NAUSHAD, MUHAMMED RAFI, DILIP KUMAR- MAGNIFICENT THREE.

I had in an earlier post mentioned about the wonderful combination  of Shankar Jaikishen, Muhammed Rafi and Shammi Kapur who had together created a large number of popular everlasting film songs in the 60s and 70s. There are a few other similar trios who had enriched Hindi film music with their wonderful songs.  S.D.Burman, Kishore Kumar, Dev Aanand and  R.D.Burman, Kishore Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and,  of course, Naushad, Muhammed Rafi, Dilip Kumar are some of them. The outstanding feature of these songs is that the efforts of the composer, singer and the actor on whom  they are picturised  have homogeneously jelled to make them  audio visual delights. One can’t think of the song separately from the composer, singer and the actor. Of these, the trio of Naushad, Rafi and Dilip was, to me, the unchallenged combination for the intensity of their impact on film goers and listeners,  the popularity of the songs, the number of films they did together and  the durability (immortality) the songs  attained. For sheer popularity and ‘singability’, the songs of the combination of SJ, Rafi and Shammi are far ahead. But for quality of content and soulfulness the songs  the trio of Naushad, Rafi and Dilip takes the cake. 

What made these compositions of Naushad outstanding is not  his musical genius alone but also his close personal rapport with the singer and the actor and the mutual respect they shared in each others’ talent . Their dedication to their job and  sincerity to make a song perfect  and the enormous efforts they took towards this could be imagined when one listens to the songs with the actual song scene in mind. Naushad himself had put on record about the long hours they spent together discussing and rehearsing each song before they were recorded at a stretch.About Rafi Naushad observes: ‘When we talk about his singing style , he has been  emotional and hardworking........There are two styles of singing, one coming from the throat and the other coming from the heart. Rafi’s style is to render beautiful songs from the heart. The fact is that often his heart did not get the song he wanted to render......He is a great person. ....Never comes late for recording......’.Naushad harboured similar high opinion about Dilip Kumar also. He observes, ‘I always admired Delip’s  expertise in the language. .......His room is full of books on various subjects....A person with a keen sense of observation  who can talk confidently on any subject......Pure trustworthiness is another quality he possessed....His art is beyond time and his dedication great....’.(Ref: MAUSHAD’S NOTES: Editor-Sasikant Kanikar)

There are about 15 films in which they worked together spanning over a period of two decades from 1948. One feature of the music of Naushad for these films  is that the lyrics, except for film ANDAZ, were penned by his favourite lyricist Shakeel Badayuni. The journey started with film MELA(1948)  with Nargis as heroine and there was only one song,’Yeh zindagi ke mele’,by Rafi, the other ten songs shared by Mukesh and Shamshad Begum. But ‘Yeh zindagi ke mele’ continues to be heared on Vividh Bharati and Radio Ceylon often.In fact in the early years of Naushad’s association with Dilip Kumar, Rafi did not figure  much as a singer. In film ANDAZ(1949) with Nargis as heroine Rafi had only one song,’Yun to aapas men bigadte hain’, a duet with Lata and all the other male voiced songs were by Mukesh including immortal numbers like, Tu kahe agar’ and ‘Toote na dil

tootena’ and’Hum aaj kahin dil kho baithe’. Of course, Raj Kapur was the hero of the film and his preference for the voice of Mukesh was well known. In film BABUL(1950)again with Nargis, a great musical hit, all the eleven songs were shared mainly between Talat Mahmood and Shamshad Begum.

But the position changed with the film DEEDAR(1951) in which Naushad’s music was an outstanding success and the film was a super hit establishing Dilip Kumar as the top hero of Hindi films. While Shamshad Begum’s songs stole a march over other songs in the film, Rafi could stand on his own with four songs including the duet with Lata. ‘Dekh liya main ne’ . Rafi’s  grief filled ‘Meri kahani bhoolne wale’ was very popular and it was on the lips of every music lover those days. The other two Songs of Rafi viz., ‘Nazib dar pe tere’ and ‘Hue hum jinke liye barbad’, were also ‘sad songs’ but well received by listeners and repeatedly aired on the radio. The image of a ‘tragic hero’ stuck on Dilip, to a large extent, with these songs sung from his heart by Rafi.

