Fading Memories…. Unforgettable Songs : July 2022

Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song With The Music Director

Second Five-Year Period: 1949 -1953

Many historians of Hindi Film Music consider the year 1949 as the transition year when HFM can be positively seen to be entering era of Golden Period, with Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi, the two major singers of Golden Era, occupying the undisputed center stage. One indicator which perhaps validates this hypothesis is presence of more and more music directors who remained active during the Golden period in so far as the duets of Mohammad Rafi during the presently under consideration 5-year period of 1949 to 1953.

To commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of Mohamad Rafi, we have commenced a series on Mohammad Rafi’s first duet with a music director.  Our journey began with the 1^st Five-Year Period of 1944 to 1948 in the year 2021. We take up the Male-Male or Triad as well as a regular Male-Female duet in the present series because our main purpose to revisit maximum possible duets of Mohammad Rafi.

Presently we will take up the 2^nd Five-Year Period of 1949 to 1953.

1949

The year has Mohammad Rafi’s duets, almost, in the proportion of 2: 1 as compared the solos. Even with the Mohammad Rafi duets with two music directors for the year 1949 not available for these two music directors, we have been able to cover 14 music directors in 1949!

As such, we will cover the year 1949 in two parts, to be able to relish the songs thoroughly.

[1]

Naushad had composed first two duets for Mohammad Rafi in 1944 for the film Pahele Aap. Both were Male-Male duets. Naushad has since then deployed Mohaamad Rafi for the male-female duet only during 1949.  Even then, in the year 1949, for Andaz, Mohammad Rafi still was not the playback voice for major lead, Dilip Kumar, of the triangle Raj Kapoor and Nargis. However, the film did have two duets wherein Rafi plays back for Raj Kapoor. Of the two Yun To Apas Mein Bigadate Hain Khafa Hote Hain is a light composition, and is retained in the film

Sun To Dil Ka Afsana – Andaz – with Lata Mangeshkar – Naushad – Majarooh Sultanpuri

This song was finally not included in the film

Naushad had two more films in 1949 Chadani Raat and Dulari. Chandani Raat had three Rafi-Shamshad Begum duets – Chhin Ke Dil KyuN Pher Li Aankhein, Kaise Baje Dil Ki Sitar and Khabar Kya Thi Ki Gham Khana Padega whereas Dulari has two Rafi -Lata duets Mil Mil Ke Gayenge Do Dil Yahaan and Raat Rangili Mast Nazare Geet Sunaye Chand Sitare. The first two duets of Chandani Rat and both the Dulari duets had become quite popular.

Husnlal Bhagatram had as many as five duets and five triads for Rafi 1949 over. Of these we have picked up one duet with Suraiya, and one triad with Lata Mangeshkar and Geeta Dutt, so that we get as many duets  / duets+ songs different the co-singers.

Aataa Hai Zindgi Mein Bhala Pyar Kis Tarha – Baalam – with Suraiya – Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi

I had not heard this song before, but once I did, I liked it even though it has many strapping of vintage era. Of course, Rafi sounds his normal – what we get to hear in the 50s and Suraiya is, as always, so sweet to listen to.

Husnlal Bhagatram have two more duets with Suraiya, for the film Naach – Ae Ishq Hamein Barbad Na Kar (Lyrics: Sharshar Sailani) and Chhaya Sama Suhana (Lyrics: Kaif Irfani).

‘Jaltarang’ had one duet with Lata Mangeshkar – Zara Tumne Dekha To Pyar Ho Gaya (Lyrics: Kaif Irfani) and one with Shamshad Begum – Musafir Sada Geet Gaye Chala Chal (Lyrics: Sudarshan Faakir)

And now triads:

Lab Pe Fariyad Hai Dil Barbad Hai – Naach – with Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt – Lyrics: Mulk Raj Bhakri

It may not be inaccurate to assume that the dancing singers may be performing a street dance, because in (only) Hindi films these people can so accurately read the thought of the protagonist’s mind and put them in words on his /her behalf. The hero sems to perform the soliloquy of spelling out his mind, perhaps on the push by the force of the line these dancers sing. Even as hero is in pensive mood and the two female actresses sing in a very energetic mood, the song was well received in those days. Rafi goes in hyper-drive tone at the end!

It would be interesting to see the way the song would have been filmed.

Two other triads in the film were Kyun Karata Maan Jawani Ka (with Lata and Geeta Dutt; Lyrics: Mulk Raj Bhakri) and Namaste Ji Namaste Ji Hamara Tumhara Jeevan Beete Hansate (with Shamshad Begum and Zohrabai Ambalewali; Lyrics: Nazim Panipati).

For the songs of Hamari Manzil, HFGK mentions Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi and chorus as singers for Badla Hua Duniya Mein Ulfat Ka Zamana Hai, Woh Aur Zamana Tha Ye Aur Zamana Hai and Geeta Dutt, Mohammad Rafi and other voice for Andhere Se Na Dar Kaante Banegi KaliyaN, but both these songs have S D Batish as third singer.

