Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory: Char Diwari (1961)
If Salil Chowdhury – 10 November 1922 – 5 September 1995 – is said to have created his music is not design but to express himself in his own way, then Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966) lyrics for Hindi films truly reflected his grasp of the context of situation which was expressed in lyrics that flowed out naturally.
rafi_recording shown to user
Shailendra’s association with Shankar Jaikishan can be considered as an accident that the destiny had planned for the benefit of Hindi Film Songs. However, the association of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra can be said to be more a meeting of two artists who were molded in a similar template – of originality, creativity and imagination. That Shailendra knew Bangla and had the knack of creating original feelings in the lyrics that were set into a pre-cast tune further cemented the bond between the two.
To commemorate the memory of Salil Chowdhury, we have been devoting our November episode to Salil Chowdhury’s compositions receding from our memory. We had remembered Salil Chowdhury’s Hindi Film Songs in Other Languages in 2017. We then commenced a series of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory, wherein we took up their films together in the chronological order of release for remembering the songs receding from the memory from these films. Till now we have covered the years
Presently we will take up Salil Chowdhury- Shailendra’s films for the year 1961. Salil Chowdhury had had six films – Char Diwari; Chhaya; Kabuliwala; Maya; Mem Didi and Sapan Suhaane – in the year 1961. Shailendra had penned songs for three of these – Char Diwari, Mem Didi and Sapan Suhane – films. Quite a few of the songs from these films had caught the attention of the general listening audience. However, when we look at these songs today, we find that each of the song has some or other signature impression of either Salil Chowdhury, or Shailendra or, even both. As such we will dedicate ne episode to each of these three films.
Char Diwari (1961)
Char Diwari was old-fashioned social melodrama, based on the theme of traditional role of the Indian women in the Indian society – be totally dedicated to the domestic duties of her husband’s household, even in the face of all kinds of hardships. It is the maiden movie for Shashi Kapoor as the lead actor as well as the first among many subsequent hits for the leading pair of Shashi Kapoor and Nanda
Gori Babul Ka Gharwa Ab Hai Bideshwa, Saajan Ke CharanoN Mein Hai Ghar Tera – Lata Mangeshkar and chorus
The opening line of the farewell song for the daughter (now a bride, and then a wife) sets up the tone of role of an Indian woman in the Indian society. Shailendra then immediately embeds the title of the film in the next line while further defining the aim of the woman in that life –
ho gori chaar deewaari angana atari
yehi teri duniya ye jag hai tera
Kaise Manaoon Piyawa Goon Ek Hu Mere NahiN, Ayi Milan Ki Bela GabarauN Man Maanhi – Mukesh
Shailendra once again draws up the picture of a woman’s mind as he readies herself to step into the home and life of her husband.
However, the poet at the core of Shailendra also does not miss the opportunity of vividly narrating any woman as she readies herself to the new phase of a married life –
saajan mere aaye
dhadkan badhti jaaye
naina jhukte jaayen
ghoonghat dhalta jaaye
tujhse kyun sharmaaye
aaj teri parchhaayi
Salil Chowdhury indeed has so exceedingly weaved in the tenseness and eagerness of that woman’s feelings in this background songs composition, and in the process has given Mukesh one of his best songs.
Aside Trivia:
Salil Chowdhury has used this tune and composed a NFS – Beete Dino Ke Sapne Hamein Yaad Aane Lage Hai ( Lyrics: Yogesh) that he used to compose for Door Darshan and conduct the orchestra himself live on the TV, during his tenure with DD, Delhi, screen in sometime in ‘80s in the voice of Arundhti Holme-Chowdhury
Jhuk Jhuk Jhuk Jhoom Ghata Aye Re, Man Mora Lehraye Pihu Pihu Pihu Papeeha Gaaye – Lata Mangeshkar
Salil Chowdhury is as scintillating mood as the Indian housewife who enjoys the onset of monsoon. The song’s fast pace is so effectively accentuated by all round use of flute – Salil Chowdhury’s preferred instrument –
Akela Tujhe Jaane Na Doongi … Banke Chhaiyan … Main Sang Sang Chaloongi – Lata Mangeshkar
The young girl, be it from any society or region, sees dreams of being with her love always. The girl who will transform into a dutiful wife after her marriage can not be expectation from having similar feelings. Shailendra’s lyrics ably reflect these effervescent feelings duly composed and orchestrated by Salil Chowdhury
Neend Pari Lori Gaaye MaaN Julaye Paalana, So Ja Soja Mere Laalnaa…. Meethe Meethe SapnoN Mein Kho Ja Mere Laalna – Lata Mangeshkar
Lullaby was a very popular genre in Hindi film songs. Most of te music directors have grabbed he opportunity to compose a lullaby by fully deploying the creative skills they had had at their command.
Salil Chowdhury has so imaginatively reused the tune he had first used in Bengali NFS Praantarer Gaan Amar[1] (Utpala Sen, 1953 / The Song of wilderness is mine) to recreate one of the most haunting lullaby.
Humko Samaj Baithi Ye Duniya Deewana …. Par Main Agar Pagal HuN to Ye Duniya Pagalkhana – Mukesh
Apparently, a drunkard song that Salil Chowdhury has transformed into a wonderfully melodic composition. Shailendra also has not missed capitalizing the opportunity to spell out his core philosophy of an egalitarian utopian world
We will take up Salil Chowdhury- Shailendra’s songs for Meme Didi (1961) in our next 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.
[1] The song ‘Prantarero gaan amaar’ made immortal by Utpala Sen was originally recorded by Kanika Banerjee, the famous Rabindrasangeet singer. However, as Salil writes in his book ‘Jibon Ujjibon’, Biswa Bharoti didn’t allow Kanika to sing non-Rabindrasangeet and as a result Kanika’s record was never released.Utpala Sen recorded it later. Rumour has it that Kanika’s record, although never released, is still in existence. So, who knows. May be one day some fanatic collector may find it. – Other Singers @ World of Salil Chowdhury
Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory: 1958 to 1960
Salil Chowdhury – 10 November 1922 – 5 September 1995 – had had natural attraction towards to folk music and studied inclination towards the Western Classical music. He could also play several musical instruments. In fact, it is said that any instrument that he could lay his hands on he would be able to play it very comfortably. It was the combination of the effect of these music influences that made his compositions always melodious, even when quite complex in the structure. His orchestration was always symphonic with blend of intricate use of the different instruments.
His music never got molded into any pattern. His flair for experimentation always lent his own signature originality to his composition. He was so deeply committed to his personal, social values that he never let his music be driven by the competitive market forces. For him melody was so sacrosanct that strongly believed in composing the tune first and then would want his lyricist to pen lyrics that suit the tune – in metre as well as spirit. Since he was also a poet, he would fine tune his tune with his own (dummy) lyrics. Many a times the official lyricist would love to simply take over Salil Chowdhury’s lyrics as a base to build the lyrics for the song.
It was perhaps the unique skill of Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966) to come up with lyrics that fitted the tune and the mood that so easily made Salil Chowdhury comfortable working with him. Coupled with this, it was Shailendra’s knowledge of Bengali language and the earthen-closeness and selection of easy and natural words that Shailendra required to express deep emotions that also would have weighed in building the strong bond between the two. In fact, from the films that Shailendra wrote songs beyond Shankar-Jaikishan quartet team, Salil Chowdhury- Shailendra combination share is almost one third.
To commemorate the memory of Salil Chowdhury, we have been devoting our November episode to Salil Chowdhury’s compositions receding from our memory. We had remembered Salil Chowdhury’s Hindi Film Songs in Other Languages in 2017. We then commenced a series of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory, wherein we took up their films together in the chronological order of release for remembering the songs receding from the memory from these films. Till now we have covered the years
Presently we will take up relatively less heard songs from Salil Chowdhury-Shailendra combination for the years 1958 till 1960. 1958 had only one film Madhumati, 1959 had one song from only one film – Heera Moti- and 1960 had 3 films, Honeymoon, Parakh and Usne Kaha Tha.
