FILM ARZOO AND A FEW STRAY THOUGHTS.

The other day while listening to Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation’s  (“Aap ka Purana Dost Radio Ceylon”, as the broadcaster nostalgically introduces themselves) morning Hindi programme, the song ‘Yeh phoolon ki rani, baharon ki mallika, tera muskurana.......’came out crystal clear in all its glory to our utter delight. This happy, melodious  romantic song penned by Hasrat Jaipuri and composed by Shankar Jaikishen  from Sagar Films International’s   ARZOO (Direction: Ramanand Ragar) was a huge hit of those days. In fact for music directors Shankar Jaikishen, who were riding high on popularity charts throughout the decades of the 1950 and the 60, the music of the film was an outstanding success, the film bagging four Filmfare Awards, for best music(SJ), Best Lyrics (Hasrat: Aji ruth karna),best direction and story(Ramanand Sagar)and best actor(Rajinder Kumar). 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sV8tXENi2s

The song ‘Ye phoolon  ki rani’ is rarely heard nowadays  and hearing it suddenly over the radio was a pleasant experience. Mohammed Rafi had made it his own, rendering it as only he could, bringing out  the mood of the song and its nuances pleasingly to the discerning ears! Film ARZOO had a few other outstanding songs in it like ‘Aji ruth karna’(Lata) , Yeh nargise mastana and ‘Chalke teri aankhon mein (both by Rafi) and the haunting ‘Bedardi balma tujh ko (Lata). But for us those days ‘Ai phoolon ki rani’ was closer to the heart as it touched a chord somewhere. What pains today is the feeling that the musical duo, S-J, who had given us innumerable wonderful songs in films from Aag, Barsaat, Chori Chori to Sasural Sangam, Jis desh nein Ganga bahti hai to Be-iman and so on and who were the kings of the music industry, earning a record nine Filmfare Awards, for more than two decades are not getting the deserved prominence nowadays in music related programs and features. Are they being slowly pushed into the oblivion?

While listening to ‘Ae phoolon ki rani’ three songs with a similar tune but entirely different in content , treatment and style flashed through my mind. Two are from film PYASA  with music by S.D.Burman and penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. While the  songs, ‘Jinhen naaz hai Hind par woh kahan hai’ and ‘ Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jayen to kya hain’ rendered by Rafi are intense, grief filled and filmed  on the tragic hero of the film played by Guru Dutt , the song ‘Ae phoolon ki’ is simple, pleasant and romantic.  These songs show Rafi’s range and flexibility in singing songs to the mood of the situation and the theme of the film. The film PYASA  created a sensation when it  was released and it became a milestone in Indian film history and is considered as one of the top romantic films of the world.  Singer Geeta Dutt was at her best in the immortal songs ‘Jane kya tune kahi’and ‘aaj sanam mohe ang lagalo’ as was Hemant Kumar in the song ‘Jane woh kaise log they’, argueably, his best remembered song.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugvtr3VQ2fI
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSo3KVwrp8M

The third song which came to my memory was a ghazal (Nazm) by Jagjit Singh from film Aaj,viz., Woh kaghaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka paani’ with music by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh  for the lyrics penned by Sudarshan Faakir. The similarity of the tune with the earlier mentioned songs are clear. But the content and mood of the song are entirely different . The song takes us nostalgically back to our childhood days with the beautiful lyrics  soulfully rendered by Jagjit Singh. People often wonder why we always long to hear old songs. They are not mere old songs; each song evokes  special memories and feelings in the hearts of listeners, especially those who had heard them  and seen the films when they were released in their local theatres  giving them immense joy and a sense of belonging! The song ‘Kaghaz ki kashti’epitomises all that can be said about the wonderful olden days.  

,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Wq4q7Yygg

THOSE WONDERFUL NOSTALGIC MUSIC DEVICES.

