What happens if a parent has a petulant, confused child, who is given to throwing tantrums before guests. The parents would be embarrassed, but the guests may comfort them: what a lovely child! But if the child displays aggressive behaviour – unless you give him his chocolate or allow him to watch YouTube videos, he would not eat, and starts breaking things, you might refer to books on parenting, and come across technical terms like ADHD. But what if the child is 79 plus, Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful army in the world, and has the power to destroy the world many times over? You start worrying. Because the doctors do not use the term ADHD for a 79-year old, going to be 80.

The readers of this blog are very kind-hearted. Mahesh Joshi says, “As far as the current world situation is concerned – Jaane do yaar, apna kuchh chalega nahin. Let us just take solace in our world of beautiful music and, at least for a little while, forget that the world is ruled by idiots – no offence intended to idiots.” I have been doing this precisely so far, but the war is now into the fifth week.

We all thought that the war has ended, and the parties have started talking to each other. It is never so simple with the confused, petulant, 80-year old child. For the last few days, he has been going through paroxysm of flip-flops. The Parties to the conflict destroyed the global economic assets. When it started to hit the US too, he was looking for any escape route. He had started declaring he had won big and now there were no targets left to hit. But, soon he said he had invited many countries to send their warships, and they were on their way. When they started denying one by one, he started raving and ranting incoherently: In any case I don’t need them, I had already won big. It would be very bad future for Europe. I knew they are all cowards; without us they are nothing.

The 80-year old child had enough sense that there was something called mid-term elections and he was looking for any exit route. But his favourite ally was doing its own things, prompting the experts to say that the tail (T) was wagging the dog (D). The adversary was in no mood to give any face-saving. A wisecrack said, if you stir up hornets’ nest, it is the hornets which decide when to stop. Nevertheless, he gave an ultimatum of 48 hrs, you do this and this, else. The Hornets (H) started saying the bully had already backed off. Meanwhile the H kept on stinging the tail (T). It was getting quite embarrassing, but the D kept ignoring the H’s sting on the Tail (T), and anyway announced a 5-days’ unilateral ceasefire.

Now we are into the 5th week; is the war on or off? No one knows. T is unhappy that D may abandon it and cut its own deal with the H. Instead, it wants the D to squash the H to pulp with its 100-1 superiority. There are furious talks of mediation and diplomacy. High profile people are flying into different countries and making statements. Dr Shetty and Dr Rajesh Deshpande have started celebrating too soon with their peace-time activities like quizzing.

Despite the unilateral ceasefire, the D has started talking about mounting ground operation. The H has started drooling our Army has been waiting for this moment for 40 years. The D got frightened; he sent a 15-point demands for ceasefire. The H rejected it, and said now the war will end when it wants, and sent its own 5-point demands.

H has also spawned several proxies; incidentally, they go by names starting with the letter H; the experts say they range from non-state to semi-state to state actors. But they all have a common quality, these can never be squashed. If they find the Queen Mother under attack, they come to life in more ferocious forms like Raktabeej. They have started showing the severity of their stings.

The current situation has created panic in many countries and in India. Rumours have their own dynamics. The more you try to scotch them, the more they spread like wildfire. An SOY regular says that they have been forced indoors and into working from home. How I wish the D could somehow declare victory and rush to Oslo to claim his Nobel Peace Prize! Those Commie idiots in Oslo would now understand the meaning of war and peace. But trust me, till that time I have been enjoying Bollywood songs. I can’t help if the songs sound like they are a reflection of the current times – any similarity is purely coincidental.

1. Kya se kya ho gaya bewafa tere pyar mein by Rafi from Guide (1965), lyrics Shailendra, music SD Burman

Did Dev Anand have a right to blame Waheeda Rehman entirely, or was he also responsible for his fall?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33g6dZS882Y&list=RD33g6dZS882Y&start_radio=1

2. Main aisa kyon hun, main jaisa hun main waisa kyon hun by Shaan from Lakshya (2004), lyrics Javed Akhtar, music Shankar-Ehsan-Loy

It is not unusual for a teenager to be unclear about his goal. But once spurred by his girlfriend into having a “lakshya” in life, the drifter joins the Army and becomes a Kargil-hero.

3. Idhar chala, main udhar chala by Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik from Koi Mil Gaya (2003), lyrics Ibrahim Ashq, music Rajesh Roshan

Hrithik Roshan again; he excelled in such roles. In this film he was a mentally retarded child, but a visiting alien gives him extraordinary powers. You can make out his gait and gestures are of a demented child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQPg7ht5aHU&list=RDiQPg7ht5aHU&start_radio=1

4. Main idhar jaaun ya udhar jaaun by Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey & Aziz Naazan from Palki (1967), lyrics Shakeel Badayuni

The man is not demented, but in deep reflection and quite morose. In this state of mind, one would be conflicted about his choices. I have included Aziz Naazan’s name; it is mentioned in HFGK as one of the singers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys7DuVThytA&list=RDys7DuVThytA&start_radio=1

