FILM MADHUMATI, SALIL CHOUDHURY, HIS MUSIC.

 Walking down  the memory lane, there are several  films that evoked plenty of nostalgic memories of our younger days. One such film is Bimal Roy Productions, MADHUMATI (1958) directed  by  Bimal Roy with Dilip Kumar and Vijayantimala in the lead. The novelty of the story and theme, viz. reincarnation and life after death, beautiful picturisation, pleasing performance by the lead and supporting actors, the way the story  was handled retaining the suspense till the end and above all,  the fascinating songs and music by Salil Choudhury made lasting impressions especially on the younger viewers.The fact that the film bagged six National Awards and nine Filmfare Awards for all the major categories added to its aura. Bimal Roy, who had earlier made such wonderful films like PARINEETA, DO BHIGA ZAMIN, DEVDAS, NAUKRI, BIRAJ BAHU etc.  acquired cult status with Madhumati and went on to make highly acclaimed films like SUJATA, BANDINI, PARAKH  and so on.

While listening to the LP record of Madhumati on  my record player, I realised that the most important factor for the success of the film was the music of Salil Chowdhury . The  LP record holds 12 songs of the film and most of them are even today hugely popular with Lata’s Filmfare Award winning  ‘Aaja re pardesi’ topping the list. The Lata-Mukesh duet  “Dil tadap tadap’ is regarded as one of the top duets ever of Hindi films. The  Mukesh-Salil-Dilip Kumar song, ‘Suhana safar aur mausam’ happens to be a rare song of Salil Chowdhury filmed on Dilip Kumar. Two lively group  songs, viz., ‘chad gayo papi bichhua’ and ‘Zulmi sang aankh ladi’adds variety and displays Salil’s penchant for folk music. Mubarak Begum’s sweet and soulful ‘Ham hal-e-dil sunnaaeenge’was a hit over the radio those days. Not in the least is one of Rafi’s best ever ‘Toote hue khwabon mein’ making the LP record of the film one of the most sought after one even now.

 Kabuliwallah

Some of the evergreen songs of Salil Chpidhury also flashed through my mind while listening. Manna Dey remained one of his favourite male voices right from the 1953 film ‘DO BIGHA ZAMIN’, the chorus ‘Dharti kare pukar ke’( with Lata) being very popular.The song  ‘Hariyaala saawan dhol bajata aaya’, again a chorus with Lata, revealed Salil’s mastery over folk style of music. In film USNE KAHA THA there is ‘Janewale sipahi se poochho’, a highly patriotic song by Manna Dey. Two very popular and melodious songs of Manna Dey for Salil Choudhury coming readily to mind are ‘Zindagi kaisee hai paheli’ from Aanand and the sweet ‘Ek samay par do barsati’ from JHOOLA. For me, the second is the favourite for his softness of voice in the Talat Mahmood style. And for voice modulation and style of singing  there is this beautiful song from Bimal Roy’s KABULIWALLAH ,viz.,’Yeh mere pyare vatan’. My search for a gramophone record of this song fructified only a couple of days back when I got a well maintained 78 r.p.m record! The credit for using Manna Dey’s voice for a Malayalam film and making him a much loved singer of Keralites also goes to Salil Choudhury  with Manna Dey’s song ‘ Manasa maine varoo’ from the President’s gold medal winning Malayalam film  CHEMMEEN. That reminds me about Lata Mangeshkar’s only song in Malayalam ,viz., ‘Kadali thenkadali’ in the much accclaimed film  NELLU  which was also composed by Salil Choudhury.The film also has a chorus. ‘Chemba chemba’, sung by Manna Dey and Jayachandran . The rhythmic, vibrant and catchy folk/tribal songs of the film, as the story demanded, were very popular those days.

Many of the well known and popular songs of Talat Mahmood were composed by Salil Choudhury and the songs of film CHHAYA , a Sunil Dutt – Asha Parekh starrer, come readily to mind.The song , ‘Ankhon mein masti sharaab ki’, is a rare, but beautiful and pleasant, romantic song of Talat as against his usual ghazals. So also is the song, ‘Itna na mujhse to pyar badha, sung solo  by Talat as weIl as as a duet with Lata. Talat is at his ‘ghazali best’ in the song ‘Aansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe’ from this film. The duet of Talat with Lata, ‘Aha rim jim ki ye pyare pyare’ from film USNE KAHA THA and the song,’Raat ne kya kya’ from film EK GAON KI KAHANI  are Salil Choudhury’s gems with Talat. And for me Lata’s best song for Salil Chudhury after ‘Aaja re pardesi’ is the melodious lilting song from film PARAKH, viz., ‘Oh sajana barkha bahar ayi’.