In the 60s,the 70s and the 80s non resident Indians coming from Gulf countries used to bring portable transistor radios, radio cum cassette recorders popularly known as two-in-ones,  pocket radios and so on to the envy of the local residents for whom such gadgets were a luxury owing to their short supply in the regular shops and high price. It was a common sight, at airports, railway stations and bus stands in this part of the country, to see the ‘Gulfees’ carrying these sets ‘naked’  by their handles with their cartons/covers removed to display their proud possessions in front of the onlookers covetously eyeing them. A variety of such sets in different colours, sizes and shapes, with and without leather covers, stereos and monos, with double, single, and more than double speakers were common. Many of these sets used to be available for sale within a couple of months of their arrival as many NRIs sold them off at the time of their departure to make a quick buck. The grey market also used to be very active dealing in electronics, watches, pens, perfumes, suitcases and so on. Displaying a formidable looking foreign ‘Two-in One’ in the drawing room was considered by many as a status symbol!

The most popular brand of music players was NATIONAL,(Pronounced by a section as Nasenal) made and marketed by Mitsushita Electric Industrial Co., Japan, which later became Panasonic Corporation and their products appeared as National, National Panasonic , Panasonic and Technics. Other brands were Soni, Hitachi, Sharp, Toshiba, Akai, Philips and so on. Originally all these brands were ‘Made in Japan’only; but later they were made in other countries also including India and China. I had a Sharp compact recorder purchased in Bangalore in 1971 but I don’t know where it is now. A similar looking National Panasonic cassette recorder(made in Japan)purchased around the same period is still with me in good working condition. Both cost  around Rs.800/-each  those days. In early 1970s BUSH introduced a similar compact cassette recorder in India costing around Rs.900/- along with the famous  and popular transistor radio  Bush Baron.  But the Bush model of cassette recorder was no match for the National cassette recorders in quality and price. My efforts to get the very popular Bush Baron radio set of the late 60s repaired were in vain. But the Philips Victor  radio of 1970 which used to be kept on throughout the day during cricket matches is still working! The small Philips pocket radio used for hearing  cricket commentary is still used during power cuts as well as while sitting in one corner of the terrace to be away from the T.V. and to be in the company of oneself!  Yes, the tiny  BPL Stereo Walkman cassette player and another similar one of the 90s are still there evoking  nostalgia.

National Rx 5235

The provocation for this post is the radio cassette recorder the photo of which is shown at the beginning of the post and alongside; a ‘NATIONAL TWO-WAY 4 SPEAKER STEREO RADIO CASSETTE RECORDER MODEL Rx.5235’. It was originally purchased by a friend from my childhood days and classmate too in the school, sometime during  the early 70s from an NRI for about Rs.4000/- if my memory is correct. He had used it for years and had kept it aside, uncared for, unable to get some repairs done. But I could, through my contacts, bring it sparklingly back to great working condition. In fact its radio section required only minor attention.. The  problem was with its cassette deck as spares like belt, wheels, pinch rollers and a few other parts could not be obtained. But with a lot of search, follow-up and contacts a few of them were collected and the rest by my friendly repairer by ‘cannibalising’ on an old hopeless set kept by him for the purpose! Luckily the recording / playback head was still in good condition. The result, after some serious cleaning and polishing, is a set as good looking and performing as a new set. The thrill of getting it back to work from a dilapidated and unpromising condition was so great that I decided to put it on record. What is amazing about this more than 40 years old set is its powerful hi-fi sound quality coming through the 4 way speakers especially while playing the radio with its high gain tuner  with an FM band. Remember FM band was widely in use abroad even in the 70s whereas for us it is a more recent experience.The fine tuning knob helps in locating and stabilizing SW stations from the crowded SW1 and SW2 bands.The long telescopic antenna also helps. It is indeed a delightful nostalgic experience to listen to Purani Geet and Aap ki Farmaish  on Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corpn’s Videsh Vibhag in the morning  and Vividh Bharati on the set. How many radio sets of today can boast of clear reception of short wave stations leave alone Radio Ceylon’s Videsh Vibhag?.Of course, it does’nt matter either as very few are nowadays interested in listening to short wave broadcasts! The cassette deck is now working well and the special auto reverse mechanism, a rare feature those days,  enhances the convenience  of the set. No wonder people, especially music lovers world wide still prefer  a genuine ‘Made in Japan’ product over others. A Panasonic or Soni equipment made in Japan commands a higher price than their own similar sets made in Singapore or India. The National Rx.5235 is a typical old ‘Gulfee’ set by its looks, performance and price. It still commands an astronomical price on the net!
 