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The success of DEEDAR  was followed by ANN, a Dilip-Nimmi starrer, which again was a big hit at the box office’. The remarkable acting of Dilip, the soul stirring music of Naushad and the songs of Rafi for Dilip Kumar contributed to the success of the film. Rafi was at his happy romantic best in the song, ‘Dil mein chupaake pyar ka toofan le chale’.  Naushad has given  an ‘O.P.Nayyar touch’ to this song with rhythmic horse trot sound in the background and the listeners watching the video clip can feel the special chemistry between the composer, singer and the actor making the song so enjoyable.  The song ‘Maan mera ehsan ‘ by Rafi was also very popular. To  the disappointment of  music lovers,  these two songs were the shortest in the film, both less than three minutes.

In film AMAR(1954) with Nimmi as the heroine, Naushad went back to his marked preference for female voice  with only one out of the ten songs in male voice. This  song,’Insaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai’  with Rafi and chorus, though,  was the most popular of the film  even now heard over the radio. In film URAN KHATOLA(1955)also, again with Nimmi as the heroine, this preference for female voice was obvious. But the song, ‘Mohabat ki rahon mein chalna sanbhal ke’  by Rafi  is even today as haunting as ever with the Naushad, Rafi, Dilip stamp all over it.

After Uran Khatola there was a gap of more than four years for another offer from the trio mainly because both Dilip and Naushad were  taking up only one project per year. But the wait was worth enough  as they hit  again with a bang with film KOHINOOR(1960)with the ‘tragic heroine’ Meena Kumari pitted against Dilip Kumar. The film was a roaring success and the songs topped the popularity charts. The film has two of the top duets ever of Hindi films  with Lata and Rafi at their competitive best to make the songs what they are. The melody, rhythm, lyrics, foot tapping background music, the happy abandon with which the singers sang to the requirement of the scenes enacted by Dilip and Meena kumari all made the songs ,’Do sitaron ka zamin par yeh Milan aaj ki raat’, and ‘Koi pyar ki Dekhe jadoogari’ immortal.The film has one of the best ever semi-classical songs of Hindi films in Rafi’s ‘ Madhuban mein raadhika naachere ‘which is another example of the trio’s magic. Naushad himself has recorded the efforts taken by them while composing and recording the song as Rafi had no formal training in classical music. Dilip Kumar, the perfectionist, who had to play a sitar for the scene had taken months of training in playing sitar, to the extent of injuring his fingers, so that he can do justice to the hand/finger movements of the sitar player! Naushad felt that it was the way Dilip Kumar had acted in the song scenes and gave lip movements to his songs that helped in making his songs popular. Mighty compliment from the  composer to the actor! For Naushad the song ‘Duniya ke rakhwale’ from film BAIJU BAWRA is Rafi’s best song for him. But to several others it is ‘Madhuban mein raadhika’, maybe, for the Dilip magic.

Close on the success of KOHINOOR came MUGHAL-E-AZHAM(1961) with Madhubala in the lead opposite Dilip Kumar. Naushad was at his best in this film and the songs became a milestone in the history Indian film music. Naushad justifiably expected the coveted FILMFARE AWARD  for his songs in this film but it went to Shankar-Jaikishen for  DIL APNA PREET PARAI. Out of the ten songs seven were female voiced songs by Lata, two songs by Ustad Bade Gulam Khan and one, ‘Aye muhabbat zindabad’, by Rafi which was not picturised on Dilip Kumar. I am not discussing the songs of this film here as the focus of this post is different.

In the 60s there were three films of Naushad with Vijayanthimala in the lead opposite Dilip Kumar.They are Dilip’s own production, GUNGA JAMUNA(1961), LEADER(1964) and SANGHURSH(1968) the last being the last of Naushad for a Dilip Kumar film.The dialogues of film Gunga Jamuna were in ‘Purbi’ language. The most popular song of the film is the rustic song,’Naina lad jaihen’ by Rafi . The song and its picturisation on Dilip in particular  have similarity with the song ‘Mere pairon mein ghunghroo bandha de’ from film Sanghursh; both beautifully composed by Naushad and sung by Rafi and gloriously enacted by Dilip in his inimitable style. The song ‘Jab dil se dil thak’ is the other Rafi song of film Sanghursh well received by listeners especially lovers of ghazals.In film LEADER Rafi had several songs and the ‘tipsy’song ‘Mujhe duniyawalo’ and the patriotic song ‘Apni aazadi ko ham’ were the most popular. The semi-classical duet with Lata ‘Ek shahanshah ne banwake’ and the duet ‘Tere husnki’ were also typical Naushad-Rafi- Dilip numbers.