Shyam Sundar is widely credited with offering Mohammad Rafi his first ever song, a triad, in the Hindi films, that for Gaon Ki Gori (1945). Presently we have Shyam Sundar composing two duets for Rafi, both with Lata Mangeshkar, a triad – Chhalla De Ja Nishani Teri Meharbani (with Shamshad Begum and Satish Batra: Lyrics Qamar Jalalabadi) for Bazaar.

Ae Mohabbat Unse Milne Ka Bahana Ban Gaya – Bazar – Lyrics: Qamar Jalabadi

This as well as the other duet Apni Nazar Se Door Woh should rank among the finest duets by Rafi and Lata.

Haaye Yeh Bholi Suratwale – Chaar Din – with S D Batish, Iqbal, Rajkumari, Lata Mangeskar, Johrabai Ambalewali – Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni

This hexad is essentially composed in qawwali style.

Hanuman Prasad is also well-known music director vintage era.

Jale Jalaane Wale Humko Jaise Mombatti – Chilman – with Mukesh – Lyrics: P L Santoshi

Two friends merrily laugh away the world’s critical view of their carefree way of living.

What a coincidence! 1949 has one more Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh duet

Snehal Bhatkar is the music director who has composed that Mohammad Rafi – Mukesh duet.

Baat To Kuchh Bhi Nahin Dil Hai Ki Bhar Aaya Hai – Thes – with Mukesh – Lyrics: Kedar Sharma

Mukesh is assigned the pathos part of the song and Rafi with the role of counseling him!

We will take up the rest of 1949’s Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song with eight other Music Directors in our December 2022 episode.

We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month next year too……..

Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.

“The Micro View of the Songs of 1948 @ SoY – MY Top Music Director(s)

Having gone through the exercise of micro-reviewing the songs  for the six years – in this case from 1955 backwards to the present 1948 – I have observed that the task of choosing MY TOP of Music director every year has become more tough as year goes down. That is mainly because older I go into the timeline, less I was found conversant with either the film itself or the context in which the song was played (situational context vs.song composition relevance) or even the popularity /approval of the film’s song as a whole from listeners  / critics respectively.

So, I kept on devising some or other tests to come up with rational judgement to moderate my inherent biases.

The first of such test is the logo picture posted by SoY at the very opening of the overview post, which invariably places six films in the frame. For the present case, ‘Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?’, Naushad has two films – Mela and Anokhi Ada whereas Anil Biswas (Anokha Pyar), C Ramchandra (Nadiya Ke Paar), Ram Ganguli (Aag) and Ghulam Hiader (Shaheed) have one film each.

I then run through posts relating to Male Solos, Female Solos and Duets to make amental note of music directors whose songs continues to strike chord even now. I observe that Naushad’s songs in Anokhi Ada and Mela or Anil Biswas’s songs in Anokha Pyar, Gajre and Veena, those of C Ramchandra in Nadiya Ke Paar and Khidk’ or those of Husnlal-Bhagatram in Pyar Ki Jeet or certainly Ghulam Haider in Shaheed, to a great extent Ram Ganguly in Aag or Khemchand Prakash in Ziddi standout for the everlasting songs. For the year, Ghulam Mohammad in Grihasthi and Pugree, or Shyam Sundar in Actress have also pitched in well.

Then I have out the songs that appeared in the respective category of MY Top listings. The number of songs composed by differenet music directors appears as given herebelow:

Music Director	Male Solos	Female solos	Duets	Total	SoY Total
Hansraj Behl	1			1
Husnlal Bhagatram	1	2		3	3
Naushad	1	1	2	4	10
Ram Ganguly	1	1	1	3	2
Anil Biswas	1	3	1	5	1
S D Burman	1	1	1	3	1
Khemchand Prakash	1	1	1	3	2
Ghulam Haider		1	1	2	3
Avinash Vyas		1		1
C Ramchandra		1	1	2	3
Snehal Bhatkar		1		1	1

If we place the results of the Total in the descending order, then Anil Biswas comes at the top, followed by Naushad and then Husnlal Bhagatram, S D Burman, Khemchand Prakasha and Ram Ganguly share the next spot, followed by Ghulam Haider and C Ramchandra.

Apart from the simple quantitative perspective, one of the most noteworthy feature of Ghulam Haider’s songs in Shaheed and those of C Ramchandra in Nadiya Ke Paar is that they have used relatively not very popular singers like Surinder Kaur or Lalita Deulkar for a very popular heroin Kamini Kaushal. And yet the songs did attain very high acceptance- both the by the critics as well as by the listing public in general.

SoY, @ Best songs of 1948: Final Wrap Up 4, also adopted a smilar matric for quantifying the process of evaluating the share of different music directors in the Top lsting of songs under different categories. The last column in the foregoing table reflects the Total score. Based on this evaluation The Songs of Yore Award for the Best Music Director of 1948 has been conferred on Naushad.