5. Main aashiq hun bahaaron ka, nazaaron ka, fizaaon ka, ishaaron ka; Main mastana musafir hun jawan dharti ke anjaane kinaaron ka by Mukesh from Aashiq (1962), lyrics Shailendra, music Shankar-Jaikishan

I have started suspecting our hero’s intentions. Next, he may start coveting Greenland, Gaza, Canada – they are so beautiful, they are mine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1BgL-7Vh1A&list=RD-1BgL-7Vh1A&start_radio=1

6. Hu, Hu, Mast bahaaron ka main aashiq main jo chaahe yaar karun by Rafi from Farz (1967), lyrics Anand Bakhshi, music Laxikant-Pyarelal

The original James Bond had the girls swoon over him. He didn’t take much time in bedding them, but he was always on the alert for the enemy’s moll. The first Indian James Bond, Jeetendra sings Chaahe gulon ke saaye se khelun, chaahe kali se pyar karun; it sounds suspiciously like he does not care if his name figures in the Epstein Files.

7. Meri duniya lut rahi thi aur main khamosh tha by Rafi & others from Mr and Mrs 55 (1955), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music OP Nayyar

Guru Dutt must have realized he is responsible for his downfall. Therefore, he is downcast; a person incapable of looking at himself, would have started raving and ranting against the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJBCp5tjhOk&list=RDXJBCp5tjhOk&start_radio=1

8. Sochta hun ye kya kiya maine by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar from Hamari Yaad Ayegi (1961), lyrics Kidar Sharma, music Snehal Bhatnagar

You might say, Ab pachhtaaye hote kya, jab chidiya chug gayi khet; you should have thought about it earlier, Dude!

9. Akela hun is duniya mein by Rafi from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music SD Burman

Dev Anand is not the only one – many in the world are happy and chirpy in their loneliness. They are so smart that only their shadow can be their companion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wjZTdONxqc&list=RD3wjZTdONxqc&start_radio=1

10. Kabhi khud pe kabhi haalat pe rona aya by Rafi from Hum Dono (1961), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi, music Jaidev

I see the same man in Army unform, now lamenting his plight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUgSsrQOTRs&list=RDBUgSsrQOTRs&start_radio=1

11. Main samjhun jag hai deewana, deewana mujhko log kahe by Mukesh from Deewana (1967), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar-Jaikishan

Raj Kapoor is quite a dunce, but it is quite normal for a crazy person to think the world is crazy.

12. Ghazab kiya tere waade pe aitbaar kiya by Rafi (Ghazal by Dagh), music Khayyam

Often, the man has betrayed the other person, he had no right to ask that person for any promises, but he sings Dagh’s ghazal, Ghazab kiya tere wade pe aitbaar kiya.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T76YNawxqMU&list=RDT76YNawxqMU&start_radio=1

13. Dost dost na raha pyar pyar na raha by Mukesh from Sangam (1964), lyrics Shailendra, music Shankar-Jaikishan

What right Raj Kapoor had to blame his dost? He was so full of himself, he had no time to understand his friend’s feelings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DUAfX71dsw&list=RD0DUAfX71dsw&start_radio=1

14. Tum agar mujhko na chaaho to koi baat nahi, tum kisi aur ko chahogi to mushkil hogi by Mukesh from Dil Hi To Hai (1963), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi, music Roshan

In this case I don’t blame Raj Kapoor. If his girl is with the charlton, Pran, he had every right to forewarn her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdK-EaVMrXY&list=RDRdK-EaVMrXY&start_radio=1

15. Mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse by Rafi from Aye Din Bahar Ke (1966), lyrics Anand Bakhshi, music Laxmikant-Pyarelal

Dharmendra starts with a slow recital – Mere dil se sitamgar tune achchhi dillagi ki hai; Ke ban ke dost apne doston se dushmani ki hai. Then he fills up his nostrils and works himself up into uncontrollable anger, and heaps vilest curses – Tu phool bane patjhad ka, tujhpe bahaar na aye kabhi; Jiye tu is tarah ke tu zindagi ko tarse. I thought that the metaphor was Jiye tu is tarah ki tu maut ko tarse, but never mind it, it is enough to send terror down your spine. But if the man had a record of crying ‘wolf’ in fun, it loses its credibility.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
1. The song links have been embedded or given from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog has no commercial interest; and it does not suggest or claim any copyright over these songs which vests with the respective copyright holders.

2. Any similarity to current events or any living person is purely coincidental.

I have been forced into temporary inactivity. During such periods I can do nothing but contemplate on some issues. I find thinking about Iran-US-Israel War, the Middle East crisis quite mind boggling, so I reflect on simple things like the Hindi film songs. Of late, my mind has been reflecting on the pairs, Aaiye & Chale aaiye; Jaaiye & Chale jaaiye. Is there a difference or are they the same? It seems there is indeed a difference in the connotation of Aaiye and Chale aaiye and Jaaiye and Chale jaiye. It appears to me that the addition of the adverb adds an extra degree of pleading. Look at these pairs:

1A. Aaiye meherban by Asha Bhosle from Howrah Bridge (1958), lyrics of Qamar Jalalabadi, music OP Nayyar

Asha Bhosle by her voice, and Madhubala by her emoting do seem to be sincerely inviting the patrons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go4ixEgnecg&list=RDgo4ixEgnecg&start_radio=1

1B. Dil ki mehfil saji hai chale aaiye by Rafi from Saaz Aur Aawaz (1966), lyrics Khumar Barabanqvi, music Naushad

But to my mind, the effort stands nowhere in comparison to this Rafi gem. It could be my weakness for Naushad, but the addition of Chale makes the song extra melodious.