Madhumati (1958)
Salil Chowdhury created his own space with his maiden Hindi film Do Bigha Jameen (1953). His subsequent forays with Shailendra, Naukari (1954), Jagate Raho (1956) and Musafir (1957) were well received as far as the music of these films was concerned, but the much-respected roaring commercial success of the films that Bolywood Hindi film arena required for a music director to be in demand still eluded him. Madhumati was that proverbial deliverance of the destiny. As can be recollected from a book by Bimal Roy’s daughter, Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, Bimal Roy’s Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes (published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd) – an excerpt from which can be read here – till Madhumati finally happened as it was, it was not very smooth sailing for the Salil Chowdhury-Shailendra duo. In fact, had it not been Bimal Roy’s closeness with and faith in Salil Chowdhury, destiny would have taken different turn. Well, the grand success of Madhumati and its music, in the face of extremely intense competition with a huge successful music of an exceptionally large number of other films during 1957 and 1958 can be better viewed form the fact that for the year 1958, Filmfare awards for Best Music Director and Female Singer being bagged by Madhumati (Aja Re Pardesi, Main To Kab Se Khadi Is Paar), Shailendra got Best Lyrics award for Ye Mera Diwanapan Hai (Yahudi) even when Suahana Safar Ye Mausam HasiN was also nominated in the category.
I have been able to pick up only two songs for the present episode, since all other songs continue to remain hugely popular even today.
Hum Haal-e-Dil Sunayenge Suniye Ke Na Suniye, Sau Bar Muskarayenge Suniyre Ke Na Suniye – Mubarak Begum
This gem of a mujra song, in the voice of Mubarak Begum, has only sakhi-
tumhaaraa dil mere dil ke baraabar ho nahin saktaa
wo sheeshaa ho nahin saktaa ye patthar ho nahin saktaa
and the above lines of mukhada in the film, before the extremely agitated hero, Dilip Kumar opens the door of the hall where this dance was being performed and the lady on the dance floor stops, so naturally, in her steps, It is to the credit of director Bimal Roy and editor Hrishikesh Mukherjee that songs to comes to a dead stop, much against the well-established tenet of the hero’s entry to take place only after the whole song has been played out.
The full song is available its audio form
Aside Trivia:
The couplet (sher) used as Opening Couplet (Sakhi) in this song is picked up from a Daag Dehlvi ghazal.
Similarly, the lines of the second stanza
“Ajab Hai Aah Meri, Naam ‘Daag’ Hai Mera Tamaam Shahar Jala DogeE Kya Jala Ke Mujhe’
Is also ‘lifted’ from the last sher of the same ghazal by Daag Dehlvi
Moreover, Shailendra has used lines Rahega Ishq Tera of the first stanza again as sakhi in the song. Aa Aabhi Ja Raat Dhalane Lagi (Teesri Kasam, 1966; singer: Lata Mangeshkar; music – Shankar Jaikishan)
(This information is courtesy a comment on the post on this song @ Atul’s Song A Day)
Kancha Le Kanchi Lai Lajo, Ban Ko Baato Laltin Lai Baalera – Asha Bhosle, Sabita Chowdhury, Ghulam Mohammed
The sakhi and repeated use of the same in song is in Nepali language, which probably Salil Chowdhury would have heard. This is a folksong narrating the tale of a girl who has, in all probabilities, eloped. Shailendra easily takes over from there and weaves in relevant stanzas.
Salil Chowdhury has gleefully set up several experiments in the composition.
Another noteworthy point in this song is use of Ghulam Mohammed, who was a role model of Mohammad Rafi during Rafi’s initial days. Ghulam Mohammed had fallen on bad times by 50s. This song may have been offered to him as gesture of help.
Aside Trivia:
Here is the rough translation of the lyrics of Nepali lyrics, courtesy a comment by Jeta Sankrityayana on this song @Atul’s Song A Day:
(kaanchha ) the young boy took away (kaanchhi) the young girl (Ban ko baato) along a forest road (laltin lai baalera) after lighting up a lantern…
Heera Moti (1959)
Naach Re Dharti Ke Pyare Tere ArmanoN Ki Dunuya Saamne Hai Tere – Hemant Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Chorus
This was the only song composed by Salil Choudhary in this movie, all the other songs were composed by Roshan. As noted by World of Salil Chowdhury, just before recording of the song, Roshan, who was on a cultural mission to Russia was taken ill. He sent a telegram to the director Krishan Chopra to advise him to request Salil Chowdhury to compose the Title music and the opening song.
The song seems to be based on folk tradition. World of Salil Chowdhury notes that It is a great pity that the song “aay re o pousali bataasey (the air of month of Posh is in the winds) “- the original Bengali version of the present song – was never released. This is one of Salil’s earlier compositions from the ’40s during the IPTA days.
Honeymoon (1960)
The film was directed by Lekhraj Bhakri, who is cousin of Manjo Kumar 9 The hero in the film) and brother of well-known lyricist of 40s, Mulkraj Bhakri. He has used Salil Chowdhury in Tongawali (1955) previously.
The film did not seem to have done well at the box office, but all the songs were extremely melodious. Except two songs – Saanj Bhayi Sun Ri Sakhi and Duniya Na Dekhe Zamana Na Jane – all other songs have Bengali version (which can be accessed at Honeymoon (1960) on World of Salil Chowdhury.
Aside Trivia:
Shri Arunkumar Deshmukh notes that this was the last film of Kuldeep Kaur, one of three leading ladies in the film. She died of a tragic death thereafter. Her life story can be read at KULDIP KAUR: A SPOILED RICH PUNJABAN ACTRESS.
Saanj Bhayi Sun Ri Sakhi Man Chhine Kisaki Bansi – Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar
Look at the way Salil Chowdhury has played with flute first in the mukhada and then in the form of dance beat vocals, as well as the opening notes of interlude orchestration, The song has flute as the central instrument, but used as ensemble orchestra pieces.
Aaha Re Magan Mera Chanchal Man Nis Din Gun Gun Kuchh Apni Hi Dhun Mein Gaye – Lata Mangeshkar
On the face of it this a simple stage-show dance song, a situation very frequently used in Hindi films in those days. But with Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra one can expect interesting experimentation. The song composition runs in almost one breath, with Shailendra deftly using the lyrics making that possible for the singer to sing.
Such a composition can perhaps materialize only when melody comes first and the body of lyrics is built around it to result into a piece of beauty.
Mere KhawboN Mein KhayaloN Chhupe Meet Mere Meri Gali Chalein Aayengein – Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar
Documented as duet, the song, in fact, is a symmetric duet. Sail Chowdhury has used as humming alaap in the interlude pieces. From Salil Chowdhury’s standard, the song is relatively easier one to sing, and as such had gained wide acceptance.
The solo version by Lata Mangeshkar does not seem to have been released on the records, but we have an audio version on YT. Interestingly, the order in which the lyrics have been used in the interludes has been interchanged here. The song was remade by Salil Chowdhury in Bengali for the film Raktaako Bangala (1972), a film produced in Bangladesh.
Duniya Na Dekhe Zamana Na Jane Chalo KahiN Dur Chalein – Dwijen Mukherjee, Lata Mangeshkar
Salil Chowdhury has his own style for the horse-beat Tonga songs. Flute, his favorite instrument, again is the key instrument in the song.
Chhuo Na Chhuo Albele Mere Saiyan Main To Nazuk Badan Chhui-Mui – Mukesh, Sabita Banerjee
In the delight mood duet, the song opens with first line as if the heroine would be in the trot when she sings the line. This line is played in same way across the whole song.