How would have you analyzed the Songs of 1948?

I am sure you will certainly join me to take up a similar detailed Micro View when SoY takes up 1947 next in this Best songs of year series.

P.S.

All the posts that have appeared on this subject can now be accessed form one file @ The Songs of 1948 @SoY

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – July, 2017

Welcome to July, 2017 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We will first take up the posts on the anniversaries or eulogies:

One hundred years of Sarat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’ being published as a book (on 30^th June 1917).

More on Sarat and Devdas : In The mortals of Devdas by J.N.Sinha: Its admirers have tracked many a character in Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s life and his novels….On a closer look, Devdas is none other than the author himself, and Paro a young vivacious girl of the same town.”

Roshan at 100: The ultimate playlist, plus the story of the three lives of a single song – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – The legendary music composer had a golden run during the 1960s, but the foundation was set in the previous decade. – One of Roshan’s most memorable songs from the 1960s is Rahein Na Rahein Hum (Mamta, 1966). It was a reworking of another Lata Mangeshkar song Thandi Hawayein, composed by SD Burman for the film Naujawan (1951). This is fascinating because of various reasons: one, RD Burman himself reworked the tune for one of his famous songs (Sagar Kinare); two, SD Burman himself is said to have been inspired by a tune he had heard being played on the piano in a Juhu hotel; three, Roshan used the tune way back in 1954 in a little-known film called Chandni Chowk in Tera Dil Kahaan Hai.

OP Nayyar-Geeta Dutt: A peerless combination – Ravindra Kelkar pays tribute to Geeta Dutt on her 45th death anniversary (23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972)

On this occasion, we will also take a retrospective look at articles on Geet Dutt @ Silhouette Magazine :

• 10 Most Loved Duets of Geeta Dutt
• Geeta Dutt – The Skylark Who Sang From The Heart
• Eternal Wait: The Story Of The Dark Girl By The Meghna (Geeta Dutt)
• The Language Versatility of Geeta Dutt – A Rare Depth of Feeling
• Four Aces and A Queen
• The Mesmerizing Moods of Jaane Kya Tune Kahi (Pyaasa)
• The Tender Musical Tête-à-tête in Chupke Se Mile (Genius of SD Burman)
• Geeta Dutt – The Singer with the Golden Heart
• Moments with ‘Geetu Pishi’ – Remembering Geeta Dutt
• The Queen of Bhaav Gayaki – Geeta Dutt

The Masters: Madan Mohan commemorates what would have been 93^rd birthday of the music director….He once said that “…the foremost requirement of a song is only one thing;  it should be capable of capturing the interest of the listeners in a short period and sustaining it in the years to follow.” He needn’t have worried; his legacy endures, as timeless as his soul-stirring compositions.

The foregoing post has studiedly avoided Lata – MM songs because the author had already done an exclusive post: An Afternoon Tryst with Madan Mohan and Lata Mangeshkar

The music man and his treasure bag: songs in Aashirwad – a song-sequence series post that remembers Sumita Sanyal on her passing away. [Here’s an earlier piece about the Aashirwad song “Saaf Karo Insaaf Karo”]

Jalaa do yeh duniya: poets and merchants in Pyaasa and Navrang – “when I think of the Pyaasa scene, I also think of a very different sort of scene from a film made two years later – another song that touches on the dilemmas facing a pure artist in a material world, but does it with splendid lightness of touch. That Song is “Kavi Raja”, sung by the film’s lyricist Bharat Vyas, begins with a group of friends – poets as well as poet manqués – coming together for an impromptu little sammelan”.

[Earlier Mint Lounge columns on songs-sequence articles here]

Even in the darkness, he dreamed of lights: A tribute to renowned cinematographer KK Mahajan – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – On the death anniversary of Kewal Krishan Mahajan, or KK as his friends called him, a look back at his unmatched legacy.

The July 2017 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs was dedicated to Mohammad Rafi’s Solo Song From The FIRST Film With The Music Director: 1949

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

The first duo Husnlal-Bhagatram (1): Their songs for Suraiya, Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi – Having done series on Anil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramchandra, SD Burman and Shankar-Jaikishan, SoY now has taken up the lesser, but no less talented star-duo of Husnlal Bhagatram.

Gaddeswarup’s blog expands the on Husnlal Bhagatram by recalling Satish Chopra’s article ‘The diamond cutters!’, and that famous song Chup Chup Khade Ho from Badi Bahen. Here is the Tamil version of the song Enni Enni Parkka Manam, that was filmed on debutant Vyjayantimala in the film ‘Vaazhkai’ (1949). The film was re-made in Hindi as Bahaar, for which S D Burman had composed the music.

In ‘Ninaithen Vandaai’, MGR and Jayalalithaa are Antony and Cleopatra – Archana Nathan – In ‘Kavalkaaran’, Jayalalithaa’s character revisits the stories of star-crossed lovers and decides her own love story deserves a happy ending.