Films DIL DIYA DARD LIYA(1965), RAM AUR SHYAM(1967)and AADMI(1968) had Waheeda Rahman in the lead with Dilip Kumar. A prominent emphasis on classical ragas and a leaning towards ghazals were noticeable in Naushad’s  music for Dilip Kumar’s films of the 60s. Rafi’s songs,’Dilruba main ne tere pyar  mein kya kya na diya, Dil diya dard liya’ and ‘Guzre hai aaj ishq mein hum’ and the duet with Asha ,’Saawan aaye ya na aaye’ are shining examples of this shift. The pathos filled ‘Koi saghar dil ko bahlata nahin ‘ ia another melodious Rafi number. The emotion filled melody  ‘Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salami lele’ from film Ram aur Shyam is also on these lines.The energetic folk dance number ‘Aayee hai baharen mete zulmo sitam’  beautifully rendered by Rafi and acted on the screen by Dilip is an audio visual treat on the lines of similar songs in Gunga Jamuna and Sanghursh. The trend continued in ‘Na aadmi ka koi bharosa’ and ‘Aaj puranee ratton se’ in film AADMI. While all these songs were outstanding as such, the similarity of tunes, singing and acting led to the criticism, refuted by Naushad, that too many films with Dilip Kumar was making his music stale.

Unfortunately for music lovers Naushad did not compose songs for Dilip kumar’s films  after 1968. The last song,’Jis raat ke khawab aye’,  recorded by Rafi for Naushad was for the film HABBA KAHTOON which did not reach the theatres. http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&hl=en&gl=IN&feature=related&v=UHwxK83itLg&nomobile=1

Naushad had stated that Rafi was so pleased with the lyrics and tune of the song that, after recording the song, he hugged Naushad and said that it was after a long time that he could get an opportunity to sing such a beautiful song.He also said that his fate,of late,  had been to imitate the sound of cats and dogs. The story goes that he did not take any remuneration from Naushad for the song.

Naushad had also revealed that it was his regret that he could not make Rafi sing another song like ‘Duniyake rakhwale’ of film Baiju Bawra. No wonder that after Rafi’s demise in  1980 Naushad said that one half of his person is dead and that his music will not have the erstwhile purity. Naushad left us in 2006 without fulfilling another of his dream of recording a film song in Dilip Kumar’s voice. Fortunately Dilip Kumar, one of the very few remaining  links with that golden musical era is still with us.

Tail piece: Sri Sasikant Kanikar has edited a book ‘Naushad’s Notes’ comprising Naushad’s autobiographic writings.There is a Malayalam translation by Sri Deepesh k. Ravindranath titled Cinema Sangeetham Jeevitham. Offers deep insight into Naushad’s life and creativity.

SHAMSHAD BEGUM- THE LEGENDARY INDIAN SINGER.

Shamshad Begum, considered to be the first playback singer of Indian Cinema, passed away on the 27^th April 2013. She was 94 years old at the time of her death and, in fact,she  was  almost as old as Indian cinema itself which is celebrating its centenary  in 2013. 

In the second half of the 50s and during the 60s not a day passed without our hearing the voice of the legendary singer Shamshad Begum on the radio. The powerful voice with a trace of the  Punjabi nuance typical of the singers of the era was the unmistakable USP of Shamshad Begum’s songs.  The song ‘Oh dilwale dil ka lagana’, a duet with Chitalkar from film PATANGA (Music. By C.Ramachandra known also as Chitalker ) and the song  ‘Bachpan ke din rulana dena’, a duet with Lata, from film DEEDAR  (Music:Naushad)were our favourite songs of the early 50s with several parodies in the local language also proving very popular. Even now when  these  two songs  are heard once in a way, no where else but on Radio Ceylon in the morning,  it gave me an opportunity to nostalgically relive those childhood days!

