HINDI FILMS :THOSE WONDERFUL TITLE SONGS.

 I was listening to those evergreen Shankar Jaikishan songs on my record player the other day.  The songs from film Barsat and Anari, especially the title songs ( I mean songs with the title of the film in the lyrics)  ‘Barsat men ham…’and ‘woh chaand khila……na samajhe oh anari hai’  took 
me to a different and nostalgic world bringing back memories of seeing these films in  the theatre, 
listening to the songs on the radio and reading  news and reviews about them, the performance of 
Raj Kapur and so on. It also made me think about several beautiful title songs which were 
integral to the films and  one could not think of the film without thinking of the song.

 The trend of having a title song in the film  continued  strongly till the middle of the 70s. Probably  it was the combination of Raj kapur,Shailendra/Hasrat and Shankar Jaikishen who started the trend in a big way. For Raj Kapur  Shankar Jaikishen was the music director  till he switched over to LaxmikantPyarelal with film Bobby. There used to be a title song in all RK films  be it  the Mukesh number ‘Awaara hoon’ from film Awara  or the Barsat and Anari numbers mentioned earlier. This continued with the  Mukesh number in Jis Desh mein Ganga Bahti Hai and the ‘Bol Radha bol sangam hoga ki nahin’ number, again by Mukesh,  in film Sangam. In between there were several title songs by Shankar Jaikishen for Raj kapur films. The ‘Ashique hoon baharaon ka’ from film Ashique,  the racy number (Mukesh-Sharda)from film Around the World, ‘Duniya ke sair karlo……Insaf ke dost ban kar, Insaf ke pyar kar lo, Around the world in 8Dollars’ and the title song by Rafi in that musical hit, Love in Tokyo, come to mind. ( The song ‘Sayanora sayanora’ from the film Love in Tokyo was  very popular in the campus and an emotion filled, romantic  word for the inevitable  year end autographs!!). There are a few other title songs also from the fold of Raj Kapur –Shankar Jaikishen which come to  mind readily. The  ‘Oh Kanhaiya oh kanhaiya’ (Lata) number from film Kanhaiya,  ‘Ek dil aur sau afsane’(Lata) from the film  with the same title,  ‘Mujhko yaro maaf karna, mein nashen mein hoon’( Mukesh) from film Mein Nashe mein hoon, and ‘Diwana mujhko log kahen, mein samajhoom jag hain deiwana’(Mukesh) from film Diwana  are some of them. These are typical Mukesh numbers for Raj Kapur by Shankar Jaikishen though a similar  number, ‘Chhalia mera naam, chalna mera kaam’ by Mukesh  for Raj Kapur was composed by Kalyanji-Anandji for film Chhalia.

In fact one of the less noticed features of Shankar Jaikishen’s  work is that they had composed more number of title songs than any other composers of the past and present.Many such songs were on Shammi Kapur  when the trio of he, Shankar Jaikishen and  Rafi  formed a highly successful team with several hit songs. The title songs in film, An Evening in Paris, Pagla Kahin Ka( Log kahein mujhe pahla kahinka), Dil Tera Deewana( Dil tera deewana hai sanam), Raaj Kumar(Mein hoon Raj kumar) and so on come to mind instantly.And who can forget the famous lung bursting ‘yahoooo....’ song, ‘Chaahe koi mujhe junglee kahein’ from film Junglee? By the way, there is another typical song on Shammi Kapur, ‘Dil dekhe dekho, dil dekhe dekho, dil delkhe delkho jee, dil denewalon ko .....’; but this is by debutant music director Usha khanna for Ash Parekh’s debut film Dil Dekhe Dekho.

There are several other outstanding title songs  of Shankar Jaikishen like the sweet melodious,’Dil mera ek aas ka panchi’(Subir Sen)from film Aas ka Panchi, , ‘Aayi Milan ki bela mein to aayi’(Rafi) from film Aayi Milan ki bela, ‘April fool banaya”(Rafi) from  film April Fool,’Mujhko apne gale lagalo, yeh mere hamrahi’(Rafi-Mubarak Begum)from Hamrahi, ‘Dil Ek Mandir hai’(Rafi- Suman Kalyanpur)) from film Dil Ek Mandir and so on. In film Rangoli there is this soft melody of Kishor kumar,’Rangoli sajao re’and in Roop ki Rani Choron ka Raja, there is the rare happy song of Talat Mahmmod with Lata , ‘Tu roop ki rani , mein choroon ka raja, yeh tera mera pyar nirala’and so on. There is the popular hit, Jab pyar kisi se hota hai (Rafi) and the ‘Lakh chupao chupna........dil ki baath bada detha hai Asli Naqli chehra’ from film Asli Naqli. In film Hariyali aur Raasta,the speciality is that  there are two title songs, one byLata,’Yeh hariali aur raasta’ and the other by Mukesh-Lata ‘ Bol meri taqdeer men kya hai................jeevan ki do pahloon mein, hariyali aur raasta’’ In fact Lata has also sung this song solo and the LP album with a distinctly designed jacket becomes a rare title songs’ album. Yes,  Shankar Jaikishen were the most sought after composers of title songs.