Tum Jo Mile To Khila Hai Gulab… Piya Tum Tod Na Dena, Khwab Ye Mere Dil Ka….- Sabita Banerjee
The heroine playfully acknowledging the bud of love germinating is also frequently used situation for a song in Hindi films. Salil Chowdhury brings out that joy in this difficult composition.
Parakh (1960)
Billed as one of the best films directed by Bimal Roy, Parakh (the test of the identity) brings out lighter and satirical side of Bimal Roy’s film-making art. Not surprisingly, Bimal Roy received the Filmfare award as the best director a hattrick with Madhumati and Sujata being the earlier two. The story of the film is written by Salil Chowdhury and the dialogues by Shailendra. The lead male actor, as paired with the heroine in the Hindi film mold is a Bengali actor Basanta Chowdhury (who also went on to become sheriff of Calcutta), but the real hero is Motilal, in the role of a ‘lame’ postman, who lays the script on the screen. He won the Best Supporting (!?) Actor Filmfare award. Parakh was the in the list of 1-core box-office revenue roll for the year 1960. The film was ahead in time in many ways.
Kya Hawa Chali Re Baba Rut Badli, Shor Hai Gali Gali Sau Sau Chuhe Khake Billi Haz Ko Chali – Manna Dey
The village postmaster, who finds his life change dramatically when he receives a cheque for Rs. 5 lakhs from a certain Sir J.C. Roy. The cheque comes with a rider – the money would go to the most honest man in the village, someone who would use the wealth for the benefit of the people.
The song represents that search. Salil Chowdhury has fallen back on Bowl folk tradition of rural Begal, but Shailendra gets a clear ground to present his core egalitarian philosophy, as can be seen here:
pahle log mar rahe the bhukh se abhaw se
ab kahiN ye mar na jaye apni khaw khaw se
are mithi bat kadwi lage galiyaN bhali
aaj to jahan ki ulti har ek bat hai … …. …
are hum jo kahe din hai bhai log kahe rat hai ….. ….
ret me bhi khil rahi hai pyar ki kali
aam mein uge khazur neem mein fale hai aam
dakuoN ne jog liya chor bake ram nam
hosh ki dawa karo miyaN fazal ali
Mere Man Ke Diye… Yunhi Ghut Ke Jal Tu Mere Ladle – Lata Mangeshkar
Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra weave poignancy in the song, so soulfully rendered by Lata Mangeshkar and presented by Sadhana on the screen. Salil Chowdhury has so skillfully used choir chorus in the counter melody as well as in the interlude orchestration music pieces.
Kamal Bose’s catches the song as a classic in B&W cinematography.
Usne Kaha Tha (1960)
Usne Kaha That was a Bimal Roy Production banner film, directed by his one-time assistant in films like Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati etc, Moni Bhattacharya. The film was cinematic adaption of Chandradhar Sharma Guleri’s renowned Hindi short story by same name[1]. The film adaption somewhere missed out the perfect characterization and development of story plot of the original story. It is actually the tale of love, valor and sacrifice with an underlying melancholy refrain. Set against the rural background of Amritsar and Ambala, it seems the Bengali production unit could neither catch the earthy flavor of the locale of the story nor its nuances of interwoven into the title Usne Kaha Tha.
However, Salil Chowdhury’s melodious music and Shailendra’s appropriate playful lyrics were the redeeming features of the film. Salil Chowdhury exceptionally came up with compositions with natural Punjabi touch, while maintaining his signature symphonic orchestration style.as can be seen in the popular songs, Machalti Arzoo Khadi Baahein ((Lata Mangeshkar) and Aha Rhimjim Ke Ye Pyare Pyare Geet Liye (Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar)
Chalte Hi Jana Jahan Tak Aaj Ye Rah Chale… – Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, chorus
Salil Chowdhury blends a tonga song with gay abandon of Punajbi youth. Such a song requires not only power of diction while maintaining the speed of rhythm. As such, having once chosen Mohammad Rafi and Manna Dey, Salil Chowdhury takes the full advantage of the range of their singing and each one is given lines that require rendition in base scale of the higher octave. Salil Chowdhury’s mastery over chorus orchestration also is evident when he makes the chorus also to sing in the similar fashion.
Balkhati Sharmati Aaja LehroN Si Lehrati Aaja, Balkhati Sharmati Aaja, – Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, chorus
Here is one song that epitomizes Salil Chowdhury’s versatility. Someone identified as the music director with penchant for Bengali- Assamese folk tunes and Western classical orchestration styles, Salil Chowdhury perfectly creates Punjabi rural atmosphere in the song.
With these songs Salil Chowdhury-Shailendra combination seems to have reached the peak of quality, and range as well as the popularity. On that note, we continue our journey of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory….
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.
‘Khushboo’ — how Gulzar captured a strong woman who loves but won’t be a pushover – Unnati Sharma -At a time when women did not have much say in a lot of matters, especially when it came to relationships & matrimony, ‘Khushboo’ is a story of a woman exercising her choice. Based on Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s — it is his 145th birth anniversary on 15 September — novel, Panditmoshai, Khushboo is set in a village.
Skateistan in Afghanistan – Films and Videos Documenting an Era Now Lost – Skateistan, is an international non-profit project that was originally started in Kabul in 2007 to encourage and teach skateboarding to children in Afghanistan, with a special concern about bringing in girls[1].….. Probably the best place to start would be a British-made documentary that won an Oscar/Academy award in 2020 – Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl)….. “Faranas’ Story” does not contain a lot of skateboard moves, but like the award-winning documentary, it does contain a lot of very moving observations (on the part of this girl) and speculation about the future that can be a bit heart-wrenching when looked at from the present moment.
Ten of my favourite male duets which feature two men singing: two actors (at least) onscreen, two playback singers contributing their voices to the song.
Boat Songs – Part I focused on the songs that had only the couple on the boat. Now, Part II takes songs with three or more, but not more than five or six people. Excluded here are the songs sung by the boatman or if the boat carrying the singing character is part of the group of boats..
The Paper, Ink and Pen Songs are ten songs that refer to writing equipment in the mukhda. The focus of this post is not letter writing. Thus, the reference to letter writing is purely incidental in some songs. The spotlight is on the ink, the surface chosen to write, the stylus/pen and in a song or two, the scribe.
From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:
Dosti: When romantic and platonic love mesh into a divine form – Starring Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar, Satyen Bose’s 1965 film Dosti holds a dear place in the audience’s hearts for its representation of love – which could be seen as platonic by some, and romantic by others.
In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, each one of which basically has a link with the topics discussed in the present post.
Naiyya Ka Meri Tu Hi Khavaiya – Zamana (1957) – Indeevar – Salil Chowdhury
Ya Keh De Hum Insaan Nahin, Ya Man Ja Tu Bhagwan Nahi – Chhaya (1961) – Rajinder Krishna – Salil Chowdhury
Insaan Ki Zindgi Hai Dukh Sukh Ka Ek Jhoola – Jhoola (1962) Rajinder Krishna – Salil Chowdhury
Ab Jang Shuru Kal Se Ab Kal Se Hai Sangraam – Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (1966) – Pradeep – Salil Chowdhury
I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.
Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.
[1] Skateboarding in Afghanistan | Oliver Percovich – The founder of Skateistan | TEDxSydney
Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory: 1957
Salil Chowdhury (10 November 1922 – 5 September 1995) was undoubtedly a versatile music personality – writer, lyricist, script writer, activist and of course one of the most respected music composers. His music was rooted as much in the folk music of Bengal and Assam as it was in the Western symphonies. His compositions and orchestrations had a very district style. Most of his compositions would be incredibly challenging to sing. And yet, the sheer melody that it offered made many of his difficult tunes are also his immensely popular songs. His lyricists for a good many films, Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966), too, was a person rooted to the basic of life. Shailendra may not be considered a poet in the traditional literary parlance, but his simple lyrics had had profound impact on his listeners. His command of delivering an immensely powerful idealistic message or describing a complex feeling in the simple words was unparalleled.