Is ‘Aapki Yaad Aati Rahi’ from ‘Gaman’ the ultimate separation song? – Nandini Ramnath – In Muzaffar Ali’s debut film, Farooque Shaikh drives a taxi in Mumbai while Smita Patil waits interminably for him. The song is a version of Makhdoom Mohiuddin’s ghazal Aapki Yaad Aati Rahi. Chhaya Ganguli’s masterful rendition of a song that speaks of the pain of a prolonged separation wafts over some of the quietest visuals in the movie. In Gaman, Jaidev’s brilliant soundtrack has one of the greatest laments about life in Mumbai. Seene Me Jalan is the mournful flipside of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil from CID (1956).

Mehfil Mein Meri is a new addition to our blogroll. The blog opens its books with Voice of Dev Anand which has listed some of the songs of Dev Anand by various playback singers

Ten songs picturized in famous gardens, with a rider that song from the same garden would not be included in this post.

Favorite Scenes Showing Kathak Footwork (danced by Gopi Krishna, Sitara Devi, and Roshan Kumari) – I have picked up two songs that are not heard often and one from A Satyajit Ray film:

• Sautan Ke Ghar Na Jaiyo.. – Sitara Devi – Aabroo (1943)
• Aye Bandi Tum Begum Bani – Gopi Kishan and Roshan Kumari – Parineeta (1953)
• Roshan Kumari in Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar

K.N. Singh – My Memorable Roles (1963) –“Every actor knows that doing a long stretch of walking in front of the cameras is the worst possible ordeal for a newcomer. The camera is a harsh, relentless observer—a one-eyed monster all eyes for the smallest gaucherie. And why only an actor? Off-camera, how many men can walk manfully, unself-consciously, in the full gaze of a roomful of watchful people?”

Baghban” directed by A.R. Kardar, is the film Singh rates highest. He played a villain in it “but the violence was not physical but subtly mental.” To this role and film, Singh ascribes his “continuance” in films.

In our series Micro View of Best Songs 1948 @SoY of Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?, we have added the detailed posts on Male Solo songs with those of G M Durrani, Surendra and Other Male Singers.

To end the today’s post with an article on Mohammed Rafi, I have picked up a two Madan Mohan’s (relatively) unheard songs and a video clip of a public performance.

Tribute to Rafi Saheb and Madan Mohan – Singer Khalid Baig

Oonche Oonche Melahonwale – Jagir (1959) – Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

Har Sapna Ek Din Toote Is Duniya Mein – an unreleased song

I trust you will always feel free to proffer your suggestions for making this series of posts more lively and informative….

The Micro View of the Songs of 1948 @ SoY : Setting The Stage

Wait for the curtains to go up for a review of songs for the particular year @ Songs of Yore is more than an eager wait. It is preganat with more unknown songs now.  Having covered songs of 1955, 1953, 1951, 1950 and 1949 in the previous years, SoY has now crossed the threshold well into the Vintage Era as it now ventures into ‘Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?’

As noted in the overview turnkey article, we now enter the period which has two quite distinct characteristics:

One, Lata Mangeshkar did sing over 40 songs of which you can count about ten memorable and a couple of all-time great songs, yet she was not the sole pole star, as she became from 1949 onwards. Therefore, dividing the female playback singers as Lata Mangehkar and ‘others’ as (has been) done for 1949, 1950 and 1951 would not be a true reflection of reality.

Secondly, the Vintage Era also means entering a period of more unknown than known, therefore, the year-wise review would now be more a discovery trip.

The post under consideration – Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?  – has presented quite an  encompassing overview in an established template: –

Musical landmarks: Like a golden Jubilee (Mela) and a silver Jubileen (Anokhi Ada) under the belt Naushad hasestablished his morchical position. His nearest rival C ramchandra has Nadiya Ke Paar and Kidkiin the year under review. Ghulam Hiader has presened his swan song on now the Indian soil – Shaheed. Raj Kapoor directs his maiden film Aag with Ram Ganguly as music director. Lata Mangeshkar has hardly any presence in these films.

Other important musical compositions are no less noteworthy nor have lost their charm. We will enlist them here –

Anil Biswas:

Gajre

Door papia bola – Suraiya
Baras baras badly bhi bikhar gayi – Lata Mangeshkar

Veena

Wo teekhi nazron se mere dil par – Mukes

Husnlal Bhagatram

Tere Naino Ne Chori Kiya – Suraiya

O Door Jaanewale – Suraiya

Khemchand Prakash

Marne Ki Duaen Kyon ManguN– Kisore Kumar’s maiden solo song – Ziddi

Chanda Re..Ja Re Ja Re – Lata Mangeshkar – Ziddi

Ghulam Haider

Grihasthi

Tere naaz uthane ko ji chahta hai – Mukesh & Shamshad Begum

Pugree

Ek teer chalanewale ne dil loot liya – Mukesh & Sitara (Kanpuri)