Eventhough Naushad had composed music for a large number of films, the number of title songs by him is less. One of his much acclaimed title songs is ‘’Mere mehboob tujhe meri muhabath ki kasam’(Lata as well as Rafi)from film Mere Mehboob, a Rajindra kumar Sadhana starrer.The soulfully rendered song ‘ Dil diya dard liya,dilruba maine tere pyar ne kya kya na diya, dil diya....’(Rafi)  of film Dil Diya Dard Liya and the  song, ‘Mere ghar se pyar ki palki chali gai’ (Manna Dey)from film Palki   which as a chorus by Rafi, Manna Dey and Lata is  also there.

Music Director R.D.Burman  had tuned a few beautiful title songs for films. One  is from the Super hit  Rajesh Khanna film Kati Patang ,’Na koi umang hai.........eh kati patang hai’.There is another super hit song ‘Yadon ki baraat nikli hai’ from the Dharmendra-Zeenat Aman  starrer Yadon ki Barat and the famous ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’ from the Dev Anand film with the same title.

Turning to  music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal the first song coming to mind is ‘Suno Sajana .........Aaye din bahar ke’ from the Asha Parekh starrer Aaye din Bahar ke.There is also the song ‘ Satyam Shivam Sundaram’  from the film with the same title and the song ‘Hum bane tum bane ek dhuje ke liye’ from the Kamal Hasan-Rati Agnihotri starrer Ek Dhuke ke Liye to mention a few.

There are several other title songs in films, viz., Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (Music: Vasant Desai), Bin Badal Barsat(Music: Hemant kumar), Dil hi To hai (Music: Roshan) Noorie( Music :Khayyam) Jeene ki Raah(Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal)and so on. From music Director S.D.Burman there is the song ‘Tere ghar ke Saamne ek ghar banaoonga(Rafi) for film Tere Ghar ke Saaamne and a title song in film Tere mere sapne(Kishor). The  song beautifully rendered by Mukesh  in a grief striken voice for film Saaranga, viz., ‘Saaranga teri yaad mein’ composed by Sardar Malik is another memorable title song. How can we forget the award winning song by Mubarak Begum, ‘Kabhi tanhayiyon mei yun, hamari yaad aayegi’ from director Kidar Sharma’s film Hamari Yaad Aayegi? The music by the veteran Snehal Bhatkar was the highlight of the film.Three title songs composed by O.P.Nayyar are coming readily to mind. Rafi’s Tum sa nahin dekha and Phir wohi dil laaya hoon and Mahendra Kapur’s  Baharen phir bhi ayengi, all three standing examples of O.P’s  famous rhythm.

In film Kora Kagaz (Vijay Aanand-Jaya Bhaduri) Kalyanji Aanandji has given the melodious song ‘Mera jeevan kora kagaz kora bhi rehgaya’(Kishor) and in film Mere Humsafar there is the song ‘Kisi raha mein kisi mode par mere humsafar mere humsafar(Lata-Mukesh)..

 There are a few title songs in the ‘pyar’ series. The romantic melody, ‘Dekha hai kisi ke chanchal nainon men, pyar ka sagar’(Mukesh-film:Pyar ka sagar. Music :Ravi)) is one song which even now keeps one glued to the radio/tv when heard.  In film  Pyar hi pyar,  there  is this pleasant song, ‘Dekha hai teri ankhon me  pyar hi pyar beshumar’(Rafi-Shankar Jaikishen).In that highly successful remake of Tamil film Kathalikka neramillai , in Hindi, Pyar kiye jaa’, ther is the song,’Din jawani ko char vyar pyar kiye jaa’ with kishor kumar at his hilarious best. There is a similar song by Rafi in film Pyar Muhabath with music by ShankarJaikishen.

Let me end  this by listing ( not a ranking list)four title songs, which according to me are a few of the best ever in Hindi films in this category.