Like other female singers of the late 40s and early 50s,  Shamshad Begum also was in the same singing mould as Noor Jahan, Raj Kumari, Suraiya, Zohra Ambala and so on. But the distinguishing feature of her songs was the power of her voice and the clarity of rendering best evidenced by her songs for music directors  Naushad and O.P.Nayyar. In many of the obituary references on Shamshad Begum her song with Lata,in film Mughal-e-Azam (Music:Naushad), viz.’Teri mehfil meri kismat’ as well as the two O.P.Nayyar songs, ‘Kajra Mohabatwala’from film KISMAT and the immortal ‘Leke pahla pahla pyar’from film C.I.D. have been invariably mentioned precisely for this reason. Eventhough these were essentially duets,( the third one is with Asha and Rafi) they were normally identified with Shamshad Begum for the dominance of her voice. In fact it was O.P.Nayyar and Naushad  who could draw Shamshad Begum away from the traditional nasal style mentioned earlier  to the more popular and durable open throated  style of singing with the songs from these films. Such was the popularity and magnetism of ‘Kajra muhabatwala’ that the film KISMAT is still remembered mainly for this song in spite of the beautifully tuned and rendered songs of Mahendra Kapur and Asha Bhosle  in it.

When we recollect the film songs of Shamshad Begum there are four or five film albums,  mainly of Naushad and O.Nayyar, which could well be termed Shamshad Begum’s  albums! The first LP album coming to mind is that of  Sunny Arts Productions’ 1950  film BABUL  starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis with music by Naushad. Out of the twelve songs seven are by Shamshad Begum a few of them not solos. The two beautiful solo songs are ‘Na socha tha yeh’ and ‘Jadoo bhari nainon mein’. The pathos filled and still haunting chorus ‘Chhod babul ka ghar’ is an outstanding  Shamshad effort  very popular on the radio and functions in the 50s.The obvious theme and mood of the song and the poignancy of the situation were well expressed by Shamshad through her voice which will be realized better by seeing the video clipping of the song.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJxJuWUF3uw ) But what gives this album the exclusive Shamshad Begum stamp is the three songs with Talat Mahmood. The melodious ‘Milti hi ankhen milgaya deewana kisi ka’is the best of the three. The other is ‘Duniya badal gayi’ and the third is ‘Nadi kinare’ where Rafi  joins them.The silky soft, trembling voice of Talat is pitted against the precise power packed voice of Shamshad and made to gel beautifully to create outstanding duets to reveal the genius in Naushad.The chorus, ‘Dhadke mera dil’also puts shamshad at her best.  The duet with Lata, ‘Kisi ke dil mein’ is marked by elaborate  and melodious rendering  by both singers . One is also compelled to compare this song  with Shamshad’s solo number,’Chaman ke rah ke virana’in the same tune in film DEEDAR with music by Naushad. Listen to these two songs and decide which is better!Apart from the song ‘Bachpan ke din’ mentioned in the beginning, what makes the LP album of DEEDAR Shamshad’s own and a collectors’ item is her rare duet with  G.M.Durrani,’Nazar phero na ham se’. I do not know whether this song is now  available  except on this LP album!

Another exclusive Naushad-Shamshad Begum album is that of  Wadia films’  MELA(1948) starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis. Out of the eleven songs, five are by Shamshad and three are her duets with Mukesh. Among the solos, ‘Gham ka fasana’ and  ‘Mohan ki muraliya bhaje’ are typical sweet songs of the 40s.  The songs ‘Dharti ko aakash pukare’ and ‘Tasveer bani hanker bigdi’ are also not behind.  The duets with Mukesh  are representative of the duets of the 40s.  The influence of K.L.Saigal ‘s style in Mukesh’s singing  and the influence of Noor Jahan, Suraiya and so on on Shamshad’s singing were evident and this made the duets in this film, ‘Aai sawan rut’ and ‘Mera dil todnewale’ unique and enjoyable.

A few other compositions of Naushad  for Shamshad Begum also come to memory. One is from the film NAGHMA (1952).,viz., ‘Badi muskil se dil ki bekharari ko farar aayi’  in quawali style and the other is from the 1947 film DARD,viz.,’Hum dard ka afsaana’  both exhibiting Shamshad’s effortless style of singing.There are two songs in film DULARI  and the one, ‘Chandni aayi ban ke pyar o sajna’ is as good as any of the golden oldies.Again there is this lovely song ‘O gaadiwale gaadi’ from film MOTHER INDIA and  ‘Lagi more man ki’ from film SHABAB. In film JADOO  Shamshad  was rocking with this fast paced foot tapping  number  ‘Lara loo lara loo’.