Even when they had fundamentally very similar sociopolitical mindsets, the chemistry of apparently two different music personalities created very unique set of Hindi film songs. In terms of ratio of memorable songs to total songs or variety of moods represented, qualitatively quite comparable to Shailendra-Shankar Jaikishan or Shailendra -S D Burman, Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra quantitatively have composed songs only next to these two combinations.
To commemorate the memory of Salil Chowdhury, we have been devoting our November episode to Salil Chowdhury’s compositions receding from our memory. We had remembered Salil Chowdhury’s Hindi Film Songs in Other Languages in 2017. We then commenced a series of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory, wherein we took up their films together in the chronological order of release for remembering the songs receding from the memory from these films. Till now we have covered the years
Presently, we will take up Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s songs receding frm the memory form the three films – Ek Gaon Ki Kahani and Musafir for the year 1957. Salil Chowdhury had composed music for Apradhi Kaun and Laal Batti (with Majrooh Sultanpuri) and Zamana (with Indeevar and Prem Dhawan; the film had two songs composed by Anil Biswas, too).
Kana Kubda Langda Loola Budha Doctor Aayega – Asha Bhosle
Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra have produced a light-mood, thoroughly enjoyable, song.
O Haay Koi Dekh Lega – Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar
The song opens with a very lilting prelude. The duet, though extremely sweet, is indeed a difficult composition.
Chale Thhumak Thhumak Taare Meethe Sapno Ke Dware – Lata Mangeshkar
This is a lullaby. Salil Chowdhury has used relatively easier composition Use of soft sounds of ensemble of violins. The main song as well as the interlude orchestration has Salil Chowdhury’s signature flute pieces
Din Holi Ka Aa Gaya Rang Dalo Hoji Ho – Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar. Chorus
The occasions of festivals like Holi have provided ideal situation for songs in Hindi films. Different directors have used the situation for different purposes – sometimes the song just comes in as a filler or sometimes as an important element of the story. Lyricists compose the lyrics accordingly. Different directors also have adopted very different approaches in composing the song, even if they have stuck to the normal Holi song tunes of North India. Salil Chowdhury has provided ample improvisations in the songs to make it sound very realistic composition.
Musafir (1957)
Based on the Ritvik Ghatak story of three families’ ’traveler’ stay at a house, Musafir was the maiden directorial venture of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. In effect, it connects up three stories with a common link of a house. Every time the family leaves the house, like a traveler on the move, at least one member of the family will state that she will always remember this house. The film was awarded a Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film in Hindi for the year 1957.
Man Re Hari Gun Gaa, Un Sang Preet Lagaa – Lata Mangeshkar
Filmed on Suchitra Sen, the lead actress of the first of the three episodes, is a simple bhajan, in terms of the song genres. The song has a special important place in the narrative of the episode.
Munna Bada Pyaara, Ammi Ka Dulara, Koi Kahe Chand Koi Ankh Ka Taara – Kishore Kumar
This is a song pertaining to the second story in the film. Shailendra has weaved in wonderful dreams of the middle-class people in each stanza. Salil Chowdhury has composed a very pleasant tune, and Kishore Kumar is at his usual maverick improvisation best.
Tedhi Tedhi Humse Phire Saari Duniya… Har Koi Najar Bacha Chala Jaye Dekho…Jaane Kahe Hamse Kaatey Saari Duniya – Manna Dey, Shamshad Begum, chorus
The song have several unique features.
First, Shailendra has made a cameo appearance of street song performer, with a harmonium strung on. This is second such on-screen performance. The first one was in the song Chali Kaun Se Desh Gujariya Tu Saj Dhaj Ke (Boot Polish, 1954).
Second, is Keshto Mukherjee’s maiden appearance on Hindi cinema. Her he comes up in the role of a autistic handicapped person, a very routine feature of such travelling street performers so as to encash some human pity into more alms catch. At the end of the song ,just watch him approaching Kishore Kumar to part with some cash, all in sign language !! What a pity that such a wonderful comedy actor remained typecast as THE drunkard in the films!
Third, of course, is use of Shamshad Begum by Salil Chowdhury. Shamshad Begum plays back to Heera Sawant, the dance performer of the troupe.
Shailendra is at his usual egalitarian best mood at every word of the song!
Laagi Nahi Choote Rama Chahe Jiya Jaye – Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
First, of course, the most novel feature of the song – Dilip Kumar singing his own song. The songs, for a non-regular singer like him, is not that easy to sing. But, Dilip Kumar has done such a marvelous job of it.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee has filmed the Lata Mangeshkar part as a memory recall running at the back of mind of Usha Kiran. As such, the voice seems to come from deep within!
Ek Aaye Ek Jaaye Musafir -Shyamal Mitra
The title and theme song that carries the message of the film, is filmed on Mohan Choti (a.k.a. Mohan Goraskar).
The song comes up once more in the film. The clip here has both versions.
We normally take up one Mohammad Rafi song to end the episode. However, in the present case, we do not have any Mohammad Rafi song in either of these films. So, we will take a small detour, and import one song from Salil Chowdhury’s 1957 films with other lyricist.
Naiya Ka Meri Tu Hi Khewaiya – Zamana (1957) = Lyrics: Indeevar
Salil Chowdhury has used chorus both as chorus accompaniment and as counter music support.
Our journey of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s receding from the memory songs on this platform.
We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month……..
Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.
Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory – 1956
Salil Chowdhury (B: 19 -11-1925 / D: 5-9-1995) and Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966), both very creative in their own fields had their own originality. Moreover Shailendra was easily able maintain his own style even he was given a tune first, for a given situation. Shailendra had an additional advantage of good knowledge of Bangla language. Resultantly, Shailendra could add life to the beautiful, melodious content that Salil Chowdhury conceived. It is perhaps no coincidence that Shailendra first shot to fame with Utha hai toofan zamana badal raha (set to music by Salil Chowdhury) for IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association), the cultural arm of the Communist Party of India.[1]
We have commenced an annual series on Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory w.e.f. November, 2018. We listened to their songs for the years 1953 to 1955 and those of film Awaz last year.. For the present episode we will cover their two more films for the year 1956. Both these films have Bengali background.
Parivaar (1956):-
The two duets from the film – Ja Tose Nahin Bolun Kanhaiya (Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar) and Jhir Jhir Badarwa Barse Ho Kare Kare (Hemant Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar) – are two of the most memorable duets of the Hindi Films. The other songs from the film also present a much needed variety to the Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra combination.
Baawali Bana Ke Chhoda – Asha Bhosle
This is one of the rarest gem of an Asha Bhosle songs.
Ek Do Teen Chaar Paanch – Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle, chorus)
Kuven Mein Dub Ke Mar Jaana Yaar Tum Shaadi Mat Karna – Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar has used at least five different voices and that too flawlessly. On the whole, the song has been a classic vintage Kishore Kumar gem.
Jaagte Raho (1956):-
Jaagte Raho was brilliantly transformed into a Bengali version Ek Din Ratre. Most of the songs have been used in the same situation.
Zindagi Khwab Hai (Mukesh) has been filmed as Ei Duniyay Bhai Shob Hi Hoy in Ek Din Ratre – Manna Dey – (Lyrics: Salil Chowdhury)
The song is filmed on Chhabi Biswas. The perfect synchronization of lyricisists in both version provides us ample testimony of the bonding of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra.
Manna Dey has as well recorded a cover version of the Hindi version of the song, in line with very popular practice of those days.
