PREETI SAGAR-SPRING IS COMING.

Preeti Sagar is one singer who displayed outstanding talent and potential in her early career which enabled her to win the Filmfare award for the best female playback singer in 1976 for her song 'mere gaon' in film Manthan.She had also won a special award of Filmfare for her song 'my heart is beating' in the film Julie in 1975. But it was a big irony that she could not clinch a firm footing in Hindi film music world in spite of her proven singing ability and a voice of her own. Instead she turned her attention to singing children's songs and nursery rhymes and became an icon in the field with several albums in English, Hindi and Bengali.

Children's songs, lullabies, rhymes and stories for children are now available in plenty on CD's and DVDs and children have ample choice and variety for selecting them. But in the 70s and early 80s releases of gramophone records containing nursery rhymes and song for children were infrequent. Besides, people were not very much used to buying them for their children as they depended on print media for the purpose. It was during this period that Preeti Sagar came out with her albums of nursery rhymes and children's songs which became hugely successful and popular.

My interest in buying gramophone records was then focussed mainly on film songs as it was a question of allocating scarce monetary resources among competing choices. Still I do have two famous records of Preeti Sagar in my collection. One is 'Nursery Rhymes sung by Preeti Sagar'.This LP. record contained 35 rhymes beginning with 'Jack and Jill ' and ending with 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in between all the other age old popular rhymes which we had once sung , which our children had sung and which our grand children continue to sing. They include Humpty Dumpty, Ba Ba Black Sheep, Ring a ring a roses, Chubby cheeks, etc.,and Mary had a little lamb. (the first recorded song of Edison on the phonograph invented by him). The songs are sung in Preeti's pleasing and lively style. The music arranged by the great instrumentalist Enoch Daniels gave added value to the album.

The other is an EP record containing two songs , the title song and a love song. The song 'Spring is coming ' is penned by the famous Bengali poet Harindranath Chatopadhayay and composed by the renowned music director Vanraj Bhatia who had won the national award as the music director of film Tamaas in 1988. He had also scored music for almost all movies of Shyam Benegal like Mandhan, Bhoomika, 36 Chowrangee Street, Mandi, Junoon etc., besides other trend setting films like Ankur and Nishaant. For this song he used western music as well as Indian music with great effect. 'Spring is coming ', beautifully sung by Preeti was such a big hit among us that I had, often, to play it repeatedly on my gramophone at the insistence of my then 5 year old daughter. History seemed to have repeated recently when my daughter, on her annual visit to us, had to play it again and again for her daughter (i.e., my grand daughter aged 4 years) filling all of us with nostalgia. My grand daughter's singing 'Spring is coming ' was inevitable whenever our families and friends met.

MANJIL VIRINJA POOKKAL

The year 1980 saw one of the great events and a milestone in Malayalam film industry,viz.,the release of Navodaya Movieton's film 'MANJIL VIRINJA POOKKAL'. In an industry then obsessed with family oriented, sentimentally charged themes, Manjil Virinja Pookkal came as a whiff of fresh air with its simple but beautiful story differently told, picturesque locations, magnificent camera work, high technical values, and, above all, enchanting music. The film was a huge success and it made the audience wonder how a film could be made popular and entertaining without established names and without sacrificing artistic values. The fact that the film had several 'firsts' to its credit - the first released film of Mohanlal who became a superstar later, the first directorial venture of Fazil, the first Malayalam film of Poornima Jayaram, first Malayalam film of Shankar, first Malayalam film of music director Jerry Amaldev - all contributed to the film becoming a new refreshing experience for the film goers.

It was no wonder that the film got seven Kerala State Film Awards in the year 1980. The awards were for the best director (Fazil), best film(popular appeal ans aesthetic value), best actress(Poornima Jayaram), best background music(Guna Singh),best music(Jerry Amaldev), best playback singer male(Yesudas),best play back singer female(S.Janaki).