2A. Aana hai to aa raah mein kuchh pher nahin hai, Bhagwan ke ghar der hai andher nahin hai by Rafi from Naya Daur (1957), lyrics Sahir Luhiyanavi, music OP Nayyar

Rafi sings a very serious bhajan, but look at the impact of the plain word, Aana hai to aa, as if you do not care.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2_mUvDpk-Y&list=RDe2_mUvDpk-Y&start_radio=1

2B. Akele hain chale aao jahan ho, kahan aawaz dein tum ko jahan ho by Rafi from Raaz (1967), lyrics Shamim Jaipuri, music Kalyanji-Anandji

Rafi again, now singing for Rajesh Khanna in one of his earliest films, when he had not yet become the Phenomenon. But now the lyricist has added the words, Chale aao and see its impact.

Jaaiye/ Chale jaaiye

The same phenomenon happens with the other pair, Jaaiye/Chale jaaiye.

3A. Jana hai to jaao manayenge nahin, nakhre kisi ke uthayenge nahin; aana hai to aao by Mahendra Kapoor  & Asha Bhosle from Bandhan (1969). lyrics Indivar, music Kalyanji-Anandji

Rajesh Khanna had had enough of Mumtaz’s tantrums; now he is not concerned whether she leaves him; he is not going to mollify her.

3B. Chale jana zara thehro kisi ka dam nikalta hai by Mukesh and Sharda from Around the World (1967), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar-Jaikishan

Add ‘Chale’ to ‘Jana’ and there is an automatic pleading in the voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM13G1YFdnA&list=RDUM13G1YFdnA&start_radio=1

4A. Jana tha humse door bahaane bana liye by Lata Mangeshkar from Adalat (1958), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Madan Mohan

This is a beautiful composition, sung equally poignantly by Lata Mangeshkar. But in the plain “Jana tha humse door”, there is a resigned acceptance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvwC9c81esY&list=RDpvwC9c81esY&start_radio=1

4B. Chale jana nahin nain mila ke sainya bedardi by Lata Mangeshkar from Badi Bahan (1949), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Husnlal-Bhagatram

Lata Mangeshkar again. She sings a great song. But now there is Chale jana (nahin), the lyricist, too, is the same.  There is an impish Geeta Bali pleading to the man: Don’t go away after falling in love with me. I can see Pran on the screen, his expression seems to be that he is up to his familiar tricks of seducing a girl for ulterior purposes.

Aaiye-Jaaiye in the same song

We just saw jana hai to jaao-aana hai to aao in the same song #3. I have come across at least a couple of more songs which has both aana and jaana in the same song, in a more conspicuous manner. Both are my great favourites: one from the 50s, when SJ were the tops. The other from the 60s, composed by SJ-successor Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

5. Aate jaate pehlu mein aaya koi, mere dil batla na chhupa, aaj se tujhe dil kahun ya dilruba by Lata Mangeshkar from Yahudi (1958), lyrics Shailendra, music Shankar-Jaikishan

The bonus of this song is a happy Meena Kumari, dancing with gay abandon. SJ have composed some beautiful dance songs in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar. I like the eye-candy, chirpy Meena Kumari, dancing and laughing with joy. I find it sad that she transformed herself into a weepy, suffering sati savitri.

6. Aane se uske aaye bahar jaane se uske jaaye bahaar, badi mastani hai meri mehbooba by Rafi from Jeene Ki Raah (1969), lyrics Anand Bakshi, music Laxmikant-Pyarelal

During the late 60s and early 70s, LP were belting out such superhit songs in the voice of Rafi (and Lata Mangeshkar) routinely. Their rhythm was infectious. They were on way to breaking all records and displacing SJ from their pedestal. This song also uses the pair of words aana-jaana. Not my as great a favourite as their early 60s composition, but they had by now mastered the art of winning Filmfare Awards.

But I have not yet come across songs which uses both words with the emphasis added, chale aana-chale jaana. Since I am not able to locate songs with the tandem pairs, the best I can do is to give you my Vintage Era favourites with chale aana, and chale janaa.