Aftron BoomBox

There were many Indian and foreign brands manufactured in India like Murphy, Nelco, HMV, Philips, BPl/Sanyo, Bush/Akai, Videocon/Toshiba, Telefunken/Grundig and so son. We had also a very popular local brand of transistor sets. viz., KELTRON. Their sets, Keltron Kamal and Keltron Kranti, were noted for good performance . The tiny Kamal set bought in 1983/84 , still used by me, lends credence to this. But over the years, with the revolution  in electronic/music industry and change in people’s listening habits these once wonderful products have faded from even the memory of many. Philips, Panasonic, Soni, etc. are still marketing  small radios on a limited scale targeting old timers. A few major manufacturers like Toshiba, JVC etc. and others  also marketing  All-in-One sets like, for example, AFTRON BOOM BOX and NIPPOTEC  Rechargeable radio cum CARD/USB player.The Boombox is a Radio cum DVD/MP3/VCD/CD/USB/MMC /Cassette player! But I really do not think that devices like the small transistor radios, two-in-ones etc. will make a comeback even though  the surge being made by record players and vinyl records worldwide in recent years does evoke a faint ray of hope. What is disheartening for the  enthusiasts is the sight, at repair shops and service centres, of dusty heaps of tiny radios, amplifiers, cassette decks and  a variety of other old equipments which once occupied a prominent space in the drawing rooms of the owners, lying uncared for. Owners’ apathy,  repairers’reluctance/resistance to spend time on them and difficulty in getting spares have, regrettably, made them  a part of the bulging global electronics waste.

Tail piece:- What is an useful method of maintaining old equipments? Well,  use them as often as possible.

HINDI FILMS THOSE NOSTALGIC TITLES.

As youngsters we were always attracted by the romantic, poetic and meaningful titles of films released those days. The titles used to be so catchy and thought-provoking that we marked it as a ‘must see’ film the moment the news of the launch of the film reached us. During those days the launch of films used to be widely published in the print media like THE SCREEN and  CINE ADVANCE  and so on with full page advertisements, news and photos including that of well attended ‘muhurat’ ceremonies. Follow-up reports indicating progress of production, delays, recordings and so on also used to be there giving us a lot of topics for discussion and to be prepared for the release of the films.

One of the earliest of such films whose title fascinated us was  AB DILLI DOOR NAHIN(1957) produced by Raj Kapur with Motilal, Yakub, Anwar Hussain and Sulochana in lead roles. There is nothing in my memory about our seeing the film but the songs composed by the talented music director Duttaram had lingered in memory. The song  ‘Yeh chaman hamara’ by Asha Bhosle and the children’s song ‘Chhun chhun karti’ by Rafi are still fresh in memory.That also reminds me of an earlier film of Raj Kapur, AAG (1948) with Raj Kapur, Nargis and Kamini Kausal in the lead which had music by Ram Ganguly. The voice of Shamshad Begum was at its powerful best in the song, ‘Kahe koyal shor machaye re’ sometimes heard on the radio even now. While titles with lengthy names were more attractive to us, short names like AAG  and PYASA caught our imagination, may be for the depth of meaning/sentiments they conveyed. A few of the outstanding songs of all time in Hindi films are from film PYASA. Geeta Dutt’s ‘Jane kya tune kahi’, Hemant’s kumar’s ‘Jane woh kaise log they’ and Rafi’s ‘Jinhen naaz hai Hind par’ and ‘Yey duniya agar milbhi jaye to’ are immortal compositions of S.D.Burman.