The biggest single factor for the success of the film was the music of Jerry Amaldev, a music director then settled in USA and brought down to India to score music for the film. And what a magical music score it was! Though his US background was highlighted in advertisements and promotional materials of the film, he was not new to Indian film music as he was a longtime associate of the great music director Naushad. The film had only three songs sung by Yesudas and Janaki to suit different moods.. The song 'Manjadi kunnil' is a duet by Yesudas and Vani Jayaram in two different styles.The melodious 'Mizhiyoram' was sung by Yesudas and Janaki separetely. The tunes of the songs, orchestration, rhythm, lyrical charm( lyrics by Bichu Thirumala), simplicity and the apparent easy 'singability' all gave a new and different feel to the listeners who readily accepted them and celebrated them. In the final analysis it was the freshness and the spontaneity of the music which appealed to the masses as well as the discerning music lovers.
The LP record of the film (It is in fact a 45 rpm record of the size of a normal LP record) is one of the rare records in my collection. I was, somehow, not able to buy it when it was released in 1980 even though I had the music cassette of the film. Strangely, the songs of the film were not heard frequently on the radio unlike many other lesser rated songs. It is also a fact that the songs are not easily available on cassettes and CDs. It was years later that I could collect the original LP record released by HMV in 1980! One side of its jacket shows one of the scenes of the film and the other side shows the picture of a young, smiling Jerry Amaldev. One could notice the word USA in brackets with the name Amaldev!!

Amaldev was a very busy music director in Malayalam films in the 80s with very successful music scores in films like Dhanya, Ente Mamattikuttiammakku, Nookkethatha Doorathu Kannum Ennennum Kannettante, Theeram Thedum Thira,etc. He slowly disappeared from the scene in the 90s to the loss of music lovers.

LIGHT MUSIC ON INSTRUMENTS

For an old timer and lover of radios it is difficult to stop being reminiscent about Radio Ceylon and their Hindi broadcasts. Radio Ceylon gave a lot of prominence to instrumental music and instrumental version of Hindi film songs were aired by them regularly.In fact their morning programs included a regular spot of 15 minutes for 'Vadya Sangeeth'. There was also a regular program at night in which a song was followed by its instrumental version. The names of the instrumentalists and the instruments they played were always announced before airing their tunes.

Going down the memory lane, the most familiar names were that of Van Shipley, Enoch Daniels, V. Balsara, Hazara Singh, Sunil Ganguly, Milon Gupta and a few others. They were as popular and well known as any other singer or music director. They were considered 'virtuosi'as far as their favourite instruments were concerned.They were integral part of the teams of great music directors of those days.
Van Shipley,, born in Lucknow, and trained in Hindustani and Western music, was the first electric guitarist of India. He designed his own guitar and violin and could play both classical and Western music on them. Known as the 'Man with the golden guitar', he worked with great music directors like Shankar Jaikishan. He played violin for the film Barsaat and guitar for the dream sequence in film Awaara. For several years he was with the Gramophone Company of India and they released an album" Van Shipley Sh0w' to mark his 25 years of association with them. The album containing 12 tunes from films like Caravan, Hare Rama Hare Krishna,Shirmilee, Andaz, Bees Saal Baad etc., mainly on guitar accompanied by violin and other Indian and Western instruments, amply revealed the genius of Van Shipley.

Another great instrumentalist whose tunes were frequently aired by Radio Ceylon, was
Daniels, the ace accordion player and the recipient of the first O.P.Nayyar Foundation Award in 2007. When one heard a tune on Piano Accordion on radio in those days it was sure to be Enoch Daniels just as it was Van Shipley when one heard a tune on electric guitar and Sunil Ganguly if it was Hawaiian guitar. There are several albums by Enoch Daniels and the one ,viz., 'Vintage Wine' containing 12 tunes like,'Suhani Raat( Dulari), Aaja Sanam(Chori Chori),Mera Salaam Lejaa(Udan Khadola)', Awaas De Kahan hain(Anmol Ghadi), and above all, the sweet 'Hai Apna Dil'(Solva Saal) all showed the mastery of Enoch Daniels over Piano Accordion and orchestration.

V. Balsara was another well known instrumentalist who had composed music for several films and whose tunes on Harmonium, Univox, Electric Organ and Accordion were often heard on Radio Ceylon. One of his LP Albums, '12 Hits of R.K.', playing the tunes of songs from R.K.Fims like Barsaat, Awara,Boot Polish, Shree420, and Aah is a treat to the ears.

