie Devdas. Gradually, they fall in love. Their situation is impossible because Guru Dutt has a daughter (Baby Naaz) from his marriage (that has not been annulled) and this daughter is determined to keep her parents together. Think of how close his reel life was to real life. By the way, killing themselves became some sort of fad with such highly talented and highly sensitive people. Take into consideration that their eldest son Tarun, who directed Rekha in 1984 movie Bindiya Chamkegi, also committed suicide in 1985, 21 years after his father did.

From the time of starting with 1947 movie Do Bhai‘s song: Mera sundar sapna beet gaya to her 1971 Basu Bhattacharya movie Anubhav‘s songs composed by Kanu Roy (Meri jaan mujhe jaan na kaho meri jaan, Koi chupake se aake, and Mera dil jo mera hota), Geeta Roy and later Geeta Dutt gave us some very memorable, sensuous and eminently romantic songs in the movies. Some other favourites of mine are: Na ye chand hoga and Chand ghatane laga raat dhalne lagi (Shart; song also sung by hemant Kumar but with different stanzas), Jai Jagdish Hare (Anand Math; also with Hemant Kumar), E ri main to prem deewani, Ghunghat ke pat khol and Main to Giridhar ke ghar jaayun (Meera bhajans in Jogan), Ai dil mujhe bata de (Bhai Bhai), Jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji, and Thandi hawa kaali ghata aa hi gayi jhuum ke (Mr & Mrs 55), Bachpan ke din bhi ky adin the (with Asha Bhosle in Sujata), Dekh ke akeli mujhe barkha sataye (Baazi), Dil ki umange hain jawan (Munimji), Jaa jaa jaa jaa bewafa, Ye lo main haari piya hui teri jeet re and Sun sun sun sun zaalima (Aar Paar), Jaane kya tune kahi (Pyaasa), Kaisa jaadu balam tune daara (12 O’ Clock), Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aay nahin karte (Bawre Nain), Koi duur se awaaz de chale aayo and na jaayo sainya chhuda ke baiyan (Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam), Mera naam chin chin chu (Howrah Bridge), and Rimjhim ke taraane leke aayi barsaat (Kaala Bazaar). Perhaps the song that should be her legacy, in lyrics at least, is the Do Bhai (1947) movie song: Yaad karoge ik din hamako yaad karoge).

What can be the greatest tribute to Geeta Dutt? I think nothing can be greater than Lata Mangeshkar singing the song that I have selected for you: Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam, as a tribute to Geeta Dutt:

I have already, in my posts, said enough about the composer of this song: Sachin Dev Burman. Incidentally, although he was the composer and music director of choice for Dev Anand movies, he was so for Guru Dutt movies. The commonality came about because Guru Dutt directed movies for his great friend Dev Anand under the banner Navketan Films. Even at that there were movies that were not dev Anand starrers for which SD Burman composed, eg, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and the songs of these are amongst his most memorable:

Finally, the lyricist of the song: Kaifi Azmi. I have as many as three blog posts on him: ‘The Best Songs Of Kaifi Azmi – Aa Great Lyricist And Poet’, ‘Part II’ and ‘Part III’. He was the only famous lyricist whom I heard live in a mushaira (in my college Govt College Dharamshala). I have found his poetry and lyrics so powerful that I wonder how could he write these in such simple words. In this song, for example, by using the expression बुन रहे हैं दिल ख़्वाब दम-ब-दम he laid bare the feelings of lovers, out of marriage, when his first marriage hadn’t succeeded; and he did it so easily without using volumes and without resorting to grandiose words.

Before I give you the song: waqt ne kiya, I must tell you about her Baazi (1951) song: Aaj ki raat piya dil na todo. It is in my favourite Raag Pahadi, Tal Dadra (Please see: ‘Raaga Based Song Of The Day #7’). It is actually songs like these that made her immortal.

As I said, today’s song is from the 1959 Guru Dutt movie Kaagaz Ke Phool, which is the first Indian film in Cinemascope, and also the last one directed by Guru Dutt. The film is said to have been inspired by Guru Dutt’s association with Gyan Mukherjee, and to pay homage to Mukherjee. Mukherjee was a famous 1940s director whose Kismet (1943) made him a household name. The life and subsequent failures of Mukherjee, whom Guru Dutt had joined in 1950, influenced him deeply. However, the song and the movie also, in great parts, represent on reel Guru Dutt’s own story in real life.

Please enjoy Geeta Dutt sing: Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam….

वक़्त ने किया क्या हंसीं सितम
तुम रहे न तुम हम रहे न हम
वक़्त ने किया…

बेक़रार दिल इस तरह मिले
जिस तरह कभी हम जुदा न थे
तुम भी खो गए, हम भी खो गए
एक राह पर चलके दो क़दम
वक़्त ने किया…

जाएंगे कहाँ पूछता नहीं
चल पड़े मगर रास्ता नहीं
क्या तलाश है कुछ पता नहीं
बुन रहे हैं दिल ख़्वाब दम-ब-दम
वक़्त ने किया…

I think there are very few people who are not affected by the reel and real lives of Guru Dutt and Geeta Dutt, two of the most outstanding talents in Hindi films that were wasted because of their sensitivities leading to their excesses in their own ways that finally led to their untimely deaths. In between, we have Waheeda Rehman, the Living Legend, who was the cause of much heartburn for Geeta Dutt whose career went into sudden decline after her husband’s involvement with her. This song represents that confusion in their lives. The pain of the expressions of Waheeda Rehman, on screen, is nothing in comparison to the pain that Geeta Dutt brought to singing for her. Waheeda Rehman’s name in the movie was Shanti. Ironically, shanti (peace) was what Geeta Dutt lost forever after Waheeda Rehman came into her husband’s life. Seen from every angle: singing, lyrics, composition and cinematography (the play of shadows and lights), the song represents one of the best that Hindi movies had to offer. I am transported into another world everytime I listen to it.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

Please await tomorrow’s song.