.H I N D I   F I L M S -N O S T A L G I C   Q U A W A L I S . 

In the golden era of Hindii film songs, i.e., the 50s, 60s, and the 70s, one of the  very popular forms of filmy music was the Quawali which had its origin in the Persian countries. In India  it was very  popular among the masses during the years of Mughal rule.  In  our younger days we used to hear  Urdu traditional quawalis on the radio frequently and  in the commercial services of the Radio Ceylon  there used to be special slots for quawalis especially filmy quawalis. In the early decade of the Doordarshan again Urdu quawalis were frequently seen on the screen.  The names of prominent Quwals like Habib Painter,Yousuf Azad Quawal, Rani Ruplata, Razia Banu, the Sabri brothers( Karachi), Aziz Mian Quawal and so on were familiar among lovers of Hindi music. . The simpler and melodious quawalis of popular Quawals like Jani Babu Quawal and Shankar Shambhu Quawal who had sung in films were more popular  among listeners.

While the appeal of quawalis to the masses is essentially its rare lilt and rhythm imparting a large  measure of vitality and vigour to the songs its visual entertainment value revolved around the singers . The traditional quawali group consisted  of  a lead singer assisted by one or two side singers  and the chorus including the instrumentalists playing mainly the harmonium and the  tabla. The all- male participants in their traditional attire squatting on the stage singing , clapping and gesturing with infectious enthusiasm and happiness  with the appreciating and knowledgeable audience in the front complete a normal quawali scene. Successful quawali groups all had  great ability to carry the listeners along with them throughout the program.

While the traditional Urdu quawalis appealed more to lovers of Hindustani classical music the quawalis of Hindi films had wider appeal to the filmgoers as film  quawalis were more melodious and the lyrics contained less Urdu words. Besides, the quawalis rendered  in the sweet voice of their favourite play back singers like Rafi, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapur, Lata, Asha, Shanshad Begum  and so on and the scenes picturised on their favourite lead artistes and comedians easily gelled with the film enthusiasts.  In film quawalis the female characters not only sang and played instruments  but also danced on the stage adding to the entertainment value. The usual alaap in the beginning of the song followed  by rendering of lines without background music and followed by bold, rhythmic beats and claps so special to quawalis, variations in the tempo of the song, repetition of lines/key words are all characteristics of quawalis.The beats and, to a large extent the tunes, are common to all quawalis. But what makes each quawali stand apart is the way the singers delivered the lyrics, the subtlity with which the nuances are expressed, variations introduced and the participants performed. In fact a filmy quawali is more an audio visual entertainment than a pure audio delight.

One of the early film quawwalis coming to mind is the one from film Zeenat(1945) composed by Meer Saheb,viz., ‘Aahen na bharain shikve na kiya’ rendered by Noor Jahan, Zohra Bai, Kalyani and chorus .Strong shades of this song can be felt in the  quawali composed by Naushad  for  film Mughal-e-Azam, ‘Teri mehfil, meri kismet asmakar ham bhi dekhenge’( Lata-Shamshad Begum). There is another old quawali of Naushad in Naghma(1953), an Ashok Kumar-Nadira(Fearless)film,’Badi mushkil se dilki bekharari ko farar aayi’ by Shanshad Begum in her voice best suited for similar songs. Again in the Rajinder Kumar-Wahida Rehman film Palki,  Naushad had tuned a beautiful quawali, ‘Main idhar jaaoon ya oodhar jaaoon’ rendered by Manna Dey, Rafi and Lata with Manna Dey outstanding with pleasing voice modulation for which he was famous.

Another famous quawali of the 50s is the one composed by Bulo C.Rani for the Mahipal-Shakeela film Al-Hilal(1958),viz., Hame to loot liya mil ke husne walon ne, kale kale balon mein gore gore galon mein’ by Ismail Azad Quawal and party.This was frequently aired on the Radio. Eventhough the lyrics  consisted mainly of these lines the spontaneous gestures and spirit  on view  of the singers in the scene made it very popular.

Another very popular quawali heard repeatedly on Radio Ceylon is the one from Kala Samundar(1962),’Tum meri tasveer laykar kya karoge, kya karoge’, composed by the talented, but highly underrated, composer N.Dutta who had given several unforgettable songs in films like  Sadhana and Dhool ka phool. The quawali was rendered by Rafi,Asha, Balbir and chorus.Agian for film Dahrm Putra ( Shashi Kapur-Mala Sinha) N. Dutta had composed a flowing quawali,’ Chaahe yeh mano chaahe woh mano’ with Mahendra Kapur, Balbir and chorus .