For the lovers of Mouth Organ, rarely heard nowdays, there is one LP Record, 'Aao na Pyaar Karen', by that ace mouth organ player Milon Gupta, containing tunes of more recent films like Nazeeb,Kudrat, Rocky,Laawaris and two tunes from the hit album 'Disco Diwaane' of Nazia Hassan. Sunil Ganguly's album,'Encore' contained tunes on electric guitar from films like Gharoanda,Swami, Chitchor, Hum Kisise Kum nahin,etc.

While Van Shipley, Enoch Daniels, Sunil Ganguly, etc., played Western instruments, Sridhar Kenkare played tunes on flute. The LP record 'Vintage Films on Flute' by HMV containing 12 beautiful tunes like,Jyoth Kalash Chhalke', Bole re Papihara, Hum Pyar Ne Jalnewalon ko, Ansoo Bhari Hain, Yeh Mera Diwanapan, etc., always made me marvel at the sweetness of the tiny instrument called flute! Bits of these tunes on flute could still be heard sometimes on Aakashvani as 'fillers'! This album by Sridhar Kenkare in my collection has high nostalgic value for me . Purchased in 1977 along with a tuner, HMV SONIC IV, together costing about Rs.600/-,it was then, for me, a far from affordable price which I paid in instalments! This also reminded me about the experience of a fellow 'gramophone lover' and one of a few technicians in the area, who can and is willing to repair old valve radios! On seeing the LP Record,'In a Blue Mood' by Talat Mahmood, on my shelf he narrated how he and three of his friends pooled together Rs.10/- each to buy the record from Bangalore when it was first released in 1969!

It is regrettable that the present day music industry and the mushrooming FM broadcasters have neglected light music on instruments.It had the potential to develop and grow into a distinct branch of music. But, somehow, it got lost in the wilderness. The decline of music companies like HMV,INRECO, MUSIC INDIA, etc. and big production companies like RK Films, Navketan, AVM, Filmstan, Mahboob ,etc., who used to engage instrumentalists and orchestra exclusively for them must have contributed to this. Technological advancement and modern methods of recording as well as the versatility of Keyboard, Rhythm composer etc., have reduced the dependence of music directors on instrumentalists. Even for a stage program instrumentalists have become almost redundant.The young generation of listeners does not appear to mind this development. But, for old timers, this is a sad turn of events.

O . P . NAYYAR - MASTER OF RHYTHM.

In Hindi film music world, Music Director O.P.Nayyar, known as the master of rhythm, has an unique place. For about two decades from the early 1950s, with his first film Aasman, O.P.Nayyar followed a path of independent music composing with great success, popularity and fan following. He was unmindful of adverse criticism about his style of functioning, his likes and dislikes, his preferences in the selection of singers and musicians. As a music director, it was said, that he wanted his to be the last word and producers were, by option or compulsion, willing to give him a free hand because he was sure to deliver success. His imposing personality, impeccably dressed appearance, supreme confidence in his own creative ability, desire for independence, and, above all, the quality and success of his music made him a legend with a distinctmusical aura. The fact that he did not use the voice of Lata even once during his entire

career speaks volumes about his 'stance' eventhough his uncompromising attitude towards his music was often, rather unfairly, construed as arrogance.