S D Burman

Vidya

Laayi khushi ki duniya – Mukesh & Suraiya

Bahe na kabhi nain se neer – Mukesh

Debut

Asha Bhosle – Only a line Bahana Khush Ho Ke Sangam Manaye – in a chorus in the song Sawaan Aya Re – Chunariya

Kishore Kumar’s first duet with Lata Mangeshkar – Ye Kaun Aya Re – Ziddi

Prem Dhawan – Chanda Re..Ja Re Ja Re – Ziddi

RK Films – Aag

Geeta Dutt – Lata Mangeshkar’s maiden duet – Har Shai Pe Jawani Hai – Majboor

Mukesh – Lata Mangeshkar duet – Ab Darne Ki Koi Baat Nahin – Majboor

Ab Yaad Na Kar – Ankoha Pyar

Khayyam (as Sharmaji & (Rehman) Vermaji with Aziz Khan) – Dil Dil Yun YuN Karata Hai – Geeta Dutt, Aziz Hindi – Heer Ranja

Lata Mangeshkar first song with Shamshad Begum and Mohantara – Khushiyan Manayen Na Kyun Ham.. Kismat Hamare Saath Hai.. Jalanewale Jala Karen – Khidki

Surinder Kaur – Itne Door Hain Huzoor Kaise – Pyar Ki Jeet

Padmini as dancer-actor in Uday Shankar’s Kalpana

S Mohinder – as music director in film Sehra and as a singer Ae dil Uda Ke – Sehra

Jaan Nissar Akhtar – as lyricist in Shikayat

Sahir Ludyanavi – as a lyricist for Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi – Azadi Ki Rah Par

Snehal Bhatkar – as a music director in Suhaag Raat

Bharat Bhushna and Geeta Bali – as actors in Suhag Raat

Fact file and Trivia notes that five songs of Meena Kapoor for Anokha Pyar were recorded on Lata Mangeshkar; Leela Chitnis played mother for first time in Shaheed; Mohammad Rafi holds a falg pole in Watan Ki Rah Mein Watan Naujawan Shaheed Ho; Ameerbai Karnataki composed music for Shahnaz, once only in her career; Vidya Nath Seth sang firve songs for Rooplelka of which he composed one song too.

List Of Memorable Songs is a fairly representative list of films, music directors and known as well as less-known songs that were released in the year. I have re-compiled this list, under the title Memorable Songs of 1948, by adding the relevant link to YT file.

For the year under review, Special songs also cover the songs which open a path of discovery on their own well as they have thir own personality. In this case too, I have brought these songs on the same page with List of Memorable Songs of 1948.

The stage is now set to commence our journey into the Micro View of the Songs of 1948. As the List of Memorable Songs and Special Songs have covered most of the well-known songs for the year, we will restrict our micro-view to in-depth listening of not-so-well-known songs. We will then combine our impressions of these songs with that we already have for the well-known ones to present our point of view in so far as

Best male playback singer
Best ‘other’ female playback singer
Best songs of Lata Mangeshkar
Best duets
Best music director

are concerned for the year 1948.

All the posts that will appear on this subject here have been tagged as Songs of 1948 @ SoY.

The Micro View of the Best Songs of 1949 @ SoY – MY Top Music Director(s)

The theme poster of ‘Best songs of 1949: And the winners are?’ has six films, but five music directors. Naushad has two films there (Andaz and Dillagi), whereas four others Shanker Jaikishan, C Ramchandra, Khemchand Prakash and Husnlal Bhagatram have one each (Barsat, Patanga, Mahal and Bari Bahen respectively).

Naushad had huge contribution in the huge success of Andaz at the box office, mainly through the solos of Mukesh, with Lata Mangeshakar solos playing a fair measure of the support. This was the last monumental work that Naushad had had with Mukesh, till they worked again in Saathi, a good 19 years later.

Hum Aaj Kahi Dil Kho Baithe Yun Samajo Kisi Ke Ho Baithe

Shanker Jaikishan also had a lion’s share in box office success of Barsat, that went on to create a great Lata Mangeshkar wave. They also created the RK-SJ signature style of ending the films with a very unique style of the theme song of the film –

Barsat Mein, Ham Se Mile Tum Sajan Tumse Mile Ham

Here is the such first maiden final scene

Khemchand Praksh needed to have created only Ayega Aanewala, to find a very honorable emeritus mention in the annals of Hindi Film Music history.

Ek Teer Chala Dil Pe Laga

Husnlal Bhagatram, who too appear quite prominently in  Male Solos, Female Solos or even Duets  lists for 1949, certainly have to their credit some all-time outstanding solos of Suraiya (in Bari Bahen) this year.

Tum Mujhko Bhul Jao Ab Hum Na Mil Sakenge

Mere Piya Gaye Hai Rangoon is one of those non-traditional song among such other all-time chartbusters from the stable of C Ramchandra that one would hardly ever imagine that it is same CR would later on go on to give some of Lata’s or Talat’s all time greats.