While Shamshad Begum’s songs for Naushad belonged mainly to the 40s and 50s, remembered nowadays more by the old timers, it was her songs for O.P.Nayyar which captivated the hearts of the younger generation and which is more likely to carry them forward to the next generation.The film C.I.D. is still remembered more for the peppy number,’ Leke pahla pahla pyar’ of Shamshad  than for her own two beautiful songs,’Boojh mera kya naam re’, and the  melodious ‘Kahin pe nighahe kahin pe nishaana’. Of course, O.P.Nayyar made the film C.I.D. his own with these songs of Shamshad and the Rafi-Geeta Dutt songs.’ Yeh hai Bombay Meri jan’ and ‘Ankhon hi ankhon mein’.Among the  celebrated compositions of O.P.Nayyar for film NAYA DAUR, the Shamshad-Asha number, ‘Reshmi salwar kurta jali ka’stands out and is remembered even today mainly for O.P’s rhythm and the success ofAsha and Shamshad in imparting life and pep by their voice and style. In O.P. Nayyar’s musical hit AAR PAAR,  Shamshad’s song  ‘Kabhi aar kabhi paar’ is able to stand on its own against Geet Dutt’s ‘Babujee dheere  chalna’, ‘Ye lo mein haari piya’, ‘Muhabat kar lo jee bhar lo’ and so on only by her captivating voice.

The versatility of Shamshad Begum’s voice is again evident in the songs from film PATANGA with music composed by C.Ramachandra.Apart from the duet,’O bachpan ke din rulana dena’, there is another duet , ‘Mere piya gaye Rangoon’, with Chitalkar, with her voice capturing the mood of the song beautifully. Her two songs, ‘O gore gore’ and ‘Balam tujhe mera salam  are  also typically sweet.

In R.K.Films’ first film AAG (1948) producer director Raj Kapur,  probably because he could not afford a Lata Mangeshkar  or a Shankar Jai kishen then, used the voice of Shamshad Begum  for the compositions of an unknown music director, Ram Ganguly . But  this  is not a reflection on the quality of the songs in the film. In fact, though the film was not a commercial success, the songs were super hits of the time and proved extremely popular over  the radio. The pick of the lot is the one by Shamshad,’Kahe koyal shor machaye re’ her powerful unwavering voice lifting the song to a different plane. The grief filled ,’Dekh chaand ki aur’, ‘Na ankhon men ansoo’ and ‘Dil toot gayaji’ by Shamshad is typical of the melodies of the 40s. In spite of the huge popularity of the songs and the R.K. Banner, the music director was soon forgotten . Even in discussions in the media on Shamshad Begum, the songs from this film did not get due mention.

A few more songs of Shamshad Begum for other leading music directors also come to mind. The first is the quawali from film CHAUDWIN KA CHAAND,’Sharma ke kyun pardanashi ‘ with Asha Bhosle, a composition by Ravi..  For S.D.Burman there is this melodious,’Saiyan dil men aana re’ in film BAHAR. For Shankar Jaikishen in film AWAARA  Shamshad crooned ’Ek do teen’. For Roshan in film BAWRE NAIN,Shamshad sang this comic number ‘Ichak bechhak ghurr”. For Ghulam Mohammed in film MIRZA GHALIB,Shamshad sang, ‘Chale pee ke  nagar’ and for Madan Mohan  ‘Nache  ang ‘ with Jagjit Kaur and Noor Jahan in film HEER RANJHA.

While listening to the songs of Shamshad Begum on one of my old HMV  record players  after finishing the text of this post, I wanted to believe that that she is still alive and singing. But  the truth that one more of our singing legends with whose songs we grew up listening to has passed away unsung  is too obvious to be wished away.A few obituary words  here and there and a few references about ‘'leke pahla pahla pyar’and ‘Kajra muhabat wala’ and everything will soon be foregotten . The fact remains that we have lost one of the very few last links to a golden musical era.

VINTAGE MOTOR CARS AND MY BI-CYCLING DAYS.