For O.P.Nayyar, Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi were the only singers who could give expression to his music and his preference for them, especially in the second half of his career was exclusive. In the initial years of his dominance, Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt had sung a number of beautiful songs for him. In film C.I.D. (1956) Shamshad Begum sung the lilting hit 'Kahin pe nighahen kahi pe nishana' and 'Leke pahala pahala pyar " along with Asha and Rafi. In Naya daur (1955) there was the ever popular song 'Reshmi salvar kurta jali kaa' with Asha. In the film Aar paar (1954) he conjured another hit song 'Kabhi aar kabhi paar' by Shamsad Begum. Similarly Geeta Dutt had sung a number of memorable songs for O.P.Nayyar like 'Babuji dheere chalna', ' Ye lo main haari piya' , 'Muhabat karlo ji bharlo'(with Rafi) all from the film Aar paar. Beautiful songs like 'Jane kahan mera jigar gaya rae' and 'Tanty hava kaligatta' both from Mr.and Mrs. 55 ,'Yeh hai bombay meri jan' and 'Ankhon ki ankhom mein', both from C.I.D , were also by Geeta Dutt. She probably had the chance to sing these songs for O.P .Nayyar because the films were produced by Guru Dutt and O.P. Nayyar did not object to her voice. There is also a rare song by Mukesh , viz.,'Chal akela chal akela' ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgf30EIRs0s ) from film Sambandh.

Apart from a few songs, as mentioned above, it was Asha and Rafi all the way especially when O.P. re-emerged, after a brief lull, at the beginning of the 60s and bombarded the music world with hits after hits like Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Kashmir ki Kali, Mere Sanam, Kismat, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Sawan ki Ghata, Baharein Phir Bhi Ayeega, Yeh Raat Phir na Ayengi, Kahi Din Kahi Raat, Sambandh, Kalpana,Hum Saaya and so on.The songs of these films revealed the full repertory of Nayyar and introduced the vibrant rhythm, swing and beat dominated often by the Indian Dholak and the double bass. This thrilled the young audiance who identified themselves with his songs and to them he was the master of rhythm.[ For record collectors Nayyar's records are the most difficult to get which, probably, shows that they were lapped up by the young generation of those days who are even now not willing to part with them!!] During this golden era of the 60s Mahendra Kapoor also sang a few songs with great success for O.P. who, reportedly, used Mahendra Kapoor's voice to get equal with Rafi with whom he had a temporary tiff!! Songs,viz., 'Ankhon ke khayamat ki kajal'[Kismat] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqVWTecgm7U , 'Meri Jaan Tum pe Sadke'[Sawan ki Ghata],'Badal Jaaye Agar Maali(Baharein Phir Bhi Ayegi],were a few Mahendra Kap0or hits.

An important feature of Nayyars music was rhythm and the beats of horse hooves [tonga beats]in the back ground of the songs. This can be heard prominently in songs like 'Maang ke sath tumhara'[Naya daur] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix8L9MvruAo , Piya piya piya mera jiya pukare [Bapre bap], a rare Asha Kishore song for O.P., Haule haule chalo mera sajna [Savan ke ghata] and Yoo to hamne lakh haseen [Tum sa nahin dekha] and a few other songs. Strains of this beat could be heard by the discerning ears, in a large number of his songs. Incidentally, the gramophone record of' Tum sa nahin dekha' is a collector's item as it is a 45 rpm. record in the size of a LP record[33rpm.] Besides, it has the glorious picture of the handsome but loveable villain Pran on one side of the jacket, a rare picture of a villain on the jacket of a music record!]

It will be unfair to over emphazise Nayyar's mastery over rhythm to overlook his exquisitely fluid and haunting melodies .The ingenuous and refreshing use of santoor, sitar, sarangi and shehnai supported by violin and piano were the distinguising features of these songs. Aayiye mehreban[Howra bridge],Jayiye aap kahan jayegi[Mere sanam]Deewana hua badal[Kashir ki kali]Rathon ki chori chori[Muhabat zindagi hai]were a few examples.

O P. Nayyar,though not formally trained in claasical music, had created a number of enchanting classical melodies in films like Kalpana[Bekesi hudse kabi], and Ragini [Chota sa balma] and another hit 'Dekho bijly dol bin badal ki' [Phir wohi dil laya hum] all in Asha's voice. In the film Sambandh, combining with the famous poet Pradeep, all his songs were based on classical ragas. The songs Akelii hum me piya aa[ Asha], Chal akela chal akela[Mekesh], jo diwadha hum ne ek din [Hemanth kumar and Mahendra Kapoor], Andhre me jo baithe hein [ Mahendra kapoor] were hits even before the film was released. There was no song by Rafi in this film.