Two songs of Mukesh for Salail Coudhury,  I just remembered, are  the one from the superhit Rajesh Khanna film AANAND,viz., ‘Kahin door jab din dhal jaye’ and the immortal song from the Raj Kapur film JAGTE RAHO, viz., ‘Zindagi kwab mein’ which haunts listeners even today. I also remember two songs of Jesudas for Salil, a popular duet with Asha in film CHHOTI SI BAAT,viz.,’Jan-e-man jane-e-man’, an example as to how a duet is to be sung with the singers trying to excel each other at the same time retaining the mood and tempo of the song. The other is the semi-classical song, ‘Ni sa ga ma pa ni.’ from film ANAND MAHAL. It is also a fact that only Salil Choudhury and music director Ravindra Jain could exploit fruitfully the talent and voice of Jesudas at his prime for Hindi films.

Any discussion of Salil Choudhury’s music without mentioning his fine compositions in film MAYA could be termed incomplete. Lata Mangeshkar’s lilting ‘ Ja re ja re ud ja re panchi’ and Rafi’s fast paced ‘Koi sone ke dilwala’ are outstanding numbers. But, to me, what makes the music of the film noteworthy are the two duets. In fact Salil Choudhury could be credited with some of the best duets of Hindi films with ‘Dil tadap tadap’(Lata Mukesh), ‘Itna na mujhko’ and ‘Ah ha rim jim’ (both by Lata-Talat), ‘Chhota sa ghar hoga’(Film Naukari- Kishore–Usha Mangeshkar)and so on proving the point.The two duets from film Maya are also equally fascinating. One is the lilting melody by Lata-Rafi, ‘Tasveer teri dil mein’ which is even now often heard on the radio. But the top of the chart is the two part duet , ‘Ae dil kahan teri manzil’ by Lata and the inimitable, but sadly foregotten, Dwijen Mukherjee. The tune of the song, meaningful lyrics, the beauty of the two sweet voices matching and complementing each other make this song a top favourite. Dwijen Mukheri, with a voice and singing style of Hemant Kumar, Aas ka Panchi Subir Sen and Hoke Majbhoor Bhupinder , was not heard much in Hindi films in spite of the  success of this song and soon vanished from the scene to the utter disappointment of discerning listeners! But the song is still as refreshing as ever.

Vayalar-Salil

Salil Choudhury’s presence in Malayalam film music did not end with CHEMMEEN and NELLU. In fact he had composed music for about 25 Malayalam films besides providing background music for ABHAYAM,DWEEP and the award winning film VASTUHARA etc. In association with noted Malayalam poets like Vayalar, O.N.V. Kurup and Srikumaran Thampi he gave a large number  of highly popular songs for Malayalam films and achieved a high level of success in Malayalam film music which no other Hindi music director except Ravi could achieve. With Srikumaran Thambi he created the songs for film ETHO ORU SWAPNAM.  With Vayalar he tuned songs for several films like RAAGAM, RAASALEELA, THULAVARSHAM, EZHU RAATHRIKAL and so on apart from the songs of CHEMMEEN and  NELLU. The song ‘Kaadaru masam’ from film Ezhu Raathrikal and ‘Kelee nalinam’ from Thulavarsham were super hits of the period.

Pratheeksha

It was with O.N.V. Kurup that Salil Choudhury created a large number of popular songs which are even today a rage among singers and listeners. In film PAREEKSHA  there is this soulful song rendered by Jesudas, viz., ‘Oormakale’ and the rare EP record of this song is one of my proud collections.In film SWAPNAM the song ‘Saarikee’ by S.janaki; in MADNOTSAVAM the song ‘Sagarame santha maaku nee’ by Jesudas, in film SAMAYAMAYILLAPOLUM  the song ‘Shyama meghame’ by Jesudas and several other films  and songs bear testimony to Sali’s prowess as a music director even in a language which was alien to him. In THUMBOLIKADAPPURAM (1995), probably the last film of Salil in Malayalam, singer Chitra rendered this immortal song ‘Kaathil thenmazhayay paadoo’ which remains as  sweet as ever.

Salil Choudhury had used the tunes of his successful Hindi songs in Malayalam either for songs as such or in the background. For example, the tune of this beautiful song ‘Chhotta sa ghar hoga badalon ki chhaomen’ from film NAUKARI  rendered by Kishore and Usha  Mangeshkar has been beautifully used for O.N.V’s lyrics in film AIR HOSTESS for the song ‘Onnaanam kunninmel.’http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=chhotta+sa+ghar+hoga&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35 In film CHEMMEEN  the tune of the song ‘Baag mein kali khili’ from  film CHAND AUR SURAJ has been fruitfully used in the background of the chaakara song ‘Pennale kannale’.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwAvatrW3XA

Salil Choudhury whose melody was based on Indian Classical music and folk music with orchestration influenced by Western music  ruled the hearts of millions of listeners for more than 40 years. His musical creations will preserve his memory for generations to come.