Balam Tujhe Mera Salam

However if we go a step beyond the measure of box office success of both the film and the songs, we have at least a couple of more music directors who had excellent scores for 1949.

Gyan Dutt has Maine Dekhi Jag Ki Reet, Meet Sab Jhuthe Pad Gaye or Baharon Ne Jise Chheda Woh Saaz-e-Jawani Hai like evergreens for Sunhare Din.

Javani Ke Din Hai Yeh

S D Burman too had Quismat Mein Bichhadan Tha or Tu Mahalon Mein Rahanewali or Tumhare Liye Hue Badnam for Shabnam.

Hum Kisko Sunaye Haal Ke Duniya Paise Ki

Shyam Sundar had had his own share in Lahore (Nazar Se Dur Jaanewale, Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi Magar Hum Tum Juda Honge) and Bazaar (Apni Nazar Se Dur Woh Unki Nazar Se Dur Hum) or Char Din (Anjaam-e-Mohabbat Kuchh Bhi Nahin).

In fact the towering commercial success of Andaz had paled some other very good scores of Naushad. Dillagi songs like Leke Dil Chupke Se or Duniya Kya Jaane Mera Afsana or Char Din Ki Chandani Phir Se Andheri Raat Hai had quite an undeniable charm. So were Do Din Ke Bahar Pyare or Na Bol Pee Pee More Anagana Panchhi Ja Re Ja or Muhabbat Hamaree Jamana Hamara Tu Gaaye Aye Dil Tarana Hamara form the album of Dulari. Even relatively little less known Chandani Raat had gems like Chhaya Meri Ummeed Ki Duniya Mein Andhera or Aankh MilI Dil Chala Gaya or Do Din Ki Khushi Haye Do Din Ki Kushi Raaaz Na Aayi Kisiko.

1949 had so many other than Lata Mangeshkar – Mohammad Rafi great songs from such a wide cross section of Music Directors that no one may have ever imagined then that just by the turn of the decade this duo will overwhelmingly rule the Hindi Film Song world.

In the ultimate analysis that will remain the sole importance of the year 1949 in the history of Hind Film Music – a threshold that provided the escape velocity to Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi even when many other singers were so strong on their spheres.

SoY has presented a very comprehensive summary of all the discussions @ Best songs of 1949: Final Wrap Up 5. The detailed analysis leads to the conclusion that the Best Music director of 1949 goes to Naushad.

P.S.

I have compiled a meta write-up of my micro-view of the songs of 1949, in pdf form. Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_GJ0xhT0LUuamJWTlRoQUJiVUE

The Micro View of The Best Songs of 1950 @ Songs of Yore – Female Solo Songs– Lata Mangeshkar songs of Husnlal Bhagatram and Ghulamm Mohammad

This is Second Part of Memorable Songs of Lata Mangeshkar during our micro-revisit of the  ‘Best songs of 1950: And the winners are?.

In the First Part, we had a look at Lata Mangeshkar Songs of C Ramchandra. We now look at Lata Mangeshakar’s Memorable Songs of 1950 under two other music directors who also seemed to have accepted Lata Mangeshkar as the principal female playback singer.

 Husnlal Bhagatram’s Lata Mangeshkar songs :

1. Ban ke suhagan rahi abhagan – Aadhi Raat: – Sarshar Sailani

2. Rona hi likha tha qismat mein – Aadhi Raat: – Khumar Barabanqvi

3. Dil hi to hai tadap gaya dard se bhar na aaye kyun – Aadhi Raat – Asad Bhopali

4. Agar dil kisi se lagaya na hota– Gauna – Qamar Jalalabadi

5. Tujhe barbaad karna tha.. haye dil bhi diya to kisko diya – Meena Bazaar – Qamar Jalalabadi

6. Dard-e-Judai Hai – Chhoti Bhabhi

Ghulam Mohammad’s Lata Mangeshkar songs :

1. Raat hai taaron bhari chhitaki hui chaandni – Pardes– Shakeel Badayuni

2. Janewale tujhe hum yaad kye jayenge – Pardes – Shakeel Badayuni

3. Kismat Bananewale Zara Samane To Aa – Pardes – Shakeel Badayuni

4. O ji dheere dheere O ji haule haule anganaa mei aa ja piya – Pardes – Shakeel Badayuni

5. Eh Dil-E-Bequarar – Maang –Nizam

 

Continued…………..

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – May 2014

Welcome to May 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

This month many of our regular blogs that we visit seem to have turned on to film reviews. Well, that provides us a good opportunity to test wider oceans.