O.P. Nayyar has also given a number of duets with Asha and Rafi. The 'tonga beats' songs from Naya daur, Bapre baap and Tum sa nahin dekha, mentioned earlier, and the song 'Ek pardesi mera dil le gaya' ["Phagun," Asha- Rafi] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kyCrcxYH-8 are some of the very popular duets of O.P.Nayyar.

O.P.Nayyar was, perhaps, the only music director other than R.D.Burman, who could exploit the sensuality in Asha's voice to create such wonderfully catchy songs like' Yeh hai reshmy zulfon ka andhera[Mere sanam] Yeh haseen dard de do[ Hum saya], Kajra muhabat vala.[Kismat] and many other songs. In fact this timbre of Asha's voice always got emphasis in all her songs for O.P.Nayyar.

O. P. Nayyar was an outstanding composer who had created a niche for himself. He will be remembered by the young and old not only for his energetic, rhythmic, soulful and varied musical contributions but also for his stance as a music director who took pride in his creations and who stood for the freedom of the composer in creating film music. He could not, regretfully, survive the pressure and to stand on his own from the middle of the 70s. He chose to fade away rather than surrender his individuality. In the late 90s he attempted a comeback with film 'Nischay' but in vain. While his fans had no complaints for his exclusion of Lata and others it would be interesting to ponder as to what would have been the tremendous gain had the voices of singers like Kishor, Lata,Manna Dey,Talat and others were also used by him in his heydays. To that extent, music and music lovers are at the losing end along with O.P.Nayyar himself.

Tail piece: What is as famous as Nayyar's obstinacy? His hat !!

K.L. SAIGAL AND HIS RAJ KUMARI

Much has already been written about late K.L.Saigal, the legendary singer who began his career as a ticket checker in the Railways and later as a salesman of typewriters, and who died at the prime of his life and at the pinnacle of his singing career. His life, outstanding qualities as a singer, his career in the film music industry and his premature end have all been subjects for writers on Indian music.
To me, and to many others, the name Saigal evoked memories of our younger days when we grew up on a diet of Hindi film songs in general and Radio Ceylon, Vividh Bharati and
gramophone music in particular. The days began with the morning programs of the Commercial Services of Radio Ceylon like 'Instrumental music', " Ek hi film", "Purani filmon ka geet," "Aap hi ke geet" and so on.The 'Purani filmon ka geet" program from 7.30 a.m.to 8a.m. contained songs of stalwarts like Pankaj Mullick, K.C .Dey, K .L.Saigal, NoorJahan, Kanan Devy, C.H. Atma, Umadevi,Rajakumari etc. But we waited for the last song of the program just before 8 a.m. as it always used to be a song by "swargeeya K.L.Saigal" in his inimitable style and unmatched voice. His songs like "karum kya aas niras (Dushman.),Jab dil hi toot gaya (Shahjahan)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHzaJFb3RYE,
Diya jalaon (Tansen),Mein kya jannon (Zindagi), Babul mora naihar (Street singer)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_BmHDD8rSM&feature=related
, Balam aaye baso (Devadas), Do naina matware (My sister), Soja raj kumari (Zindagi) etc., were the most popular.But, to me, the song 'Soja Raj Kumari' from film 'Zindagi' with music by the great Pankaj Mullick was simply Saigal at his magical best. The program ended after Saigal's song at 8 a.m. followed immediately by the advertisment spot for Loma Hairtone,viz., "Loma Time -8 a.m. For the Indian fans of Radio Ceylon 'Loma Time' was as good as Indian Standard time and people set their watches(watches of those days required frequent time adjutments!!)to Loma Time!!! Those having valve radio can still listen to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation(Videsh Vibhag) upto 8-30 a.m. on 41 metre band airing Hindi songs on the same old formats. The song just before 8 a.m. continues to be one by K.L.Saigal. Of course , 'Loma time' is not there and the presentation is a far cry from the days of gifted announcers like Gopal Sharma, Manohar Mahajan and Vijayalaxmi.
The passion for Saigal 's songs, especially Soja raj kumari, lingered even when I grew older. My efforts to get the gramophone records of his songs did not succeed for long. I could first get the cassettes of albums," Memories of greatness -Golden voice of K.L.Saigal, vol. II and III". VolumeIII contained the song 'Soja raj kumari'. In 1974, Polydor brought out the LP,"The Legendary Saigal, now available in Stereo," containing ten of his popular songs including' Soja rajkumari'. The declared intention of Polydor was to over come what they called the ' gramophonic recordings' and ' lack of sophistication' in the earlier recordings. But in the process of giving stereo effect and facelift, to the discerning listeners, the original quality of the songs was lost. It was years later that I could get all the volumes of LP records,
"Memories of Greatness - the golden voice of Saigal". The song 'Soja rajkumari' was included in vol.I.