Thandi Thandi Sawan Ki Phuhar – Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is so natural in this song that the pathos of the song roots deeply in our mind. Sandhya Mukherjee’s portrayal of the song in the Bengali version is as melancholic too, even as both compositions are totally different.
Lo She Vai Vai Maine Jo Li Angadai – Sandhya Mukherjee, chorus
We do not have any directly related song of Mohammad Rafi for our present episode. So I have veered slightly away, and have picked up –
Teki Mein Jhooth BoliyaN – Jagte Raho (1956) – Lyrics Prem Dhawan – Mohammad Rafi with S Balbir
Bengali version – Ek Din Ratre- has retained the song as it is..
In one of the interviews Salil Chowdhury gave all credit to Prem Dhawan for this song.
This song also helps in the beginning of the end of our episode, in continuing with our tradition of listening to Mohammad Rafi song(s) relevant to the subject.
As we do not have any more directly related song of Mohammad Rafi, I have gone back in to the previous years of Salil Chowdhury’s filmography and have found two songs written by Prem Dhawan.:
Suno Ki Seeta Ki Kahani – Biraj Bahu (1954) – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan .
This a classic background song.
Tere Naino Ne Jadoo Daala – Taangewali (1955) – With Lata Mangeshkar – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan
We have a quintessential Punjabi folk tune-based song.
We will continue our journey of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs in our next episode of November, 2020.
We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month……..
Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.
Salil Chaudhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory – 1
Salil Chaudhary (10 November, 1922 – 5 September, 1995)is considered to be belonging to the unorthodox style of music composition even he had manifested marked influence of folk tunes of his native Bengal, had been attracted by the western classical music through the works of Bach, Beethoven or Mozart and adapted Indian classical Ragas too very comfortably. He could play many Indian and Western instruments, and he was an acclaimed writer, playwright, choir conductor, composer and lyricist during his first innings during 40s- till early ‘50s, in Calcutta. His second innings in Mumbai, with his maiden Hindi Film, Do Bigha Zameen, brought him in contact with another genius- Shailendra.
Whether it was Shailendra’s knowledge of Bengali, his capability to write poetic lyrics, fully reflecting the situation in the film, even when presented with a tune or his own background of working as a proletariat, the simple fact remains that, after Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra has written around 108 songs for around 19 Hindi Films under the baton of Salil Chaudhary, which works out to almost one fourth of the Hindi films for which Salil Chaudhary composed music. Salil Chaudhary used to prefer compose tune first and would expect his lyricist to write the lyrics in that spirit. Shailendra’s songs under his composition have retained Shailendra’s poetic touch even under these constraints.
In our series of annual articles, we will cover Shaildendra’s songs composed by Salil Chaudhary We will take a closer look at the songs that seem to receding from the memory while we take note of the songs that remain quite popular even now. For this purpose, we will traverse their films in chronological order.
Do Bigha Jamin (1953)
This is the film for which his script is based on his own short story. As per the original design he was being called in to write the script, and fate landed music composition too in his account. He also composed music for another Bimal Roy directed in the same year – Biraj Bahu. There is not much documentation available how was Shailendra was called in as a lyricist for the film. Nor does it matter, as we have all evergreen songs form this pair’s maiden joint venture:
We will listen to Aaja Ja Ri Aa Nindiya (Lata Mangeshkar) in details here.
Meena Kumari, who was the leading lady of a 1953 Ashok Kumar’s production, and Bimal Roy directed, Parineeta, appears in a cameo role for this lullaby. This remains the only occasion wherein Meena Kumari has perfumed such a cameo role in her entire career.
Naukari 1954
A Nepali tune based happy version o Chhota Sa Ghar Hoga (Kishore, Sheila Belle ) overshadows other songs of the film Salil Chowdhury has experimented with Hemant Kumar for the sad version of this song.
Ek Chhoti Si Naukri Ka Talabdar Hun – Kishore, Shankar Dasgupta, Shyamal Mitra
Shailendra has so wonderfully laid down expectations of an educated youth, which remains universally true at all the times. Salil Chaudhary establishes his prowess to compose light tunes in an unconventional style.
Arji Hamari Ye Marji Hamari, Jo Soche Bina Thukraoge Dekho Bade Pachhataoge – Kishore Kumar
The song opens with what appears to be a simple recital of the application for the job, but soon cleverly gets transformed in an application for a space in mind of the beloved.
Jhoome Re Kali Bhanwara Ulajh Kaanton Mein – Geeta Dutt
Salil Chaudhary has opted for Geeta Dutt’s voice to convey the bubbling pleasure of formal acceptance, with the self, of the budding love relation. Shailendra’s poetic imagination matches every note of the song that expresses the subdued pleasure of the very young girl in the conservative times of a traditional society.
O Man Re Na Gham Kar, Ye Aansoo Banege Sitare, Judai Mein Dil Ke Sahare – Lata Mangeshkar
Salil Chaudhary had so high respect for Lata Mangeshkar’s singing prowess that he would come up with difficult than normal composition for her songs. In the present song, he has used harmonica in the prelude and orchestration of violins with flute in the interludes to create the feeling of train motion. In the process, he has synchronized the director’s use of metaphor of the train movement to indicate the anticipation of much awaited momentum in hero’s life. Shailendra’s lyrics truthfully convey the pang of partition while Sheela Ramani ruefully bids him the farewell.
Amaanat (1955)
Ho Jab Se Mili Tose Ankiyan Jiyara Dole Re (Hemant Kumar, Geeta Dutt) and Meri Wafaye Tumhari Jafaye, Aansoo Likhenge Fasaana Pyar Ka (Asha Bhosle) qualify as more known than the other songs of the film. The former duet is an Assamese folk tune based song, which reelect the feelings of the lead pair. The later Asha Bhosle solo would be immediately recalled by the fans of Asha Bhosle, even if the song has receded from the memory after the onslaught of OPN – Asha deluge in the later years. The songs is a signature Salil Chaudhary composition.
Chet Re Moorkh Chet Re Awsar Beet Jaye Re – Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle
An old saintly beggar and his young keeper singing a song that contains the deep message for the principal protagonists was a popular genre of Hindi Films in that period, and Manna Dey required lot of luck and hard work to get of this cast..
Chhal Chhal Paani Hamari Zindagani Ye Chal Ke Rukana Jaane Na – Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, chorus
The song depicts a cheering group of young children taking out water from the wheel with the help of a bucketed water-wheel. The water flowing into the trough spurs them to the song which the sings the beauty and power of flowing water. The village belle and the working artisans also flow into the mood of the song. Shailendra, too, fully utilizes the opportunity to present the idea of a utopian world!
Baanki Adayein Dekhna Ji Dekhna Dil Na Churaye Dekhanaji – Geeta Dutt
Salil Chaudhary once again uses mellifluous silken charm of Geeta Dutt’s soft voice to express the feelings of Chand Usmani, on the piano, through the lips of her friend, Asha Mathur, in this party.
Jab Tumne Mohabbat Cheen Li Kya Milega Bahroon Se – Asha Bhosle
Salil Chaudhary has, inexplicably, chosen Asha Bhosle for this pathos song. In what is now emerging as his individual style, he has gone onto compose quite complex tune. Asha Bhosle rises to the challenge and does full justice to the confidence invested in her. However, the song become so difficult for an ordinary listener to sing the song on her own, that song does not attain the popularity.
Baba Teri Sone Chiraiya, Jaaye Anajane Ki Nagariya – Lata Mangeshkar
The song is a marriage song wherein bride’s friend try to tone down the pall of gloom that is imminently felt because of the departure of the bride from her parental home. The interlude music has very cleverly interwoven the traditional band party music played during the bridegroom procession.