Husnlal-Bhagatram – The ‘First’ Composer Duo – pens the narrative of the origin and rise of Husnlal – Bhagatram…. The duo is fond of fast pace, actualized mainly through dholak and employment of atonal drums such as matka or idiophones such as ghunghroo, etc.” …Another aspect of their composing style .. is that “they make a musical statement which consists of successive song-lines with a descending and repetitive tonal contours”, which “appears to resolve the melody into completeness and it seems easier to remember” and “very few notes are used in those lines”. …..

One style feature that makes many of Husnlal-Bhagatram’s fast-paced songs catchy and instantly likeable is their tendency to punctuate the melody lines with very short and catchy orchestral phrases as a trigger for repetition of words or line, or by inserting short pauses at the end of a mukhda or antara before the rhythm moves forward. There are many examples to illustrate this point but… here are two songs that .. can be easily identified as Husnlal-Bhagatram creations.

The first example is Suraiya’s popular ‘tere nainon ne chori kiya’ from ‘Pyar Ki Jeet (1948). The pause after ‘tere nainon ne’ is filled with a brief flute piece that becomes such an integral part of the tune that if you try humming the tune, that flute piece would instantly play in your mind. …………The other example is Lata’s ‘tum dil ko tod doge’ from ‘Farmaaish’ (1953). The prelude itself is enough for one to identify it as their creation, but look at the rest of the composition. The first line is broken right at the middle and filled with a music piece, then at the end of the line comes another music piece before the line is repeated in exactly the same manner. In the antaras, a similar approach is followed, although the musical punctuation is used at the end of each line and a lovely pause is introduced at the end of the cross-line.”

We have A lovely Mohammed Rafi – Suraiya duet from Sanam (1951), composed by Husnlal Bhagatram, Mohammed Rafi singing for Dev Anand and Suraiya singing for herself.

KHURSHEED BANO … Barso re .. Tansen.. A Forgotten song – Kursheed and Suraiya were the two singing actresses of Mumbai Film-world who have shared the honours with the renowned singer K.L. Saigal. This talented and famous actress/singer of the thirties and the forty’s, Khurshid Bano rested in peace on 18th April 2001 in Karachi, at the age of 87 years and thus an era of talent in terms of acting/singing in the film industry finally came to an end.

In Melody Makers of Yesteryears (Unforgettable melodies) – part 1, usha manohartakes up “Chitragupt, Sardar Mallik and Narayan Dutta who were not often approached by any of the top movie makers like Bimal Roy, Nasir Hussain, Guru Dutt , Raj Kapoor or Mehboob Khan, but nonetheless they did make an impact, and once in a while did get a chance to work with some top film makers. Whenever they composed music for any film, they came out with some of the most melodious and meaningful compositions .

In Part 2she takes up Dattaram, G S Kohli and Sapan Jagamohan.

In Part 3, Ajit Merchant, Iqbal Quereshi and Bipin Babul have been covered in details.

Fascinating True Story Of A Lata Mangeshkar Song Born in A Los Angeles Music Shop – narrates a very interesting story of a song which later in the same year (1958) Salil Chwdury composed – a classical Bengali song in Raag Khamaj (Carnatic-Hari Kambhoji) using the lovely Sur Bahar Sitar, David Bernard (of that LA music shop) gifted him in Los Angeles.. Sitar is the only musical instrument that is predominantly heard in the orchestration of this entire private song.. Perhaps this is also the only song in the Indian music history today wherein only Sitar is heard throughout a song..This Bengali song, is “..Naa jeo naa rajani ekhono baki..aaro kichhu dite baki.. bole raatjaaga pakhi..” was sung by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar..and its Hindi version “O Sajana barkhaa bahaar aayee..Ras ki phuhaar laayi.. Akhiyon mein pyar laayi..” (Parakh-1959).

Funny Hindi Songs – 20 Best Old Hindi Comedy Songs – “The other day I was watching the weekend show on Times Now which featured some of the best old Hindi comedy songs of yesteryear. Thus was the birth of this hub. They showed around 9 -11 songs as for the time constraint which every program on TV has. Here on the net, we don’t have any such time constraint, so I went ahead to compile a list of best 20 funny Hindi songs…..All these songs are excellently written and in one form or the other will give you a happy feeling. If the lyrics don’t evoke the laughing gases in you then do watch the video and shake a leg with it.”

We take a pause here in our charting of new waters.

Sickle Songs? Has listed three songs:

Aai Sawan Rut Ai – Mela (9148) – Mukesh, Shamshad Begum – Naushad

Naache Re Dharati Ke Pyaare – Heera Moti (1959) – Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar – Salil Chudhary [This is the only song composed by Salil Chaudhary, all others were composed by Roshan)

Aaj Meri Man Men Sakhi – Aan (1952) – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus – Naushad

Does anyone have any more of the songs to add on to this subject?

Multiple Version Songs (16): Rabindra Sangeet and Pankaj Mullickis a very tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) and Pankaj Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) by guest author N Venkataraman.

SoY has also released one more of Multiple Version Songs post — Multiple Versions Songs (17): Haunting Melodies in Different Moods And Settings — guest written by yours truly.