Though heard countless times on gramophones , cassettes , stage shows and T.V channels, the magical spell of 'Soja raj kumari' did not diminish. Soon I could get the 45-rpm. record of Zindagi with the song 'Soja rajkumari' on one side brought out by Hindustan Music Products Ltd. from Calcutta. But my search for the original 78 rpm. record of the song was still futile.

At last, recently, I stumbled up on the original 78 rpm. record of the two songs from the film Zindagi, brought out by New Theatres Ltd., from a shop selling antiques at Dubai. Surprisingly the record was almost scratch free even though the original thin dust cover, with the famous 2 1/2" hollow circle to read the titles etc., was not there. The record has 'Soja raj kumari' on one side and 'Mein kya jaanu' on the other. It now occupies a proud position on my shelf. The thrill of acquiring this record is beyond words.


P.S. As an ode to the great singer and his rajkumari, the eminent Malayalam poet Sri O.N.V.Kurup wrote a poem , "paaduka Saigal paadoo, ninte rajakumariye paadi paadi urakkoo"( sing, Saigal, sing , go on singing and put your rajakumari to sleep). The poem has been tuned and sung in ghazal style by Umbayi, a noted ghazal singer.

Hindi Film Songs-Golden Era of Duets.

A joyous feature of Hindi film music during its heydays up to, say, the middle of the 80s, was the romantic, melodious, lyrically charming, meticulously orchestrated and harmoniously sung duets which were a treat to the ears. Producers and music directors gave a prominent place for duets in their scheme of music for films.When we listen to an old duet we can actually feel how the singers tried to vie with each other to excel and make the song a musical experience. Both singers got equal importance and lines and the songs always had a wholesome effect on the listeners.
But things have changed a lot and such soul stirring duets are becoming a thing of the past. Technological advancement, compulsions of the industry, changing taste of listeners etc., are cited as reasons. But for the lovers of Hindi film songs this has been a sad development. Looking back longingly I thought it worthwhile to refresh the memory and to list out a dozen of those all time great duets which continue to give us joy. Of course, it is a random list not to be treated as a ranking list.
1. YAHAN BADLA WAFA KA... Film: Jugnu (1947) Music: Firoze Nizami. Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni Singers. Rafi and Noorjahan :
Mohd .Rafi in Jugnu(courtesy mohdrafi.com)

One of the early trend setters, this is a song I grew up listening first at family functions and wedding houses,later on Purani Geets on Radio Ceylon and Vividh Bharati, much later on my music system and now back on my own gramophones. The song is typical of the music and style of singing, of those days. It always reminded me of my childhood days and I think it would be so for all old timers.

2. MAANG KE SAATH TUMHARA....Film : Naya Daur(1957}. Music: O.P.Nayyar. Lyrics:Sahir Ludhianvi. Singers: Asha and Rafi.
A perfect example for a duet where the singers complement each other to bring out the mood of the song. Besides it is a typical O.P.Nayyar song with emphasis on rhythm and the famous "tonga beats" reminding us the scene of Dileep Kumar and Vyjayanthimala riding "Sankar ka Tonga!!" No wonder that the music of this film got the Filmfare award for best music of the year. Naya Daur was O.P.Nayyar at his best!