Tail piece: Madhumati remains as the only film I had seen twice in a theatre. It was on its  second release at a local theatre in 1960 on an intervening holiday of my degree exam!

HINDI FILM SONGS :NOSTALGIC GOLDEN OLDIES.

A  couple of days back I was listening to Vividh Bharati on my old radio a bit late at night when suddenly a long lost song from  AMAR DEEP, a Dev Aanand-Vyjayanthimala film of1958, came through like a whiff of fresh air in the sultry room. The song is the duet, ‘Dekh haemin aawas dena’, by Rafi and Aasha, tuned by C.Ramachandra. The song was a very popular one in the late 50s and the early 60s when not a day passed without hearing this song at least once  on Vividh Bharati or Radio Ceylon on their listeners’ request programs. Though the film itself had not won the limelight the songs of the film , especially ‘Dekh hamein’ and ‘Man ke bawra panchi’ had topped the popularity charts  for a long time. What made the song, dekh haemin, linger in the hearts of the listeners was the way the two singers apparently tried to excel each other to make it captivating. It was a refreshing experience to hear the song again on the radio after several years..In fact the night appeared to be special as several of those nostalgic songs like ‘So gaya saara zamana , neend quum aathi nahi’(Lata) from film Miss Mary and the  ‘Oohh neeend na mujhko aaye, dil mera kabraye’(Hemant Kumar-Lata) from film Post Box 999 and  a few others were also heard caressing me to sleep  as a contented listener.

Listening to these songs again on my old radio  my mind went back to several of those very popular old songs which had given us enormous pleasure in our younger days and which continues to do so even now whenever they are heard over the radio or the TV. An interesting feature of these songs is the fact that people still remember them even though many of the  films were not very popular and successful at the box office . In fact even now  people identify the films by the songs and many of these films  had only one or two songs, so enchanting and evoking nostalgia, that  keep the films still in peoples’ mind. It is sad that many such songs are not heard nowadays except  sometimes on Vividhbharati and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corpn on SW.

On a quick mental scan one such song coming to my mind is the beautiful composition by S.N.Tripati from film RAANI ROOPOMATI. It is a Mukesh number, ‘Aah laut ke aaja mere meet ’penned by Bharat Vyas. I stiil remember hearing the song from the local theatre over the loud speaker for months even after the film had vanished from memory. The grief filled voice of Mukesh is all there to be  absorbed by the discerning listener. One should also hear one of the most beautiful duets of all time ,’Zara saamne to  aavo chhaliye, chup chup chalne mein’ composed by S.N Tripati  for the film JANAM JANAM KE PHERE, to realize how great, but how much underrated a composer he was!

The name of music directors, Shankar-Jaikishen, was  always synonymous with box- office success as most of the films for which they had composed music were huge hits. There were two films, AMRAPALI and  SASURAL  which did not get much critical acclaim at that time but there was one song in  each which had caught the hearts of the listeners. The song, ‘Jao re jogi tum jago re’ by Lata, from Amrapali,  picturised on Vyjayantimala is one such song though rarely heard nowadays. The song is a great example of Shankar-Jaikishans’ mastery over semiclassical compositions. The song, ‘Teri pyari pyari surat ko’ from film Sasural was hugely popular especially  among  college students and it used to be the song in the functions of college art societies. Rafi imparting the youthful exuberance and romance contributed much to the success of the song. No wonder Rafi got the Filmfare Award for the best male singer for the song in 1962 and it was the number one song in the Binaca Geetmala program for the year. The film is remembered even today only for this song. There is yet another Shankar-Jaikishen song,.  from the DevAanand-Mala Sinha film LOVE MARRIAGE, a beautiful duet of Rafi and Lata, ‘Dheere Dheere chal, Chand gagan mein’. This was a very popular song  repeatedly heard over Vividh bharati those days on listeners’ requests.

Another song from a Dev Aanand –Mala Sinha starrer ,MAYA, is the one by the velvet voiced singer from Bengal, Dwijen Mukherjee, ‘Yeh dil kahan teri manzil’. There are two versions of this song in which Lata also had rendered a portion. The beautiful composition by Salil Choudhury was a great melodious hit . But, somehow, the song did not linger long probably for the overwhelming success of  the Rafi-Lata duet,’Tasveer tere dil mein’ from the same film. The gifted singer in the Subir Sen-Hemant Kumar mould who could have become a MannaDey, Talat or Hemant Kumar, did not get many chances in Hindi film music, a big loss  for  listeners. To many, the film MAYA  instantly brings Dwijen Mukherji’s song to mind.