The other two songs have Mohammad Rafi. Therefore, that makes a very opportune placement to traditionally our post with relevant Mohammad Rafi song(s):
Aayi Baraat Baje Gaaje Se…… Aaj Mera Dulha Kam Nahi Kisi Raje Se – Mohammad Rafi, S.Balbir, chorus
This is the song that friends of the bridegroom sing when they take him on their shoulders to the marriage podium. If the previous genre songs have an undercurrent of pathos, these types of song have loud boisterous tone.
Lo Bhor Hui Panchi Nikle …. Talash Mein Dane Dane Ki, Insan Bhi Lo Ghar Se Nikla, Dhun Roti Kamane Ki – Mohammad Rafi
The song is typically the voice of the proletariat class, which is the basic theme of the film, as evidenced by the title. Shailendra has again taken the opportunity to place his own deep-felt ideals into the poetic mound the lyrics of the song. The song has been very innovatively been placed as the title-credit song, too. Rafi’s very soft delivery of the song also is quite noteworthy.
In these four films, we have been able to look at multiple facets of Salil Chaudhary’s music composing styles and the degree of Salil Chaudhary – Shailendra tuning. The wait till the next year may appear to be too long, but if you consider these songs as the gourmet wine, then that time is indeed required to allow the songs to mature into our minds.
We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month……..
Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.
We have taken up to celebrate Mohammad Rafi’s anniversaries by publishing a series of articles that enlist the solo song of Mohammad Rafi with the music director for the first time in any film. The first 5-year slot of 1944 to 1948 was covered in Part I and Part II in December, 2016. We have covered 1949 and 1950-1951 of the 2nd five-year-slot of 1949 to 1953.
Presently we will take up years 1952 and 1953 of this 1949-1953 period..
[For the sake for structured documentation, I will be following the alphabetical sequence of Film names in the post.]
1952
Year 1952 had 80 songs to Mohammad Rafi’s account, of which 32 songs were solos. Naushad gave a slew of Rafi hits in Aan and Baiju Bawra. For Deewana, Naushad had one of Rafi’s immortal Tasweer Banata Hun Teri Khoon-e-Jigar Se.Ghulam Mohammad had had Rafi in films like Ajeeb Ladki, Amber and Sheesha, C Ramchandra in Saaqui and Maadn Mohan had him in Anjaam. Chitragupt had Rafi songs in a religious film, Bhakta Puran and a Sinbad series film, Sindbad The Sailor. Rafi gets repeat preference by several other music directors too.
O Moorakh Insaan Apne Ko Pehchan – Annadata – Mohammad Safi – Anjum Jaipuri
Mohammed Safi was an excellent Sitar player and music arranger. He has provided music independently in about 14 films and was a key assistant to Naushad.
The most striking feature of the song is so complex orchestration in support of the song as well as for the interludes.
We find second part of the song on YT.
1953
The last year of the 2nd Five-year period of Mohammad Rafi’s career is quite rich in terms of the ‘first film wherein Rafi had a solo song with the music director’ as well as the films with the music directors who seem to have started giving Mohammad Rafi as lead male playback singer. If we have to select one Mohammad Rafi song from this year that has stood up the tests of time that would easily be Madan Mohan’s composition – Ye Duniya Pagalo Ka Bazaar. For the purpose of records, we note that the year had 31 solos songs of Mohammad Rafi out of a total of 71 songs.
Asides:
This should go on records as the only year where Mohammad Rafi has played back in the films which had the three Kapoor brothers.
Ghata Mein Chup Kar..Jo Dil Ki Baat Hoti Hai – Baaz – O P Nayyar – Majrooh Sultanpuri
O P Nayyar gets to toe in the narrow space through this Guru Dutt film which went on create a crescendo in the years to come. Guru Dutt also comes up in this directorial venture for the first time as a n actor too. The present song is cast in quawalli style. Interestingly, OPN has chosen Talat Mahmood for Mujhe Dekho Hasrat Ki Tasveer Hun Main
Koi Ameer Hai Koi Gareeb Hai – Dana Pani – Madan Junior – Kaif Irfani
The film credit has Shashi Kapoor to as one of the actors, who would have been 14 then.
Ajab Tori Duniya Ho More Rama – Do Bigha Jameen – Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra
Here is the song that can be said to be one more defining step in Mohammad Rafi’s career.
Jal Jal Ke Shama Ki Tarah Fariyad – Fariyadi – Baldev Nath Baali – Muzaffar Orakhzai
The song is cast in what we know as Mohammad Rafi’s signature style for the songs of sad mood.
Mohabbat Aur Wafa Ki….Chanda Ka Dil Toot Gaya Hai Roney Lage Hai Sitaare – Khoj – Nissar Bazmi – Raja Mahendi Ali Khan
The film has Shammi Kapoor in the lead role. It is said that Mohammad Rafi had charged only Rs. 1.00 to sing this Nissar Bazmi song.
Sulag Rahi Hein Husn Ki Sigdi Aaja Pakaye Prem Ki Khichadi – Madmast – V Balsara – Madhukar Rajasthani
Deft use of mandolin in the prelude and interlude has the distinct imprint of V Balsara. It seems Rafi was mandated to deliver this light-toned song with a dead-pan expression.
Chudiyan Lelo Gori, Pehan Le Chudi – Paapi – S Mohinder – Raja Mahendi Ali Khan
The record-worthy feature of the film is that this is the only film wherein Raj Kapoor was seen in a double role. And of course, we can count one more film where Rafi has playedback for Raj Kapoor.The film had another solo too – Tera Kaam Hai Jalna O Parawane – which had gained immense popularity.
Naram Naram Yeh Garam Garam Yeh Chane Gagan Ke Tare – Rangeela – Jamal Sen – S H Bihari
To conclude the statistics the music directors with whom Mohammad Rafi sang his first solo song for the 2nd Five-Year-period of Mohammad Rafi’s career, we have had 10 films in 1949, 5 each in 1950 and 1951, 2 in 1952 and 8 films in 1953.
At this stage, Rafi has had established fairly wide base of association with music directors – of the vintage as well as golden era. Also, now more and more of his songs with repeat-music directors are getting high popularity. That sets a very interesting tone for the next 5-Year period.
Salil Chowdhury’s Hindi Film Songs in Other Languages
Salil Chowdhury (b: 19 November 1922; d: 5 September 1995) was as multifaceted as was talented.
We know the gems he has created as a music director. But he was a poet and playwright too. He has composed many of his Bengali poems as NFS Bengali songs. Songs like Gnaayer bodhu, which he composed at the age of 20, brought about a new wave of Bengali music. Almost every notable singer of that time from West Bengal had sung at least one of his songs. That he wrote story for Do Bigha Zameen, based on his short story Rickshawalla is now a well-known detail of his writing abilities trivia.
His interest in music made his cast his net wide from Western classics like Mozart to folk songs of Europe to folk songs of East India to enable him to innovate a d experiment. For example, his Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Kah Raha Hai (Madhumati 1958) does seem to have a very strong influence of a150+ years old Silesian (South-Western) Polish folk song Szla dzieweczka do laseczka ( The girl was walking to the forest)
He was one of the music directors of the school who would so much accord high priority to the music that they would they were insistent upon setting the music first and then set the lyrics of the song to it. Salil Chowdhury was an excellent arranger who was proficient in several musical instruments, including flute, the piano, and the esraj.
We may know that he has composed music for over 75 Hindi and over 40 Bengali films. Many of us may further know that he composed songs for around 27 Malayalam films. And of course, some of us may also know that he did compose music for even Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, a Marathi and Gujarati film as well.
In this tribute post to Salil Chowdhury we have chosen to bring on one page his Hindi songs that have been transposed to other languages. Such songs are so very large number that they would need several posts to cover them all. So we have chosen here the Hindi songs that have receded from our memory such that we get at least one song form each of the languages he composed songs.