3. DO SITARON KA ZAMIN PAR HAIN MILAN: Film Kohinoor (1960) Music : Naushad. Lyrics: Sahir . Singers : Lata and Rafi


Naushad is one great music director who had not given as many duets as others. But his film Kohinoor contained two beautiful duets, "koi Pyar ki dekho" and "Do sitaron" . Out of the two my choice is " Do Sitaron" for its magical melody, romance, singing and background score.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4zhsxeA9Kg

4. KABI KABHI MERE DIL MEIN KHAYAAL : Film: Kabhi Kabhi: Music: Khayyam. Lyrics.Sahir Singers:

Lata and Mukesh.This is one of the several immortal songs of Khayyam.The song's solo version sung by Mukesh as also Lata and a recital of the lines by Amitab Bachhan are also available. But the duet by Lata and Mukesh takes the cake for the sheer pleasure of listening to a haunting duet of magical singing. The song took the No.I spot in the Binaca Geetmala for the year 1976. I cannot but mention here another duet of Khayyam in film Noorie ,viz.,:"Aajare O mere dilbar Aaja,dil ki pyas bhuja jaa re" sung by Lata and Nitin Mukesh. But "Kabhi Kabhi" is a class apart.

5.DIL TADAP TADAPKE : Film: Madhumati(1958) Music: Salil Choudhuri. Lyrics: Shailendra Singers: Lata and Mukesh

In films like CHHAYA,USNE KAHA THA and MAYA Salil Choudhury had given outstanding duets using the voie of Lata, Rafi and Talat Mahmood. But his best duet is "Dil tadap"from film Madhumati. The unorthodox but brilliant style of Salil is all there to see in this song. The Filmfare Award for best music of the year went to Madhumati.

6.ZARA SAAMNE TO AAO CHALIYE : Film: Janam Janam ke Phere (1957)Music:S.N.Tripathi Lyrics:Bharat Vyas. Singers. Lata and Rafi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eH1hVDVyU

Though music director S.NTripathi had given memorable songs in films like RANI ROOPMATI he has been an underrated music director.The song "Zara Saamne to" listed here was extremely popular among young and old and not a day passed without hearing the song on the radio in those days.The easy paced composition, melody, excellent singing and, above all, its "hummability" made it a great hit. No wonder it was at the top of the hits in Binaca Geetmala for the year 1957.

7.AAJA SANAM MADHUR CHANDNI: Film: Chori Chori (1956) Music: Shankar Jaikishan. Lyrics.Hasrat Jaipuri . Singers: Lata and Manna Dey

To select one from the large number of popular duets of Shankar Jaikishan is dificult. Songs of Lata and Mukesh in films of Raj Kapoor, her songs with Rafi in films like Junglee,Love Marriage,Dil Tera Diwana and also the one with Subir Sen in film Aas ka Panchi(Mein rangeela Pyar ka rahi) were outstanding.But for sheer pep, variety,singing style and for Manna Dey's sweet sonorus voice "Aaja Sanam" got the place in the list.The music of Chori Chori won the Filmfare award for best music in 1956. Another fast, blistering and hilarious number of S&J is"Jhoomta Mausam Mast Mahina" from film UJAALA sung, again, by Lata and Manna Dey.

8.TERE BINDIYA RE.Film Abhiman (1973) Music: S.D.Burmn. Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri. Singers:Lata and Rafi

Music director S.D.Burman had given a fine variety of duets using the voice of Lata, Rafi, Kishore, Asha and Geeta Dutt. Films like PAYING GUEST,TERE MERE SAPNE, JEWEL THIEF, NAU DO GYARAH, GUIDE etc., are examples.To me his best duet is "Ter Bindya re' which stands above "Tere mere milan" from the same film(Kishor-Lata)

9. O' NEEND NA MUJHKO AAYE.Film Post Box.999(1958). Music: Kalyanji Anandji. Lyrics:P. L. Santoshi. Singers: Lata and Hemant Kumar

Though this song was a big hit in Radio Ceylon and later Vividh Bharati, it was also a sort of forgotten song durng later years. The gramophone records or cassettes of this film are not available but in rare CDs and MP3s the song is available. To me it is an excellent duet for its lyrical charm, melodious tune, simplicity and for the husky voice of Hemant Kumar gelling with the sweetness of Lata's voice.