We have a very interesting two part article by Shrikant Guatam, in his regular weekly (Gujarati) column “RangRaag” in ‘Madhuvan’   supplement of Janmabhoomi Pravasi. The article has listed Exceptional Partnerships – that of a music director and a lyricist – in the world of Hindi Film Music and have provided songs such partnerships have germinated. Since recording each of the song in the article here would entail copying the whole article, I have listed here the Partnership and the film(s) in which they have collaborated:

Hemant Kumar	Sahir Ludhianvi	Girl Friend	1960
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ek Hi Rasta	1956
	Gulzar	Khamoshi	1969
S D Burman	Gulzar	Bandini	1963
[just one song – Mora Gora Ang Lai Le – Lata Mangeshkar; beginning the long innings that Gulzar played donning lyricist cap, among several others]
Madan Mohan	Gulzar	Mausam	1975
	Sahir Ludhianvi	Railway Platform	1955
		Ghazal	1964
(jointly with Jai Dev)		Laila Majnu	1976
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Aakhari Dao	1958
Naushad	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Shajahan	1946
		Andaz	1949
		Saathi	1968
Roshan	Neeraj	Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasl	1965
Laxmikant Pyarelal	Hasrat Jaipuri	Chhaila Babu	1967
Kalyanji Anandji	Sahir Ludhianvi	Nanha Farishta	1969
	Gulzar	Purnima	1965
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ishara	1964
	Hasrat Jaipuri	Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani	1970

Both parts of the article, in Gujarati, can be read here and here.

This spurred me to re-look at an article on Shailendra’s filmography. Shailendra’s is a classic 80-20 Pareto Principle case – his great bulk of the work is with Shaker Jaikishan, followed by work with S D Burman and Salil Chaudhary and to fair extent with Roshan. Interestingly he has an equally impressive list of ‘exceptional partnerships’. Here are these gems:

Basant Prakash	Badnaam	1952
Sapan Jagmohan	Begana	1963
Ninu Majumdar	Bhai Saaheb	1954
Robin Banerjee	Massom	1960
Shailesh Mukherjee	Savera	1958
Shivram Narayan	Naya Kadam	1958
Chitragupta	Kal Hamara Hai	1959
R D Burman	Chhote Nawab	1961
Manohar	Chingari	1955
Sudhir Kar	Kaanch Ki Gudiya	1961
Shardul Kwatra	Piple Saheb	1954
	Tees Maar Khaan	1955
Kalyanji Anandji	Satta Bazar	1959
Kishore Kumar	Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Men	1964
	Hum Do Daku	1967
	Door Ka Raahi	1971
Anil Biswas	Sautela Bhai	1962
	Chhoti Chhoti Baaten	1965
C. Ramchandra	Chhatrapati Shivaji	1952
	Anarkali	1953
Ravi	Dilli Ka Thug	1958
	Jawani Ki Hawa	1959
	Nai Raahen	1959
Mukul Roy	Shailab	1956
	Detective	1958
Pandit Ravi Shankar	Anuradha	1960

Our friend Bhagwan Thavrani remembers: Tum Na Aaye Sanam Shama Jalti Rahi – Bhootnath (1963) – Vedpal – Lata mangeshkar – wherein he especially takes note of “Meri Awaz Ko Jaane Kyaa Ho Gaya, Main Baharon Men Gaati Rahi Jogiya.

We now take up regular take on Mohammad Rafi :

• Mohammad Rafi – A documentary

• Mohammad Rafi- A short film on his life and songs – Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 of film on the songs and life of legendary singer Mohammad Rafi, with inputs of Vinod Viplav, who has written his first biography-Meri Awaz Suno. This short film was produced and aired by CNBC News and Entertainment TV Channel.

• Rare Unreleased Romantic Songs By Mohammed Rafi , composed by Madan Mohan

• Meri Awaaz Suno – Part 1 – Memories of Madan Mohan through his timeless melodies sung by Mohammad Rafi – Features introduction by Madanji, new nostalgic comments by Madanji and tributes by Mala Sinha, Khayyam and Jagjit Singh. It also features snippets of songs from Aakhari Dao (1958), Ghazal (1964), Suhagan (1964), Sharabi (1964), Haqueequat (1964) and Mera Saaya (1966).

Meri Awaaz Suno – Part 2 – Memories of Madan Mohan through his timeless melodies sung by Mohammad Rafi – Features tributes by Lataji, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Jaidev, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Jatin-Lalit. It also features snippets of songs from Aap Ki Parchhaiyan (1964), Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1966), Heer Ranjha (1970), Naunihal (1967), Chirag (1969), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Laila Majnu (1976) and Tere Bagair (2009).

Each of our episodes is able to scratch the surface of all the great work done by a vast number of fans, lovers and knowledgeable people on the web, i.e. leaving out even a greater amount of documentation done on the print media. Let us salute these great work and join in bring up more and more of such work in our reach…….