(Note of credit for the core information for this post: I have sourced the other language song version-links as well description about these other language songs from the one the most complete online data base of Salil Chowdury’s work, World of Salil Chowdhury. Gautam Choudhury has so painstakingly and lovingly built up the entire collection. Gautam Choudhury himself has recorded several instrumental albums on which he plays harmonica, recorded tribute albums to Salil Chowdhury’s legacy:
So here is our tribute to Salil Chowdhury:
One of many Hindi to-from Bengali songs:
Dil Mera….Na Jaane Re Naa Jaane Re Biraj Bahu (1954) – Shamshad Begum – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan
Gayatri Basu’s “Naa Jaani re” in Bengali ‘Aaj Sandhaay’ (1954) is as haunting and appealing as Shamsaad Begum’s rendering.
(Bengali-)Hindi – Malayamam connection
Dhitang Dhitang Bolay, Dil Tere Liye Dolay – Awaz (1956) – Lata Mangeshkar – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan
The Malayalam version is “Thaiyam Thaiyam” (Neelaponman (1975) a duet by P.Susheela and P.Jayachandran.
The source for both these is a 1954 Hemant Kumar’s NFS – a Salil classic – “Dhitang Dhitang Bole” with a totally new arrangement
(Bengali-)Hindi – Telugu connection
Kai Baar Yoon Bhi Dekha Hai Ye Man Ki Jo Seema Rekha Hai – Rajanigandha (1974) – Mukesh – Lyrics: Yogesh
This one had quite a contemporary Telugu version – Nayanalu Kalise Toli Saari – a duet by P.Susheela and S.P.Balasubramaniam in Chairman Chalamayya (1974).
Ay Mere Dil Gaa Pyaar Ki Dhun Par –Dil Kaa Saathi Dil (1982) – S Janaki, Chorus – Lyrics: Manohar
This film is Hindi dubbed version of Malayalam film, which had become so popular that its Tamil and Telugu versions were also dubbed.
The Tamil version of in this film-dubbing chain was Paruvamazhai (1978) which had the equivalent of the above song Thenmalar Kannikal which is also in S Janaki’s voice.
Here are the Malayalam and Telugu versions as well.
If this was not enough, out of nowhere appears another ‘unknown’ film called Mera Damaad (release date 1995) with another Hindi version of this song. Gautam Choudhury writes: Sometimes I think Salil just lost the track (no pun intended) of his version table! – Jhir Jhir Barse Aaj Gagan Se – Anuradha Paudwal, Sabita Chowdhury, Amit Kumar and Shailendra Singh
It seems the root source is a 1977 Usha Mangeshakr NFS, O phooler dal, in Bengali.
(Bengali-)Hindi – Kannada Connection
Naam Mera Nimmo Muqaam Ludhiyaana – Sapan Suhaane (1961) – Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Day, Dwijen Mukherji – Lyrics: Shailendra
A very fast-paced song wherein male leads Manna Dey and Dwijen Mukherjee aby support Lata Mangeshkar who so ably does the justice to the tempo and the mood of the song.
It appears that opportunity to re-use this tune came up when Kannada film had a situation for a cabaret dance. The case in point is: Dooradinda Bandhantha for film Samasayaphala (1971) by L R Eswari . The song has undergone changes in all spheres except the basic structure of the tune. Guatam Choudhury notes that a regular column writer on Kannada film songs, Sridhar Rajanna writes that: “Dooradinda bandanta sundaraanga jANa” ….is the best cabaret ever, sung by LR Eswari, has excellent rock and roll style guitar music. It is still popular in orchestras and is frequently played on A-I-R.
At the back of the tune must be some Bengal folk tune. So a Bengali version probably was called for to record the nuances of the original tune. The result is Sabita Chowdhury’s NFS of 1963 – Jhilmil jhauer boney.
(Bengali-)Hindi – Oriya Connection
Salil Chowdhury has composed music for only one Oriya film – Batasi Jhada (1981). The film had a Sabita Chowdhury song Rimjhimi Nishaa Bharaaye Raakhi.
Bengali film Antarghaat (1980) has a chronologically earlier version – Jaanina jaanina – in Asha Bhosle’s voice.
Its Hindi version came up in an obscure 1989 film Aakhari Badla. The song was Jaane Kaisaa Jaadoo Ye Chal Gayaa. This version was too in Asha Bhosle’s voice. Its video clip shows that it is a cabaret-type dance number. That leads us to believe that Bengali and Oriya versions would have been filmed for similar situations.
(Bengali-)Hindi – Marathi Connection
The only Marathi film that Salil Chowdhury did was Sunbai (1982), produced by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Guautam Choudhaury writes: Lata wanted to sing her favourite song once again in Marathi. She finally got to sing the same song three times in as many languages! I must say that the Marathi version ‘Preet Khule Maanjhi Soneri’ is equally beautiful.
The original Bengali song, recorded in 1961 – ‘Saat Bhaai Champaa Jaago Re’ is a classic and every Bengali knows it. This song seems to have been based on a Sihalese folk tune.
It’s slow hindi version in Mere Bhaiyaa “Pyaas Liye Manwaa” is also wonderful and also sung by Lata.
Assamese Connection
Salil Chaowdhury has done two Assamese films – Aparajeyo in 1970 and Manas Kanya in 1985. Gautam Chowdhury has not mentioned any Hindi connection to the songs of these films.
Gujarati Connection
Salil Chowdhury’s only Guajarati film was Ghar Sansar (1978).
This film had a Guajarati folk tune based Prafull Dave song – Ho Halo Re Hansa- penned by a noted Gujarati poet Venibhai Purohit.
This song has only Bengali version in a 1980 film ‘Parabesh’ – O Ghoomer Moyna Paakhi by Asha Bhosle
and a Malayalam version in a 1975 film ‘Ragam’- Omanathinkal by P. Susheela .
We will end our post with a couple of Salil Chowdhaury’s Mohammad Rafi’s songs in other languages.
Zindagi Hai Kya Sum Meri Jaan Pyar Bhar Dil Meethi Juban – Maaya (1961) – Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri
Salil Chowdhury had recorded a Bengali NFS – Jhar Jhar More – in the then Bengali and Hindi film hero Biswajeet. Biswajeet had made his Hindi Film debut with Bees Saal Baad.
Like his other contemporary Bengali music director S D Burman, Salil Chowdhury also had an inherent dislike for Mohammad Rafi’s natural Punjabi loudness as against a Bengali voice’s ‘tenderness’. SDB had had to use Rafi for a good many of songs from Pyasa (1957) till Aradhana (1969). In contrast, Salil Chowdhury seems to have used Rafi only when he had to. Dil Tadape Tadapaye, Unke Milan Ko Rarase Woh To Na Aaye (Poonam Ki Raat (1965) – Lyrics: Shailendra) is said to be one such case.
Salil Chaudhury had recorded this song in Bengali by Shyamal Mitra
and by Debabrat Biswas.
I personally feel that each of the singers has done justice to the delivery of the song in his own style.
We will continue our search for Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month……..
Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.
Welcome to November, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.
We will begin our present issue with a post that is so very topical.
My Favourites: Songs of Cool Breezes ushers in the early signs of winter in our part of the world. We will also enjoy the feel of the early chill by way of some of the rare songs from this excellent list:
Dil thandi hawa mein – Shama (1946) – Shamshad Begum, Hamida Bano – Ghulam Haider
“Dekh Lo Ishq Ka Martaba Dekh Lo” – B.S.Thapa – B.S.Thapa ji who completed 92 on last 3 July may not be active in films now but his contribution to the Cinema as a teacher and a director can’t be denied with.
My Favourites: Children’s Songs celebrates Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125h birthday on 14th November. These are not necessarily patriotic songs, but songs picturized on children, and are the ones that are sung by the children on the screen.