There is one ‘quawali studded’ film with the title, Quawali ki Raat.(1964)starring Kamaljeet, Kum Kum and Mumtaz in which all the songs are quawalis composed by the lesser known music director Iqbal Qureshi who had given a few beautiful songs in films like Love in Simla. The one , ‘Aate jaate ek nazar par dekh lo dekhlo’ and the other ‘Husnewale husn ke anjan dekh’are outstanding quawalis of the film Quawali ki raat. But the pick of the lot is the Rafi, Asha. Manna Dey title song, ‘Kahnewale tu bhi kahde, jo dil ke baat hai,quawali ki raat hai quawali ki raat.’ The song picturised on Kamaljeet and a dancing cum singing  Mumtaz, according to me, is one of the top filmy quawalis of all time but without due popularity as the film was not a box office hit.http://www.hindigeetmala.com/song/kahne_wale_tu_bhi_kah_le.htm

Two of the unforgettable quawalis of music director Ravi are from film Chaudvin ka Chand and film Waqt. In the first film, there is this lengthy Asha-Shamshad Begum number in two parts, ‘Sharma ke kyun pardanashi’ with Asha’s solo interludes embellishing the song.. The pace, variations in tempo and the throw of  lyrics all make this a top quawali  reminding us of the Mughal-e-Azam song,’Pyar kiya to darna kya’.In film Waqt, there is one of the  best of Manna Dey,’Eh meri Zohra Jabeen, Tujhe maloom nahi,Tu abhi tak hai hasi aur mein jawan, Tujhpe qurban meri jaan meri jaan’. Picturised in colour on Balraj Sahni the quawali brings out the best in Manna Dey who uses all of his versataliy to make the song a great hit. No wonder Manna Dey was,along with Rafi, the most sought after singer of quawalis. That brings to my mind another of Manna Dey’s super hit quawali, ‘ Yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi’ composed by Kalyanji Anandji  for Amitab Bachhan’s super hit movie, Zanjeer.

Music directors Sonik Omi had composed an evergreen quawali, for the Pran, Rekha, Navin Nishchal film, Dharma(1973),  the  Rafi-Asha quawali, ‘Raaz ki baaat kah doon to jaane mehfil mein phir kya ho’. The speciality of the song is that it was a rare song picturised on Pran who plays the role with gusto against the dancing female singer artist Bindu both making the scene a huge hit.The voice modulation of Asha and Rafi to suit the artists is the distinctive feature of the song.  Music director Sonik Omi  had another hit in film ‘Dil ne phir yaad kiya’, viz., ‘Hamne jalwa dikhaya to jal jaoge’ rendered by Asha and Manna Dey.

There are many more to mention. But let me stop by mentioning a few of the other best ever  quawalis .The first to mention is Roshan’s , ‘Nato karavan ki talash hai’ made “the quawali” by Manna Dey, Asha, Sudha Malhotra and S.D.Batish from film Barsat ki raat. In fact music Director Roshan’s name is always remembered by the film Barsat ki raat  and the beautiful songs he had tuned for the film. There are three more equally popular quawalis in the film,viz., Yeh hai ishq, (Rafi, Manna Dey, Batish, Sudha Malhotra),’Nigah-a-naaaz ke’(Rafi, Asha, Sudha, Shankar Shambhu)and ‘Ji chhahta hai choom loon(Asha, Sudha Balbir, Bande Hasan). In fact Roshan has a special place in filmy quawalis with such great numbers like ‘Vaqif hun khub Ishqake’(Manna Dey-Rafi, film Bahu Begum), ‘Chaandi ka badan sone ki nazar’(Rafi-Asha-Manna Dey-Meena Kapur. Film TajMahal), the great Manna Dey hit,’ Laaga chunri me daag’ and Asha’s ‘Nigahen milane ko jee chahta hai’ both from the Raj Kapur film Dil hi to hai.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD5Pe4k3myI&feature=related

Film Amar Akbar Antony could boast of the sizzling ageless quawali ‘Parda hai parda, parda hai parda, parde ke peeche pardanashin hai, pardanashin ko be parda na kar dun, to to Akbar mera naam nahin hai’ picturised on Rishi Kapur, Neetu singh,Amitab Bachan and others(Music. Laxmikant Pyarelal). It is a wonderful song  scene with Rishi living the role with gusto and Amitab in a lesser role  jumping on to the stage with a garland of currency notes! There is another  equally memorable Rishi Kapur-Zeenat Aman   quawali scene in film Ham kisi se kam nahin’(Music. R.D.Burman), ‘Hai agar dudhman dushman zamana gam nahi.........Ham kisi se kam nahin’.