What a wonderful experience it was to visit a car museum where an impressive array of vintage cars are exhibited under one roof! Yes, in the Sharjah Classic Car Museum one can see a huge collection of cars  from the early years of the 20th century;from the early Ford T Model cars to a variety of other Ford cars, Chevrolets,Bentleys, Pontiacs, Cadillacs, Fiats,  Benzes and so on.What is striking is the fact that the cars are kept in excellent running condition, immaculately painted with the metal parts shining. A Rolls-Royce Ecstasy is a great attraction. Then there is a Limousine type Benz 6oo Pullman and a French Citroen with a special hydraulic system and push button brakes! The names and models like Ford Mustang, Ben

Benz
Pullman

tly, MG, Phantom, Pontiac, Land Rover and so on brought back memories of reading these names in the books of Earl Stanley Gardner and James Hadley Chase and other English detective novels in our younger years. An old red  ‘Fire Engine’ is  the cynosure of all eyes.To see all the models of the period was a unique experience as even variations of some of these cars were unavailable in our country then.

Fiat

Studebaker Champion

Still, there were a few of these brands  in the 40s and 50s  even in our small towns as a bye product of our earlier colonial status. The richer among the rich could acquire these models as well as desi versions of the Morris Oxford (Hindustan) and Standard cars(Vanguard)and the Bug Fiats and the like. There were a large number of rich planters and estate owners, timber lords, contractors, wholesale rice merchants, jewellers and bus owners and so on who used to drive through our narrow streets in their Plymouths, Cadillacs, Impalas, Pontiacs and Chevrolets, Studebaker Packards while people looked at them through wonder struck eyes.There was a rich planter near my home who used to travel sitting pompously in the backseat of his chauffeur driven white Studebaker Champion, with a pipe in his mouth,  which is an enduring image in the mind even now. The son of a rich planter cum bus owner had an enormous Chevrolet Impala Convertible  which used to sail through the beach road with the hood down.There was a businessman sporting his immaculately painted and polished huge black Rolls Royce. A prominent  jeweller used to drive a sprawling long white Buick Sedan and drop his son at our  school. My mind raced back to these images when I saw a similar white Studebaker Champion  and other cars in the museum. The variants of the big Ford, Plymouth and Chevrolet Sedans were mostly run  as Taxis thanks to their huge cabin space . A large number of the U.K. made Morris Minors and Austins , especially A-40s, were also on the roads then. There is a  beautiful orange red and black Fiat 509  in the museum a variant of which was commonly seen in the 50s in  our town.By the late 50s and early 60s these grand foreign models started disappearing from Indian roads as a result of Government’s import policies. The Hindustans, Landmasters, Ambassadors, Fiats and Standard Vanguards,10s and Heralds, all manufactured in India,took over the Indian roads. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.

A few other lingering memories of images and experiences came flashing through the mind. The main pastime of students and youngsters of those days in our town was to go to the long beautiful beach  in the evenings and spend time playing in the sea and  watching the lighthouse coming to life and flash its light. We also made it a point to  wait for the flashes from another light house about twenty five  kms. away. In between we used to watch the luxurious cars parading to and fro on the long beach road. The sons of some of the rich car owners, some of them our school/college mates,  made it a point to display their fortunate possessions  by driving the cars as fast as they could making as much noise as possible in an effort to impress. To our great pleasure some of them  waved their hands at us making us feel very important! Several Royal Enfield Bullet motorbikes with their trade mark beats were also on show. Inwardly we longed that one day we will also be speeding through the beach road in our own cars and bikes!

As far as our own mode of transport was concerned, the fortunate among us owned bi-cycles,  a few got them on hire. The rest made it by foot! Several cycle hiring shops were there which hired them at 12 paise(2 Annas)per hour for old ones and 18 paise to 25 paise per hour for newer ones.I belonged to the 2^nd and 3^rd category but I had the luxury of using my father’s Phillips bicycle on his off days. Among bicycles the coveted brands were the Raleigh and BSA even though the Humber and the Rudge were equally in demand.  While these brands were costlier the most popular brand was the Phillips, known for its toughness and reasonable price. Another popular brand was ‘Hercules’ followed by ‘Atlas’.

A very interesting add-on to the bicycle was the light.The luxury light was the Miller dynamo and head light as it is not easily affordable. It is maintenance free, can be easily operated and threw enough light on the road at night.The most popular and cheap alternative was the cute SARDAR brand paraffin lamps. It used to have two small windows, red on one side and green on the other. As paraffin was not easily available a mixture of kerosene and coconut oil wasused as fuel. Riding a bicycle without light at night was as serious a traffic offence as riding double or riding on the right hand side of the road. Of course, the rules were strictly enforced too!   Bicycles without chain covers, with half chain covers and with full chain covers called gearbox were also there.Those who could  afford  changed the ordinary factory fitted saddle for a comfortable BROOKS saddle! Hand pumps for filling air in the tubes inside the tyres were also there. Riding a bicycle in the rain with one hand and holding an open umbrella on the other was great fun!