Apart from the beauty of the titles, the expectations about the music score of the films also had caught our imagination for earmarking the films as ‘must see’. The advertisements about the launch of films usually gave equal prominence to music directors just like directors and lead stars. Names like Shankar Jaikishen, O.P.Nayyar, S.D.Burman, Naushad, Madan Mohan,C.Ramachandra and so on were ‘guarantees’ to the film goers for outstanding songs. Three films with nostalgic titles and Shankar Jaikishen’s music come immediately to mind. One is  R.K.Films’ JIS DESH MEIN GANGA BAHTI HAI with Raj kapur and Padmini in the lead.The sizzling romantic number ‘Ho maine pyar kiya’ and the melodious ‘O basanti pavan’, both by Lata , were hugely popular even before the film was released. There is also an enchanting chorus led by Lata, Geeta Dutt, Mukesh, Manna Dey and Mahendra Kapur,  ‘Hum bhi hain tum bhi ho’ beautifully filmed on the lead actors. Probably this is the only song in which  these five great singers had joined together. The song is also unique in  that a few lines were picturised on Pran, a rare event for a  ‘villain’to sing a song. Pran as villain Raka had given a stellar performance.The music of the film also bagged the Filmfare Award for best music of the year 1960.

The film DIL APNA AUR PREET PARAI (1961), a  familiar romantic story with Raj Kumar and  Meena Kumari in the lead was another much awaited film with music by Shankar Jaikishen. In fact the scintillating songs of Lata  like ‘the title song and ‘Ajib daastan’ and the rhythmic ‘Mera dil ab tera o saajana’, were the mainstay of the film. No wonder that the music of this film won the Filmfare Award for best music in 1961.There are also a few other romantic titles with Shankar Jaikishens’ music like  Jab pyar kisee se hota hai, Ek dil sow afsane, Roop ki rani choron ka raja, Aas ka panchi, Aayi Milan ki bela and so on. The main feature is that each title formed part of the lyric of a song in the film, a speciality of Shankar Jaikishen. A rare song,’Dil mera ek aas ka panchi’, by the talented Subir Sen made the film  Aas ka panchi memorable.

Music director O.P. Nayyar was also associated with a few films with imaginative titles with his famous  mastery over rhythm. The names readily coming to mind are the Joy Mukherjee-Asha Parekh film PHIR WOHI DIL LAAYA HOON (1963), the Biswajeet-Sharmila Tagore film YEH RAAT PHIR NA AAYEGI and the Dhrmendra-MalaSinha starrer BAHAREN PHIR BHI AAYEGI (1966). In Phir wohi dil laaya hoon O.P. Nayyar was in his elements exploiting to the hilt the vocal talent of Rafi and Asha to create rhythmic, foot-tapping songs with his typical ‘horse trots’ in the background. The title song as well as ‘ ‘Lakhon mein nigahon men’ are songs so typical of Rafi that one cannot think of hearing them in any other voice. Similarly the semi-classical song ‘Dekho bijli dole bin baadal ki’ and the melodious ‘Ankhon se jo uthri hai dil men’ are typical Asha numbers for O.P. Nayyar. Films Baharen Phir....’ and ‘Yeh raat phir...’have  many of the top Asha numbers for O.P.Nayyar with ‘Koi kahde kahde’, ‘Woh hanske mile hum se’,’Yeh wohi jaga hai’ and the highly rhythmic ‘Mohabet cheese hai kya’ are a few of them. Who can forget the popular hit ‘Huzure wala’ powerfully rendered by Asha and Minoo Purushottam in Yeh raat ? Mahendra Kapur owed his success to a large extent to his songs ‘Badal jaaye agar mali’ (Baharen phir) and ‘Mere pyar woh hai’(Yeh Raat) along with his songs for OP in Sawan ki Ghata and Kismat. The word ‘phir’ also reminds me of another two romantic film titles,one “Dil ne phir yaad kiya’(1966) with  beautiful music score by Sonic Omi. The pleasant Rafi numbers ‘Lo chehra surkh sharaab’ and ‘Khaliyon ne gunghat khola’along with the title song ‘Dil ne phir yaad..’ by Rafi,Suman Kalyanpur and Mukesh come readily to mind. The second is the Raj Kapur- Mala Sinha film, PHIR SUBHA HOGI (1958), based on Feodor Dostoyevsky’s famous novel Crime and Punishment. Two songs composed by the great Khayyam, ‘Phir subah kabhi to aayegi’(a solo by Mukesh and as a duet by Mukesh and Asha) and ‘Chino Arab hamara Hindustan hamara’ (Mukesh) contributed for the success of the film to a large extent.