7. Kabhi yaad kar ke gali paar kar ke chali aana hamare angana by Chitalkar and Binapani Mukherjee from Safar (1946), lyrics Gopal Singh Nepali, Music C Ramchandra

C Ramchandra was quite a genius. Whatever he sang became a superhit. This is one of his earliest hits. Note how the emphasis Chali aana hamaare angana embellishes the meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Z0nhfho8o&list=RDk4Z0nhfho8o&start_radio=1

8. Chale aana more raja wada yaad kar ke, chala aaun mori maina wada yaad kar ke by Paro Devi and GM Durrani from Heera (1947), lyrics Qamar Jalalabadi, music Husnlal-Bhagatram

Several elements make this song remarkable. First, the best of Vintage Era singing. Paro Devi starts at a high pitch, typical of Vintage Era female singing. The Rafi-predecessor GM Durrani remains in his comfort zone – middle range, but the contrasting pair pull the song to great heights. These varieties have disappeared with the Lata Mangeshkar becoming the Female playback singer, post-1949. Then note the emphasis word Chale aana. Another noticeable point is that GM Durrani does not respond to raja with rani as you commonly expect, but with extra-endearing Mori maina. Husnlal-Bhagatram, the first famous duo of music directors created a recognisable instrumentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ueeJkx2jrQ&list=RD6ueeJkx2jrQ&start_radio=1

9. Phir chaahe to na aana O aan baan wale….Chale jaiho bedarda main roye marungi  by Rajkumari from Beqasoor (1950), lyrics Arzoo Lakhnavi, music Anil Biswas

For two chale aana songs, I have to end with two equally great Chale jana songs. The old master Anil Biswas was now overtaken by Naushad and C Ramchandra in popularity stakes. The latter had a magic touch of combining super-quality music with superhit, spectacular films. But the old master had not yet lost his creative genius. He composes a superb mujra in the voice of Rajkumari with the emphasis words Chale jaiho bedada main roye marungi.

10. Thahariye hosh mein aa lun to chale jaiyega by Rafi & Suman Kalynapur from Mohabbat Isko Kahte Hain (1965), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Khayyam

Khayyam always maintained his top quality. This film from the mid-60s had many great songs. My special favourite is a fast-paced Mukesh-Asha Bhosle duet, Humse hoti mohabbat jo tumko, tum ye apna chalan chhod dete. It is rare for a film to have an equally superb Rafi-Suman Kalyanpur duet, Thahariye hosh mein aa lun to chale jaiyega. The combo word Chale jaiyega creates an ethereal impact.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
The song links have been given/embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog has no commercial interest; nor does it suggest or claim any copyright over these materials which vests with the original copyright holders.

Some links may not display properly on some devices. Please do tell me of such issues.

Wishing all the readers and their families a very Happy Holi, and the greetings for the ongoing month of the Ramdan. May the Almighty shower all His blessings on everyone

DP Rangan has set romance in the air with his “Love is Bliss”. This is the season when the dullest person starts feeling desirous. I remember a folk proverb, “Phagun mein budhwa devar laage”. In the context of Hindi films, it generally refers to the romance for a person. I have explored romances for various types: Romancing the pardesi balma; Romancing the stranger, Romancing the beimaan balma, Romancing the anaadi balma. and so on. But the romance can be for inanimate objects also. The news and social media are full of pictures of hordes of tourists descending upon Japan to watch its cherry blossoms. Northern Lights are eternal favourites. There are people crazy for Stonehenge and Machu Picchu. Apart from resources and time, one has to have a wanderlust. Some may feel, it is quite discordant to talk about romance in the midst of the raging Epic Fury in the Middle East, और भी ग़म हैं ज़माने में मोहब्बत के सिवा, but the life has to move on.

1. Is paar priye madhu hai tum ho us paar na jaane kya hoga (Harivansh Rai ‘Bachchan’), recited by Amitabh Bachchan.

Long ago, Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s “Is paar priye madhu hai tum ho, us paar na jaane kya hoga” cast a spell on me. I thought the poet meant it as the romance for a Faraway Land. I was disappointed somewhat when I later learnt that the poet was extolling the certainty of the present – the known, and expressing apprehension about what lies in the faraway land. My fellow blogger Anita Rupavataram is my go-to person for any literary doubts. She too confirmed the latter meaning. She added another interesting trivia that in the movie Lal Patthar (1971), when Raj Kumar is drowned in alcohol, he recites, “Is paar priye madhu hai, tum ho, us paar na jaane kya hoga”. I have not checked it out. You may, but if you prefer my meaning, go by what another eminent poet has said about poetry: It is to be enjoyed, not understood. Don’t worry too much about what the poet might have meant; every reader has his own meaning. Among several renderings available on YouTube, I find the one by Amitabh Bachchan most melodious. You can make out he has understood the poetry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8irON4xTq3M

2. O re maanjhi mere saajan hain us paar, main man maar hun is paar, abki baar le chal paar by SD Burman from Bandini (1962), lyrics Shailendra, music SD Burman

But there is no ambiguity in SD Burman’s plaintive cry to the boatman to take him to the other side as his saajan is there. Shailendra does not waste his words. In the last stanza he uses two different expressions: Main bandini piya ki, main sangini hun saajan ki. The protagonist, Kalyani (played by Nutan) is pulled by two sides. One, the train that will take her to her ‘piya’ Dharmendra and a bright future – in her ‘Bandini’ phase, she came in contact with the handsome jail doctor, Dharmendra. The other, the boat ready to depart with her saajan Ashok Kumar, afflicted with an incurable disease. At that moment the surrogate boatman song is sung by an unknown person at Good Luck Tea House, and finally Nutan makes a choice which was not rational, but there is a higher calling – Main wahin ja rahi hun jahan mujhe jana chahiye. I have not seen a more poignant ending than this: the last 5 minutes of the film purge all misunderstandings she has been carrying on so far. Such scene is not likely to be repeated:  a train station on one side, and a steamer ghat on the other used to be a common sight in Bihar and West Bengal. In high floods, the steamer service was suspended creating  two worlds, ‘is paar’ and ‘us paar’. With rivers being bridged at several places, that romance is gone.