That reminds me of another song, a rare Mukesh-Rafi duet, ‘Badi door se aaye hain, pyar ka tofa layi hain’, composed by Kalyanji Aanandji for the film SAMJAUTA . In fact Rafi used to begin his stage programs especially abroad by first singing this song to the utter delight of expatriate Indians. The feeling  which Rafi  imparted  to this song in a couple of  stage programs I was fortunate to attend is still fresh in memory; a  song which could take  the audience with the singer throughout but  rarely heard nowadays.

There are two songs by composer Ravi which had outlived the memory of the films. One is the lovely song by Rafi, ’Husnewale tera jawab nahin’ from film GHARANA a top of the chart song in the Binaca Geetmala  program and a song which gave Ravi the Filmfare award for the best music director in 1961. The other  song is one in which Ravi showed he is not behind anybody as far as rhythm is concerned. Yes, it is the Rafi song from the 1962   film CHINA TOWN , a Shammi Kapur- Shakila starrer, ‘Bar bar dekho, hazar bar dekho’ a highly popular song but slowly being pushed into oblivion in the rush of fast paced rocky numbers churned out these days. But for old enthusiasts the charm of ‘bar bar dekho’ never fades.

Music directors, Laxmikant-Pyarelal  burst into the Hindi film music scene with outstanding compositions in film PARASMANI and went on to become the number one in the field with Raj Kapur opting for them, in place of  their regular composers  Shankar-Jaikishen, with the film BOBBY. But there is one composition from their early film MR.X IN BOMBAY , a  suspense thriller with Kishor Kumar in the lead, viz., the Kishor Kumar song in two parts,’Mere mehboob  qayamat hogi’. It is a haunting melody superbly rendered in a voice that gelled with the mood of the song. Nobody talks about this film nowadays  but there are music lovers who still remember and listen to this song.

Film AKHRI KHAT was an off beat film telling the story of a child left alone in a city and there is a hauntingly melodious song  by Lata, ‘Baharon mera jeevan bhi sawaro’,. The tune composed by the great Khayyam and with Lata at her singing best made this song  memorable. It was a song frequently heard over the radio , a favourite in the listeners’ request programs. The LP record of the film is special as its Side 2 presents pieces from the beautiful background score of Khayyam.

There are a large number of such songs flashing through my mind but I will stop with mentioning one or two more. One, though may fall in the ancient category, is from film BADI BAHEN. The song composed by Husnlal Bhagatram,  ‘Chup chup khade ho, by Lata andPremlata, was our favourite song as children and was  heard over the gramophone during marriage functions. I still remember  several popular parodys of this song in Malayalam. There is also Talat Mahmood’s song  from film ASHIANA, the first major break the singer got from composer Madan Mohan. The trembling voice of the singer was at its best in this song ,’Mera qarar leja’. Alas ! This song nowadays is not heard even on special programs on Talat Mahmood or Madan Mohan.  

There is another film, BOMBAI KA BABU, a Dev Aanand- Suchitra Sen starrer,which had several outstanding songs composed by S.D. Burman.The film did not succeed in spite of the songs and the refreshing and one of the rare appearance of Suchitra Sen in Hindi films.The song, Chalri sajni ab kaya' by Mukesh, 'Saathi na koyi manzil' by Rafi and 'Dekhne mein bola hai' by Asha were great songs. But the Rafi -Asha duet, 'Deewana Mastana hua dil' is one of the best ever and an example as to how a song should be rendered to the mood of the situation. The voice of Rafi was at its best.

It is sad that many  such songs of the 50s,60s and 70s are slowly but surely being pushed into oblivion  as the young generation has no chance to hear them unless they make conscious effort to search for them. CDs and MP3 discs containing the beautiful songs of the past are easily available in music stores. Old songs are also available even now on Vividhbharat in their programs like Manoranjan etc and at night from 10PM onwards in their Chhaya Geet and listeners’ request programs.  Vividhbharati  still give the names of the film, the singer, music director,and the lyricist before or after each song which is always a delight. An encouraging development is that one or two English news channels are running special programs  based on Hindi film stars, singers, music directors etc. to the delight of  lovers of old Hindi film songs. Even in one of our Regional channels a beautiful program titled RAAG RANG on old Hindi film songs is shown.But with dwindling awareness, changing tastes and the overwhelming  presence of fast paced music of the ‘kolavery’ age such golden oldies are on a losing track.

Tail piece:(heard from a friend)Mahe is a place famous for its liquor shops and bars,  a legacy of its former French rulers. Crossing the Mahe bridge and passing through the streets lined with bars, the song ‘Bar bar dekho, hazar bar dekho’ came through the hired car’s music player!