10.ABHI NA JAO CHHOD KAR . Film : Hum Dono.(1961). Music: Jaidev. Lyrics:Sahir. Singers:Asha and Rafi.

This is an immortal song by the awe inspiring music director,Jaidev. A true classically oriented song, it is cited as one of the best duets by experts as well as ordinary listeners. Though not hugely popular, it is, neverthless, an inevitable choice for serious listening.

11.TERE BINA ZINDAGI SE. Film: Aandhi (1975)Music: R.D.Burman. Lyrics:Gulzar. Singers: Kishore and Lata.

Considerd by many a the best of R.D.Burman, this song is also famous for Gulzar's lyrics. R.D. Burman has used the talents of Lata and Kishore to the full in this song to give expression to his creative genius. This is yet another song for serious listening.

12. TERE PYAR KA AASRA....Film :Dhool ka Phool(1959).Music: N.Duta. Lyrics:Sahir.Singers: Lata and Mahendra Kapoor

This was another highly popular song and , again, not a day passed without hearing it on the radio in my younger days.In f act it is frequently heard over Vividh Bharati even now. Its lyrical charm, compostion, way of singing as required by the mood of the scene and the picturisation(on Rajender Kumar and Mala Sinha) all made it a favourite song for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxB-7_2hotA

Picking out 12 songs from a plethora of eminent songs by great music directors has been a difficult and unenviable task. I do not claim that these are the best ever.The selection might have been, unknowingly, influenced by my own preferences and nostalgic affinity with some of them . Still if, at least, a few of them found a place in your similar list of duets, then I would consider my efforts well taken.

Tail piece: Industry: Todays music is "cut and paste" music. Great !!!!
Music lover: But where is the soul of the music?

Usha Uthup --Evergreen Singer

One interesting thing about collection of gramophone records, (or any other similar hobby) is that many of the records will have some story to tell,sentiments attached , some nostalgic memory,interesting incident or an important person behind them. One such L.P.Record with me is an album titled USHA SINGS - LOVE STORY AND OTHER HITS by Usha Uthup,the first successful female pop singer of India.

Seeing Usha Uthup as a judge in a very popular reality music show in a Malayalam T.V. Channel prompted me to take out this LP record and listen to it once again.The album brought back memories about my life for a year in Belgaum, a town on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border.It was in the year 1970 when I was a Trainee Officer in a bank. Belgaum,in those days, was a town of narrow streets with people, cattle and motorists jostling for space,abundantly available milk and milk products, art silk sarees and hosiery items,incessant drizzle, extreme winter and prominent presence of military establishments with a temple known as military Mahadeva temple in the Thilakwadi area.

It was during one of those winter nights that I, along with some of my colleagues,set out to watch a stage programme by the then upcoming pop singer Usha Uthup(Iyer). We were then not very fond of or familiar with pop music.But as scope for entertainment was limited and stage shows were rare to happen in Belgaum we decided to buy the tickets in advance.Besides, the singer and her stage programmes were becoming increasingly popular and getting rave reviews in the media. When we reached the venue it was almost full.Right from the beginning the sari clad singer with bobbed hair, husky voice, fabulous stage presence,enchanting smile and sparkling eyes captivated the audience.She carried them along with her songs often making them clap and sing with her.To me, who had seen several top playback singers performing on the stage, it was a different but delightful musical experience.Late in the cold night we returned on our scooters to our colder bachelor's den with bits of her warm songs on our lips. We were a very happy lot that night !!

It was immediately after this that I bought the Album,"Usha Sings" from Bangalore.The album contains songs like," Oh sinner man", "Where do I begin(Love Story)", "Everybody is talking (Midnight Cowboy)etc. She later became a big celebrity singer who gave us such wonderful songs like "Dum Maro Dum" (with Asha and chorus), "Koi Yehan Nache Nache", "Hari Om Hari" and one two Cha Cha Cha etc.

It is wonderful to see this busy singer,performer,film actor and entertainer still retaining her youthful zest, enchanting smile and the sparkle in her eyes.She exudes positive energy and love for music among a whole lot of competing singers who lovingly calls her "Didi" and considers her their guardian angel.