With the changing times and tastes, eclipse of costume/period films and even top heroines eager to dance and sing in tastelessly revealing attire, it is no surprise that there is no space in films for quawali scenes with female characters clothed from head to toe and sideways almost upto fingertips besides frequently covering the face with a transparent chunri! Yes, Item numbers have taken the place of quawalis.

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.”

HOW TO MAKE A STORAGE RACK FOR CDs, MP3s AND DVDs.

One of the common issues discussed by music lovers in general and  those who possess a large collection of songs especially in the form of CDs, MP3  and DVD discs is their  proper storage. The problem is compounded by the fact that nowadays even recent films are available on authorised CDs and more people are buying them to be enjoyed leisurely in the comfort of their living rooms. Even though CDs occupy lesser space compared to gramophone records the fact remains that there is a felt need for storage systems in the absence of which CDs are kept scattered all over the room.

As far as CD racks available in our neighbouring markets are concerned one will find that ideas of storage have not progressed beyond the normal kitchen racks used for holding plates.  The CDS come in square(about 6”x 6”) unfoldable plastic or paper board packets. The DVDs and MP3s come also in rectangular(7”x5’’) folders. CD racks modelled on kitchen racks, therefore, face something like a square peg in round hole syndrome.

The problem of storing CDs can be considerably reduced by using easily made at home ladder racks in which CDs can be conveniently stacked. Let me show you one such rack made by me which I found very useful and convenient. The materials required are simple and easily available in the market. One needs only a hacksaw blade with frame, a small hammer, a screw driver as tools which, I think, most of the households will be having.The raw materials required are:

1.      Woodden (preferably teakwood) reapers of the thickness of 1”x1/2” or 1”x1” or 1”x3/4” of the required lengths. These are available in shops selling plywood sheets and similar items.

2.       Small thin nails 1”in size, ¾” screws with screw sleeves or plugs  and simple but strong 4” wall brackets all available in hardware shops. One rack will require 4 wall brackets.

3.      Sand paper, a small quantity of black paint or ‘Touch wood’.

The rack is simply a ladder which is fixed on the wall with wall brackets. Firtst step to make it is to cut two lengthy pieces of the reaper, say, of 3’ feet or 3 ½ feet in length each depending on the number of steps you want.This will form the outer frames of the ladder. Then  cut small  reaper pieces of the size of 6’’ the number again depending  on the number of steps required for the ladder. The inner distance(height) between the steps should be 6’’ for storing the normal CD folders and 8 inches” for the rectangular folders. Using the sand paper the frames and the pieces of reapers(steps) should  be given a smooth finish. Then the steps may be fixed, by using the thin wire nails,between the two frames the first one at the bottom with the smaller sides of the frame and step  facing out if the reaper used is not square.

When all the steps are fixed and strengthened with adequate number of nails, the wall brackets can be fixed as shown in the picture. The wall brackets should not be bigger than 4’’ and it should be fixed on the step in such a way that the distance between the wall and the inner edge of the frames and steps will  be 4’’ minus the width of the steps. Otherwise the CDs,as only a  small portion of the CD folder will be resting on the steps, will fall off. Before fixing the ladder on the wall an even coat of black paint or ‘Touchwood’ can be given. Allow enough time for the paint to dry and then fix it on the wall near your music system as shown in the picture by using 3/4” inch screws. The CDs can then be stacked on the ladder. Each section of the ladder can hold between 15 to 20 CDs depending on their  thickness and about 100 CDs can be stacked on a ladder of 3 ½ feet. The cost of a 3 ½ feet rack excluding own labour will be around Rs.100/-

This is only a basic model and one can improve it using one’s own ideas. Bigger/thicker reapers can also be used by which a double ladder rack with only three frames can also be made thus saving the cost of one frame though cutting a thicker reaper with a hacksaw may become a bit difficult for beginners. Cassette racks can also be made on similar lines but the wall bracket should  be of only 2 inches.The rack can be fixed on the wall horizontally also depending on the need, space constraint, size of the CD folder and individual preferences.

Keeping one’s musical equipments etc. neatly arranged and readily accessible , many say, is the first step to love and enjoy music. So please try this out.

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!