Saxy Desi: Check out the sounds of the saxophone in South Asia – Nate Rabe – this most romantic of jazz instruments, often purringly referred to as the sexaphone, was invented in 1841 in the lowlands of a somewhat more prosaic Belgium by Adolphe Sax to create a sound that floated somewhere between the silken tone of the clarinet and the brash flare of the trumpet :
Hai kya kya jalwa bhara hua Ghanshyaam tumhaari aankhon mein – Atul, while discussing the HFM related statistics pertaining to 1932, noted that only nine songs from movies of 1932 are available. Six of these songs are already covered in the blog. Here is the seventh song of 1932 to appear in the blog : Hai kya kya jalwa bhara hua– Aankh Ka Taara (1932) – Jahanara Kajjan – Motilal Naik
My Favourites: Teasing Songs are the songs, only about situations where the heroine (or in one case, the hero) is already in love with the hero, and her friends (/his friend) – as friends will – tease her about it.
Songs of Sensuality – Inspired by Conversations Over Chai’s great post on the same topic, here’s list of classic Hindi and Bengali songs that explore sensuality, physical affection, and longing.
Top Ten Songs Sung by Actors Themselves (or by Singers Appearing Onscreen) – Guest Post by Abhik Majumdar – ‘songs actually sung by (not merely lip-synched by) actors. Not singer-cum-actors, but people who were known only for their acting. First off, only one track per artiste. Secondly, there’s no point including songs by people known equally for their singing and acting. So no Kishore Kumar, no Suraiya, no Rajkumar (the Kannada actor), no Talat Mehmood even. Thirdly, the singing must conform to certain minimum standards of excellence. (A certain Mr Bachchhan stands excluded on this count.) Fourthly, in the early days of talkies when playback singing was unknown actors, even the most atrociously off-key ones, were compelled to sing their own songs. Since such examples are a penny a dozen, no point adding them …..’
Ten of my favourite ‘Aaja’ songs i.e. Hindi film songs that begin with the word “Aaja” The post has all the songs that would immediately reverberate in our mind when we read the title. Here are some of the less heard songs, picked up from the discussions by the readers:
Best songs of 1950: Final Wrap Up 5 lives up to the expectations of distillation post on a subject that always had a wide range of discussions.
We have moved the songs remembered by our friends to a separate, full-fledged post w.e.f. this month. These posts will be titled as “Fading Memories….Unforgettable Songs” and would be published on second Sunday every month.
We would therefore revert to posts on Mohammad Rafi to end each of the episode of our blog carnival.
Welcome to October, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.
We have a fairly long list of anniversaries of the playback singers this month. But before we take them up, there is one a very unique tribute that must take the precedence over all those. So, we open our account of anniversaries for the current episode of blog carnival with –
Interestingly, we have several posts that were in fact sent in by our friends, primarily to remember a song of the particular singer or the music director, but each of the post inherently is also a commemoration of the anniversary. We will take up the underlying song separately along with other songs forwarded by our friends.
Tera Mera Pyaar Koi Aaj Kal Ki To Baat Nahin – by Mahesh Mamadapur on Usha Khanna’s 74th birthday – For some reason, Usha Khanna never received the recognition and fame that she so rightfully deserves. She is not the first, but definitely is the most successful and talented of a handful of female composers in the Hindi film industry, having composed something like about 973 songs in total.
Lo Mil Gayi Degree Pyaar Ki by skapur01 while tastefully narrating the circumstances how Mukesh got associated with this song, the post goes onto list 36 songs that Roshan composed for Mukesh.
In Phir Mohabbat Ke Pyaam Aane Lagey, skapur01 remembers Hemant Kumar on the anniversary of his passing away – 26th September – by delving way back to ‘Iraada’ (1944) – the first Hindi film for which Hemant Kumar sang playback.
October 17 would have been 60th birthday of Smita Patil, who would certainly be ranked in the history as one of the most talented artist of the (what we know as) new, post-1970s cinema. We take note of some of the posts on this occasion to pay our tribute:
If there has to be one song that can sum up the essence of Smita Patil’s acting talents, Tumhare Bine Jee Na Lage Ghar Men (Bhumika – 1977, Preeti Sagar- Vanraj Bhatia) can easily be the one.
Shammi Kapoor – In Perpetual Motion – It is not just that Shammi Kapoor didn’t know how to stand still; it is that he seemed to have an inordinate number of songs that were picturised in/on some mode of transport or the other. Last year, on this same date, the author had done a post on Shammi Kapoor and various musical instruments. Now it is time to chronicle his trysts with travel, whether in vehicles or on animals. In any case, whether they moved or not, Shammi definitely did.
We now move over to other posts from our regular blogs –
Arre kahaan chali – Arun Kumar Deshmukh – Film Jaalsaaz-59 was the first of three films with the same title. The second movie by this title came in 1969 and the third in 2000. Similarly even film Jaal was made 3 times- in 52, 67 and 86.
Unvoiced Emotions, Expressed Feelings has ten songs that fitted this category. Each song listed here has the lead characters’ ‘feel’ what they feel, and those emotions are ‘spelled’ out by others’ voices, even if the underlying mood is not similar (and in fact, is quite the opposite) in some cases. No, these are not ‘background songs’, but songs that are actually sung on screen by other characters.
Ten of my favourite ‘credits songs’ – are not necessarily ‘background songs’ as well: some of them are ‘sung’ by people onscreen. They run the gamut from songs that introduce the film’s ethos or primary theme, to—well, just another song to add to a list of romantic to philosophical to patriotic songs the film already boasts of..
All USTADJIs, who made us happy and will continue to make happy in all our coming generations.
After the overview post on the Best songs of 1950, Wrap Up 1 on the best male solos, and Wrap Up 2 on the best female solos by ‘other’ singers have been the stage wise review of the readers’ views as well as SoY’s own analysis. . Continuing the series, here is the third Wrap Up on the best songs of Lata Mangeshkar – Best songs of 1950: Wrap Up 3
We take of note of the review of Mem Didi (1961) for Salil Chaudhary’s songs –
Bhoola Do Zindagi Ke Gham – Lata Mangeshkar – typical illustration of Salil Chaudhary’s choral orchestration
Beta Wah Wah – Lata Mangeshkar – A dog joining in a virtual duet
Ajab hai yeh duniya – Naya Aadmi (1956) – Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan. Naya Aadmi, Hindi version of Santosham (1955), had 10 songs. 6 of them were composed by Madan Mohan and the rest by South Indian duo of Vishwanathan / Ramamurthy . Hemant Kumar – Lata Mangeshkar duet – laut gaya gham ka zamana – was the creation of the duo. They also created Lata solo – dile betaab thahar – while Madan Mohan created Rafi solo – gharibo ka paseena bah raha hai . The film had NT Rama Rao (NTR) had in the lead.
Salil Chowdhury – 10 November 1922 – 5 September 1995 – had had natural attraction towards to folk music and studied inclination towards the Western Classical music. He could also play several musical instruments. In fact, it is said that any instrument that he could lay his hands on he would be able to play it very comfortably. It was the combination of the effect of these music influences that made his compositions always melodious, even when quite complex in the structure. His orchestration was always symphonic with blend of intricate use of the different instruments.
It was perhaps the unique skill of Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966) to come up with lyrics that fitted the tune and the mood that so easily made Salil Chowdhury comfortable working with him. Coupled with this, it was Shailendra’s knowledge of Bengali language and the earthen-closeness and selection of easy and natural words that Shailendra required to express deep emotions that also would have weighed in building the strong bond between the two. In fact, from the films that Shailendra wrote songs beyond Shankar-Jaikishan quartet team, Salil Chowdhury- Shailendra combination share is almost one third.
Shri Arunkumar Deshmukh 
The world is too small? or Is it? 