3. Sun mere bandhu re, sun mere mitwa, sun mere sathi re by SD Burman from Sujata (1959), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music SD Burman

There was something ethereal about SD Burman’s boatman songs. The two protagonists have realised the feelings for each other, but are too shy to express it. At that moment this boatman song comes as a surrogate conveying a beloved’s desire to be eternally with her lover.

4. Awara hun, ya gardish mein hun aasman ka tara hun by Mukseh from Awara (1951), lyrics Shailendra, music Shankar-Jaikishan

The previous song written by Majrooh Sultanpuri did not use the words ‘us par’ explicitly. Going back to Shailendra again we see this beautiful vagabond song; the awara is homeless, but he is an eternal romantic like the original Tramp Charlie Chaplin. Our awara has no one waiting for him ‘us paar’, but that does not come in the way of his happiness.

Ghar baar nahin, sansar nahin, mujhse kisi ko pyar nahin
‘Us paar’ kisi se milne ka iqrar nahin, mujhse kisi ko pyar nahin
Anjan nagar sunsan dagar ka pyara hun, awara hun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECqKJO0uR7Y&list=RDECqKJO0uR7Y&start_radio=1

5. Wahan kaun hai tera, musafir jayega kahan by SD Burman from Guide (1965), lyrics Shailendra, music SD Burman

It seems Shailendra and SD Burman were eternal romantics of the Faraway Land. In this song that rolls with credit titles, the poet and the singer acknowledge, Koi bhi teri raah na dekhe, nain bichhaye na koi, so what is the point of going “wahan”. Coming to a fork, Dev Anand realises the futility of going there, so he chooses a new path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haO0ucjvxeo&list=RDhaO0ucjvxeo&start_radio=1

6. Tu pyar ka sagar hai, teri ek boond ke pyase hum by Manna Dey from Seema (1955), lyrics Shailendra, music Shankar-Jaikishan

You see a rebellious Nutan locked in as a punishment for her wild behaviour in the orphanage. The Manager Balraj Sahni is an inveterate optimist and a believer in reformation. He believes he can reform Nutan, too, though she has been bruised badly by her unsympathetic and cruel relatives. She is desperate to break free as Balraj Sahni sings this bhajan:

Ghayal mann ka paagal panchhi udane ko beqaraar
Pankh hain komal aankh hai dhundhli, jana hai saagar paar

Another manifestation of romance for the Faraway Land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2D-kjOMNF0&list=RDe2D-kjOMNF0&start_radio=1

7. Us paar saajan is paar dhaare, le chal maanjhi kinaare by Lata Mangeshkar & chorus from Chori Chori (1956), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music Shankar-Jaikishan

We are discussing the songs of 1956 in our year-wise reviews and this film is one of the best composed by Shankar-Jaikishan. In a cornucopia of absolutely melodious songs, I am not too enamoured of this song. But this was a year when whatever SJ touched turned gold. ‘Us paar saajan’ compelled me to listen to it carefully. This time the lyricist is Hasrat Jaipuri, a romantic at heart if ever there was one. The song is quite melodious to the ears. Nargis is swimming furiously to escape from her pursuers, to reach her saajan who is ‘us paar’. This side is a dangerous stream.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhZdivn9yjg&list=RDGhZdivn9yjg&start_radio=1

8. Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir sitaaron ke aage ye kaisa jahan hai by Lata Mangeshkar from Durgeshnandini (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, Music Hemant Kumar

Hemant Kumar was riding a wave of popularity in 1956. One of his best scores in 1956 was Durgeshnandini which had this beautiful song of romance for a Faraway Land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZXB7ZVqoX8&list=RDDZXB7ZVqoX8&start_radio=1

9. Tum kahan le chale ho, ye kaun sa jahan hai zara sang mere tum aao to tum aao to by Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh from from Poonam Ki Raat (1965), lyrics Shailendra, music Salil Chowdhury

There are countless songs of romance for a magical land. My big favourite is this song composed by Salil Chowdhury, picturised on Manoj Kumar and Kumud Chhugani.

10. Aa chal ke tujhe main le ke chalun ek aise gagan ke taley,  jahan gham bhi na ho, aansoon bhi na ho, bas pyar hi pyar paley by Kishore Kumar from Door Gagan Ki Chaanv Mein (1964), lyrics Kishore Kuar, music Kishore Kumar

I just said there are countless songs on this theme. Let me end this post with this Kishore Kumar bonanza; he is the singer, lyricist and music director of this song. He was also the lead actor, director and producer of the movie. In his dreamland, there is no sorrow, no tears, Bas pyar hi pyar paley. Quite a fertile imagination, but that is what dreams are made of.