There are two  romantic  musical films of the 50s whose title and music made them a hot topic of discussion among us. One is the hilarious romantic film KALI TOPI LAL RUMAL(1959) with Chandrasekhar and Shakila in the lead. The film’s music was by Chitragupta, a highly underrated music director who had tuned beautiful songs for films like Tower house, Apalam chapalam and several films from AVM of the south like Mein chup rahoongi and Mein bhi ladki hoon etc. Two songs of Kali Topi deserves special mention,viz.,Lata’s ‘Daga daga vai vai vai’ and the pathos filled duet with Rafi  ‘Laagi chhoote na’. The other is DEKH KABIRA ROYA(1957) with Anup Kumar, Ameeta and Anita Guha in the lead. Music lovers are ever grateful to music director Madan Mohan for the wonderful music of the film. The most popular two of the ten songs are Manna Dey’s ‘Kaun aaya mere man ki dware’ and Talat Mahmood’s ‘Humse aaya na gaya tumse’. The captivating way Manna Dey was singing the first word ‘kaun’ and the remaining lyrics is a treat to the years. One can’t think of Talat without remembering the song ‘Humse aaya’.Lata’s light classical number ‘Meri veena tum bin roye’ and ‘Tu pyar kare ya thukraye’ are a few of Lata’s best for Madan Mohan.

Yes, there are many more such attractively titled films like Barsat ki raat, Meri surat teri ankhen, Baharon ke sapne, Chaudwin ka chaand, Yadon ki baraat, Hum kise se kam nahin, Do ankhen barah hath,Tere ghar ke samne, Aaye din bahar ke, Door gagan ki chaon mein, Usne kaha tha, Bedard zamana kya jane and so on. But let me conclude this post with a few lines on the last named three films.

Film  DOOR GAGAN KI CHHAON MEIN(1964)  was a much awaited film for us as it was, in every respect, an exclusive Kishore Kumar film, a monument for his genius. The film was written,produced, directed and acted in by him with Supriya Chatterji in the lead. The music was composed by Kishore Kumar and a few songs were sung by him. In ‘Ah chal ke tujhe’ and ‘Koy lauta de mere’ Kishore’s voice was at its soft melodious best.  Title song Door gagan ki chhaon men  and Rahi tu ruk mat jaana are typical Hemant Kumar songs in his  characteristic voice.

76rpm DISC  USNE KAHA THA

Film USNE KAHA THA (1960), a typical love story partly against the back ground of war with Sunil Dutt and Nanda  in the lead,was a much discussed film on the campus, probably for the story in which  the hero sacrifices his life on the battle ground for saving the life of his former lover’s husband because she had told him to protect her husband!(Usne kaha tha). Two songs composed by Salil Choudhury are fresh in memory. Talat Mahmood’s ‘Ah ha rim jim kar ke pyare pyare’  and ‘Janewale sipahi se poochho’, by Manna Dey, Sabitha Bannerji and chorus.

 

The film and the title BEDARD ZAMANA KYA JANE (1959) with Asok Kumar, Nirupa Roy and Pran with a contrived story lingers in my mind probably for the songs ‘Naina hain jadu bhare’ by Mukesh and ‘Door kahi tu’, a duet by Lata and Rafi both songs  composed by Kalyanji Virji Shah.76

It is a pity that many of the beautiful songs of lesser known films are not heard nowadays except to a limited extent on AIR and that lovers of old Hindi film songs, especially from the young generation, are fed with only popular songs of a few successful films over and over again.

Tail piece: While typing  this post,  a  popular song by Jagjit Singh was repeatedly  passing through my mind. “....magar mujhko lauta do bachpan ka sawan,  Woh kagaz ki kashti woh baarish ka paani ..............Badi  khoobsurat  tha woh zindagani”.Take away everything  but give me back my childhood days.