I could, in course of time, own a bicycle, scooter and could ride the Royal Enfield Bullet  on the M.G. Road of Bangalore. Years later while driving my car on the old beach road I remembered that it was once my dream to drive a car on the same road . But alas! I felt no joy , no thrill! Those old carefree days cannot be regained. I wondered where the old friends would be that moment.

MUSIC DIRECTOR SARDAR MALLIK-- HIS SARANGA

A notable omission in my modest collection of gramophone records of Hindi film songs  was the LP record of the 1960 film  SARANGA  with music by the great, but largely unrecognised,  music director  Sardar Mallik. I have been searching for this LP album for the last several years and it was only recently that I could get it, from a regular source, to my utter surprise and pleasure. The record with the jacket intact  is in top condition without any scratches.  What made me and other music lovers to search for this  album of an otherwise  ordinary film starring Soodesh Kumar and Jaishri Gadkar is the beautiful pathos filled song ‘Saaranga teri yaad mein’ penned by Bharat Vyas and rendered by Mukesh in his inimitable voice and singing style in which only he can sing. It is considered to be one of the top songs of Mukesh when the composer, lyricist and the singer gelled  together to create an immortal song. The song was a big hit the moment it was heard on the radio  and was hugely popular in the campuses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXQgClapKYc

The memories of this song lingered in the heart even when it slowly vanished from the radio and the cassettes and MP3 discs containing the song became increasingly difficult to find. In none of the several  exclusive LPs of Mukesh  this song  was included to the utter disappointment of the admirers of Mukesh and the song. This and the fact that the song ‘ Saranga ter yaad mein’ evoked such nostalgia that the thrill of collecting this LP album became all the more ‘thriller’!The album also contained another beautiful song of Mukesh, ‘Hain diwana hun mein’ and the Lata Rafi duet,’Piya kaise milun tumse’. And a rare feature of the album is that it contained a version (not a full version)  of the song ‘Saranga teri’ by Rafi in a slightly different tune or rather in the form of a recitation. As I had not seen the film I do not know how  this version by Rafi was used in the film.

 Why was this talented music director, who started as a dancer and choreographer as well as a singer , not given due recognition in spite of the wonderful music he composed for film Saranga and several others?  Even before SARANGA there was the Shammi Kapur film THOKAR (1954) in which Sardar Mallik had given beautiful songs especially the ghazal ,’Ae gham –e-dil kya karun’ soulfully rendered by Talat Mahmood. This song is available in the LP Album of Talat  titled  IN A BLUE MOOD. Probably the film SARANGA could not boast of a big star cast and it was also not a box office hit. Again in  film  LAILA MAJNU(1953)  Sardar Mallik has composed another ghazal for Talat Mahmood, ‘Tere dar pe aaye  hun fariyad lekar’.Though both films had Shammi Kapur,  it was a pre Yahoo/ pre Rebel star Shammi Kapur who could not lift the films  on his own. There was again Hemant Kumar singing with his usual gusto Sardar Mallik’s composition 'Main garibon ka dil hun watan ki  zuban' in film  AB-E-HAYAT and this very popular song,’Mujhe tumse muhabbat hai’ of Rafi in film BACHPAN. Two duets of Mukesh and Suman Kalyanpur also come to mind. One is ‘ Sun more rasiya sun more basiya’ from film MADAN MANJARI and ‘Baharon se poochho mere pyar ko tum’ from film  MERE GHAR MERE BACHHE. In spite of these and several other  outstanding songs Sardar Mallik could not make it big in  Hindi films. Unfortunately his best compositions were for B grade films with B grade stars resulting  in their inability to sustain interest among filmgoers which is essential for making songs popular .Finally Sardar Mallik also had to slowly fade away like several others like N.Dutta, Dattaram. Iqbal Qureshi, G.S.Kohli, Robin Banerjee, Sonik Omi and so on proving once again that talent alone cannot guarantee success in film music industry.
Tail piece:- Though Sardar Mallik could not make it big, his son Anu Malick continues to hold his own in Hindi film music world.