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer

The song links have been added/embedded only for the listening pleasure of music lovers. This blog has no commercial interest, and does not claim indirectly or directly, nor suggest any copyright over these songs.

And the winners are

Readers would be surprised to see this post, and I must say, some very pleasantly. Because for the last few years there has been a growing clamour that I should go forwards from 1956 onwards. The reasons given are: (i) It is difficult to relate to Vintage Era music, most people have a mental barrier the moment we go to music of the 1930s and 1940s, (ii) A large number of films and music of the Vintage Era are no longer in the public domain. All valid points, and I have decided to relent and here is the discussion on the Best Songs of 1956.

Why 1956? And I have to recapitulate the years when I started the year-wise review of songs. Some active members – no longer active on the SOY – suggested that I do year-wise review of years before the Filmfare Awards were instituted going back to when the talkies started. The idea was perhaps that Filmfare Awards were not a true measure of quality of the music and Filmfare Awards started from 1952 with Baiju Bawra. Later, I discovered there were gap years in 1953 and 1955. Hence the detailed coverage started for the years 1955, 1953 and 1951 backwards. The readers may read to appreciate the first post in the series, i.e. Best songs of 1955. Now that the beginning of the talkies 1931, when it all started, is in sight, I have pleasure in discussing the Best songs of 1956. So every year you would have two reviews – a Vintage Year, and a year from 1956 onwards.

It would be a good idea to compare it with the Best songs of 1939. The first thing that strikes you is the number of songs whose singers are unknown or not credited. In 1939 it was about 61%, it comes down drastically in 1956 to about 6%. There would be some unknowns always, because not all the films and songs were worth listening again, naturally some must have sunk without a trace, and their songs booklets must be unavailable.

The second thing that you can’t fail to notice is Lata Mangeshkar factor. She was such a dominant presence in the 50s and 60s, that you might end up choosing her 10 songs as the best female solos. Therefore, I had to introduce a quota system in the 50s – one for best songs of Lata Mangeshkar, and the other for best songs of “other female singers”. This may sound pejorative to some, but at least ensures an equal representation to the Mighty Monarch and other female singers. Does this prove Lata Mangeshkar was undercutting other singers? I do not know how to answer this. I don’t believe that arguments about music can be proved by data. But for whatever the data is worth, it does not prove the conjecture of undercutting. For one thing, the other female singers got about 2.57 times the songs of Lata Mangeshkar; my hunch is that her younger sister Asha Bhosle too got more songs than her. So much for her being under the pressure of ‘Sister Tax’. Let me again repat my quip, there was no Lata Mangeshkar before Lata Mangeshkar. If she used any of her market power against newcomers, it was unnecessary and quite stupid of her. What she had achieved was awesome.

Now let us have a look at broad statistics:

Broad Statistics of 1956

General observations on the music scene of 1956

The important thing you notice is the absence of the Great Mughal of Fillm Music Naushad. He was perhaps resting between Udankhatola (1955) and yet to come Mother India (1957). But the music scene was not poorer for that. Shankar-Jaikishan (Chori Chori, Basant Bahar, Raajhath, Patrani, Yahudi, Halaaku, Nai Dilli etc.) were not only riding a wave of popularity, but were creating top quality music of diverse varieties. Raj Kapoor-Nargis-starrer Chori Chori was not an RK-film, but as we have seen they composed great music for non-RK films too. This has wonderful duets by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar. Yahudi and Halaaku had predominant Arabic music. Kishore Kumar—starrer Nai Dilli had funky tunes in Are bhai nikal ke aa ghar se; Nakhrewali. They later composed an excellent Ai bhai zara dekh ke chalo in Mera Naam Joker, but the film bombed big time. OP Nayyar (CID; and several) and Hemant Kumar (Ek Hi Raasta; and several) were the other two who composed for several films and many of their songs are timeless.

But in the Golden Era several composers were active. The great SD Burman gave outstanding music in Dev Anand-starrer Funtoosh in the voice of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. The old horse Anil Biswas did not get any big project, but gave some outstanding songs in Heer in the voice of Rafi. Chitragupta moved quietly composing for several films. Other notables were Salil Chowdhury who gave some beautiful music in Jaagte Raho and Parivar; and Madan Mohan in Bhaai Bhaai; Pocketmaar; Mem Sahib etc. There were several others who composed excellent music. Let us look at some MEMORABLE SONGS of the year later. I compiled the list only on the basis of memory of the songs. Some Special Songs I especially looked up because I saw something unique in them at the first glance.

Trivia and Fact file

Among the old-timers, you see the names of GM Durrani and Rajkumari. I looked up a qawwali by GM Durrani, hoping that the beat would be infectious, but I was disappointed. Talking of qawwalis, the traditional qawwals like Yusuf Azad, Ismail Azad, and Shankar-Shambhu did not disappoint me. Even though the songs and the films were completely unknown, the qawwalis were worth a second listening. Some music directors like Snehal Bhatkar and Shivram also sang songs.