1.      Film : Kabhi Kabhi . Singers: Lata- Mukesh:Music: Khayyam.

Song: Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai.

2.      Film: Choudwin ka chand. Singer: Rafi  Music: Ravi.

Song: Chaudwin ka chaand ho.

3.      Film: Barsat ki raat. Singer : Rafi .Music: Roshan.

Song: Zindagi bhar nahin  bhoolegi woh barsaat ki raat.

4.      Film: Dil apna aur preet parai. Singer: Lata Music: Shankar jaikishen.

Song:Dil apna aur preet parai

It is a pity that by the beginning of the 80s title songs began losing its space probably with the eclipse of Shankar Jaikishen and the reluctance/lack of taste of the makers in giving meaningful names to films. There was a sort of revival for title songs by  A.R.Rahman in films like Taal, Dil Se etc. and the box-office success of films like Dil to pagal hai (Music: Uttam Singh) and Dilwale dulhaniya le jayengi(Music:Jatin-Lalit)and so on. But the revival was temporary. It now appears that film titles are no longer inspired by poetry,traditional romantic feelings, sentiments associated with long cherished values etc. thus limiting the scope for sweet, melodious, inspiring and meaningful title songs.With titles like Dirty Picture, Jab we met, Pyar ka side effects, Pyar mein twist,and numbered titles like  Dhoom 1,2, 3, 3 Idiots etc, I am afraid, it will be idiotic to expect a title song like ‘Dil ne phir yaad kiya dard ki lahar aayi hai.(Rafi-music: Sonik-Omi. Film. Dil ne phir yaad kiya).

Tail piece:-The rains are here again. While typing this, rain drops are falling on dry leaves outside and my gramophone is playing the sweet song from film Barsat, ‘Than thi na thim, barsat men, ham se mile tum sajan.....Than thi na  thim.”

SHAMMI KAPUR- THE REBEL STAR ( 1931 - 2011)

I had in one of my recent posts on Mohammed Rafi on his 31th death anniversary (July 30th)mentioned about the trio of Shammi Kapur,Rafi and Shankar-Jaikishen who had together immortalised a large number of film songs during the 60s and 70s just as the trio of Dilip Kumar, Rafi and Naushad did in the, more or less, same period.. I had also mentioned that I may dwell on this sometime later.
It is sad that Shammi Kapur who was very much alive when I posted this on the 31t July is no more with us, he having departed to his heavenly abode on the 14th August,2011.It is difficult to believe that the actor, 'The Junglee', who had given us so much joy through his numerous film roles, his rebel star image, his inimitable acting style especially his talent for enacting romantic song sequences with the trade mark tilting of the head backwards or sideways step by step and above all, his prowess for dancing , has become a memory. He was a youth ikon for youngsters in general and to college students in particular in the 50s and 60s.

For film fans of the late 50s and early 60s the screen heroes were the eternal tramp Raj Kapur, the romantic Dev Aanand, the tragic hero Dilip Kumar and the handsome Pradeep Kumar, the Baiju Bawra Bharat Bhushan, the sleepy-eyed Rajinder Kumar and so on. It was Shammi Kapur who could break away from this stranglehold to tread a path of his own with those singing and dancing scenes which became immensely popular with the young generation.He brought a youthful vigour and dynamism to the role of heroes. This was also the path which got opened for other actors like the jumping jack Jitendra, the chocolate hero Joy Mukherjee, the suspense star Biswajeet and so on and to a lesser extent the macho Dharmendra.

The huge success of Sammi Kapur which catapulted him into a sure shot in the box office was, apart from his own talent, due to a large extent the music of Shankar Jaikishen and the playback singing of Muhammed Rafi.Though he started his career in 1953 with the film Jeevan Jyothi and did a number of films including hits like Hum sub chor hai, Mujrim, Tangewali, Chor Bazar, Dil Dekhe Dekho and so on it was films with music by Shankar Jaikishen like Ujala, Singapore and College Girl with top heroines like Vyjayanthimala, Padmini, Mala Sinha which made filmgoers take real notice of Shammi kapur as a new generation actor. In film Ujala and Singapore Rafi did not figure prominently though the songs were very popular. The Manna Dey - Lata song' 'Jhoomta mausam mast mahina' pictured on Shammi Kapur and Mala Sinha was a huge hit. In college Girl the song, 'Pehla pehla pyar ka ishara'(Lata-Rafi)' and 'Hip hip hurray'(Rafi) were huge hits and fans started to root for the trio of Rafi, Shammi Kapur and Shankar-Jaikishan. Then followed the blitzkrieg of films of this trio beginning with the 1961 film Junglee with debutant actress Saira Bano( billed 'Beauty queen' in the spot ads on the radio those days). It was Junglee that cemented Shammi Kapur's place in Hindi cinema as a sure success.In fact the music of Shankar Jaikishen, the refreshing presence of Saira Bano, the energy and vibrancy of Shammi Kapur and the powerful singing of Rafi made the film a super hit. The two rocking numbers by Rafi,viz., 'Aai Aai Aa Sukoo Sukoo' and 'Chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe' with Shammi Kapur sizzling in the scenes were instant hits. The picture of Shammi kapur shouting "Yahoo" in the 'Chahe koi' song, became immortal instantly. But an interesting fact is that the famous"yahoo" shout/ yell in the song was recorded in the voice of actor Prayag Raj and not on Rafi's as popularly believed.