MEMORBLE SONGS

Aawaaz: Lyrics several; Music Salil Chowdhury
1. Dil deewana dil mastana jane na – Talat Mahmood & Lata Mangeshkar (Zia Sarhadi)
Anjan: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Hemant Kumar
2. Aa chhua chhu chhu, ek main ek tu – Lata Mangeshkar
Anuraag: Lyrics Indivar, Kaif rfani; Music Mukesh
3. Koi dil mein hai aur koi hai nazar mein – Mukesh
4. Pal bhar hi ki pahchan mein pardesi balam se – Mukesh
Arab Ka Saudagar: Lyrics SH Bihari; Ravi Shankar; Music Hemant Kumar
5. Ye mehfil sitaaron ki raat ye baharon ki – Hemant Kmar and Asha Bhosle (Ravi)
Basant Bahar: Lyrics Shailendra, Shankar-Jaikishan
6. Kar gaya re kar gaya re kar gaya mujh par jadu sanwariya – Lata Mangeshkar Asha Bhosle
7. Main piya teri tu maane ya na maane – Lata Mangeshkar
8. Nain mile nain kahan dil hai wahin tu hai jahan – Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey
9. Sur na saje kya gaaun main – Manna Dey
10. Badi der bhai, kab loge khabar more Ram – Rafi
11. Bhaye bhanjana vandana sun hamari, daras tera maange ye tera pujari – Manna Dey
12. Ja ja re ja balamwa sautan ke sang rain bitayi – Lata Mangeshkar
13. Ketaki gulab juhi champak ban phoole – Manna Dey & Bhimsen Joshi
Bhai Bhai: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Madan Mohan
14. Mera chhota sa deho ye sansar hai – Lata Mangeshkar
15. Ae dil mujhe bata de tu kispe aa gaya hai – Geeta Dutt
16. Mera naam Abdul Rahman, pistawala main hun pathan – Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar
17. Kadar jaane na mera baalam bedardi ji mera balam – Lata Mangsehkar
CID: Lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri; Music OP Nayyar
18. Boojh mera kya naam re – Shamshad Begum
19. Ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan – Rafi and Geeta Dutt
20. O leke pahla pahla pyar bhar ke aankhon mein khumar – Rafi and Shamshad Begum
21. Aankon hi aankhon mein ishara ho gaya baithe baithe jeene ka sahara ho gaya – Rafi & Geeta Dutt
22. Jata kahan hain deewane – Geeta Dutt
23. Kahin pe nigahein kahin pe nishana – Shamshad Begum
Chandrakanta: Lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi; Music N Datta
24. Maine chaand aur sitaaron ki tamanna ki thi – Rafi
25. Mujhko laga hai saal solvan haaye nahin chhedna – Shamshad Begum
Chhoo Mantar: Lyrics Jan Nisar Akhtar, Music OP Nayyar
26. Garib jaan ke humko na tum mita dena – Rafi/ Rafi and Geeta Dutt
27. Humne jab dil tha diya, koi wada tha kiya huzoor aapse – Rafi & Shamshad Begum
Chori Chori: Lyrics ; Music Shankar-Jaikishan
28. Us paar saajan is paar dhare – Lata Mangeshkar
29. Tum arbon ka her pher karnewaale Ram ji – Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar
30. Panchhi banun udti phirun mast pawan mein – Lata Mangeshkar & Manna Dey
31. Ye raat bheegi bheegi ye mast fizayein – Manna Dey & Lata Mangeshkar
32. Jahan main jaati hun wohin chale aate ho – Lata Mangeshkar & Manna Dey
33. Aaja sanam madhur chaandni mein hum – Manna Dey & Lata Mangeshkar
34. Rasik balma, dil kyon lagaya jaise rog lagaya – Lata Mangeshkar
35. Manbhavan ke ghar jaaye gori ghunghat mein sharmaaye gori – Lata Mangeshkar
Dashehra: Lyrica: Kavi Pradeep, Saraswati Kumar ‘Deepak’; Music N Datta
36. Doosron ka dukhada door karnewale tere dukh door karenge Ram – Pradeep
Devta: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music C Ramchandra
37. Kaise jaaun Jamuna ke teer – C Ramchandra
Dhake Ki Malmal: Lyrics Jan Nisar Akhtar, Sarojini Mohan Nayyar, DN Madhok; Music OP Nayyar, Robin Chatterji
38. Ton tana dere na dere na..Kadar mori jaane na – Shamshad Begum & Asha Bhosle
39. Diya to jala sab raat re baalam – CH Atma
Durgeshnandini: Lyrics Rajesndra Krishna; Music Hemant Kumar
40. Chandan ki naiya pe hoke sawar – Lata Mangeshkar & others
41. Kahan le chale ho bata do musafir, sitaaron se aage ye kaisa jahan hai – Lata Mangeshkar
42. Mat maaro Shyam pichkari – Lata Mangeshkar
Ek Hi Rasta: Lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri; Music Hemant Kumar
43. Chali gori pi ke milan ko chali – Hemant Kumar
44. Saanwle salone aaye din bahaar ke – Lata Mangeshkar & Hemant Kumar
45. Bade bhaiya laaye hain London se choori – Asha Bhosle