For the trio there was no looking back and hit after hit followed. 'Dil Tera Diwana' with the peppy title song, 'Professor' with 'Hey Gulbadan' and two beautiful duets with Lata,viz., 'Main chali main chali' ( beautifully remixed years later by Neeraj Sreedhar in the pop album 'Woh chali" of Bombay Vikings) and 'Aawaz Dekhe', film " Boy friend' with the song 'Salam Aap ki meethi nazar ko salam' followed . Then came the Rajshree - Shammi Kapur starrer 'Janvar' with two typical songs, 'Tumse Achha kaun hai' and ' Lal ghadi maidan padi ya khoob ladi', songs by rafi in his inimitable style tailored to the image of Shammi Kapur. There was then the film Rajkumar with the song in the same mould, 'Hum hain raj kumar' followed by 'Laat Saheb' with the ever popular Rafi chorus, ' Saverewali ghadi se chale jayegi'. All these songs were mainly fast numbers in a happy go lucky mood so ably potrayed by Shammi Kapur,

In fact Shammi kapur's penchant for similar roles gave him the image of an eternal Rebel/Junglee/Yahoo/Janwar/Pagla which he could shake off to some extent with a series of films in the late 60s and early 70s again helped by the music of Shankar Jaikishen and the voice of Rafi. Film Brahmachari was one such film which gave him an image makeover. SJ even created a rare Rafi lullaby, 'Main gaon tum so jaaoo', for Shammi kapur. Shammi kapur got a Filmfare Award for his role in this film. In fact the film had won the Filmfare Award for the best film, best music for SJ, best male playback singer for Rafi for the song 'Dil ke jharoke mein' and the best lyricist for Shailendra for the song,'Mein gaaon tom so jaaoo'. The magic of SJ, SK and Rafi worked wonders in the Hema Malini starrer Andaz, An Evening in Paris, Prince, Pagla kahin ka , Jawan Muhabat and so on. The magic was very much evident in the song in film Prince, 'Badanpe sitare lapete hue,.........Zara paas aao', with a trace of laughter so beautifully integrated with the lines as only Rafi could do.

Some of the other Music directors also had tuned tailor made, rhythmic, foot tapping songs for Shammi Kapur using the voice of Rafi. O.P. Nayyar had given several such songs in films ,'Tumsa Nahin Dekha' and Kashmir ki Kali'. The title song and 'Chupnewale samne aa' along with 'Jawanian yeh mast mast' in the former film and 'Tarif karun kya uski' and 'Diwana hua baadal(withAsha) in the later are a few of them. In film 'China Town' (music- by Ravi) there is the song 'Bar bar dekho, hazar baar dekho' and 'Humse na poocho'(with Asha). That reminds me of the debutant music director Usha Khanna teaming with Rafi for Asha Parekh's debut film 'Dil Dekho Dekho' with Shammi Kapur. The title song and the song,'Hum aur tum aur yeh sama' were huge hits. How can I forget to mention R.D.Burman's tunes in Teesri Manzil, again an Asha Parekh-Shammi kapur film ? 'Deewana mujhsa nahin', 'Main hoon Pyar tera',and 'Tumne mujhe dekha' all by Rafi were typical numbers in the Rafi-Shammi mould.

There is one LP record in my collection containing instrumental version of eleven of the songs mentioned above. The L.P. is titled NON-STOP DISCO DANCING WITH SHAMMI KAPUR - MUSIC INDIA'S DISCO SOUND . The instrumentalist has captured the tunes in all their glory in the L.P.

Tail piece:-There is even a rare Mukesh number for Shammi Kapur in SJ's 'Singapore'. "Yeh shehar bada albela, yeh dhadak hasinon ka mela'.