Fifty-Fifty: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Madan Mohan
46. Aadhi tum kha lo, aadhi hum kha lein, mil-jul ke zamane mein guzara kar lein – Rafi, Kishore Kumar & Madan Mohan
Funtoosh: Lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi; Music SD Burman
47. Ae meri topi palat ke aa – Kishore Kumar
48. Dukhi man mere sun mera kahna – Kishore Kumar
49. Denewala jab bhi deta poora chhappar phaad ke – Kishore Kumar & others
50. Wo dekhein to unki inayat na dekhein to rona kya – Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle
51. Phool gendwa na maaro dar jaaungi – Asha Bhosle
52. O ji O humein aaj koi na chhediyo, humne kisi pe dore daalne hain – Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle
Haatimtai: Lyrics Raja Mehdi Ali Khan & two others; Music SN Tripathi
53. Jhoomti hai nazar jhoomta hai pyar – Rafi & Asha Bhosle
54. Parwardigar-e-alam tera hi hai sahara – Rafi
Halaaku: Lyrics Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Music Shankar_Jaikishan
55. Aaja ke intezar mein – Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
56. Aji chale aao tumhein aankhon se dil mein bulaya – Lata Mangeshkar & Asha Bhosle
57. Dil ka na karna aitbar koi – Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi
Heer: Lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, Rajendra Krishna; Music Anil Biswas
58. O khamosh zamana hai..Aa jaao tumhein dil ka – Rafi & Asha Bhosle
59. Le ja uski duaayein ho jo tera ho na saka – Rafi
Hum Sab Chor Hain: Lyrics Majrooh Sultanpur; Music OP Nayyar
60. Humko hanste dekh zamana hansta hai – Rafi & GM Durrani
61. O Mr Banjo, ishara to samjho – Asha Bhosle & Rafi
Insaaf: Lyrics (Three); Music Chitragupa
62. Do dil dhadak rahe hain aur aawaz ek hai – Talat Mahmood & Asha Bhosle
Inspector: Lyrics SH Bihari; Music Hemant Kumar
63. Dil chhed koi aisa naghma – Hemant Kumar/ Lata Mangeshkar
64. Phoolon ke haar le lo, roop ka shringaar le lo – Hemant Kumar
Jaagte Raho: Lyrics Shailendra, Prem Dhawan; Music Salil Chowdhury
65. Zindagi khwab hai, khwab mein jhooth kya aur bhala sach hai kya – Mukesh
66. Thandhi thandhi saawan ki phuhaar re, piya aaj khidki khuli mat chhodo – Asha Bhosle
67. Maine jo li angadaai – Sandhya Mukherji & another
68. Jaago Mohan pyare jaago – Lata Mangeshkar
69.  Ai wain duniya deve duhaai – Rafi, S Balbir & others
Jaldeep: Lyrics Kidar Sharma, two others; Music Snehal Bhatkar
70. Dekhi dekhi panchhi dekhi teri phulwari – Rajkumari & others
Jallad: Lyrics (Four); Music Nashad
71. Dil ke phaphole jal uthe seen eke daag se…fariyaad khudaya – Rafi & Asha Bholse
Makhichoos; Lyrics (Three); Music Vinod
72. O Arabpati ki chhori, gori, gori, Dilli door nahin – Geeta Dutt & Talat Mahmood (Pt. Indra)
Mem Sahib: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Madan Mohan
73. Hamari gali aana achha ji, humein na bulana achha ji – Talat Mahmood & Asha Bhosle
74. Kahta hai dil tum ho mere liye – Talat Mahmood & Asha Bhosle
75. Dil dil se mila kar dekho, nazron se laga kar dekho – Kishore Kumar/ Asha Bhosle
Nai Dilli: Lyrics Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri; Music Shankar-Jaikishan
76.  Are bhai nikal ke aa ghar se – Kishore Kumar (Shailendra)
77. Milte hi nazar aap mere dil mein aa gaye – Kishore Kumar (Shailendra)
78. Murli bairan bhai, Kanhaiya teri murli bairan bhai – Lata Mangeshkar (Hasrat Jaipuri)
79. Nakhrewali, dekhne mein dekh lo kaisi hai bholi bhaali – Kishore Kumar & chorus
80. Tum sang preet lagaai rasiya – Lata Mangeshkar & chorus (Shailendra)
Naya Aadmi: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Vishwanath-Rammoorti , Madan Mohan
81. Laut gaya gham ka zamana aayi khushi lahrati – Lata Mangeshkar & Hemant Kumar
Naya Andaaz: Lyrics Jan Nisar Akhtar; Music OP Nayyar
82. Meri neendon mein tum mere khwabon mein tum – Kishore Kumar & Shamshad Begum
83. Chanazor babu main laya majedar chanazor garam – Kishore Kumar & Shamshad Begum
Noor-e-Yaman: Lyrics (several); Music Bulo C Rani
84. Milti nahin jahan mein kahin aisi nematein – Yusuf Azad & others
Parivar: Lyrics Shailendra; Music Salil Chowdhury
85. Ta thai thai tat…Ja main tose naahin bolun Kanhaiya – Lata Mangeshkar & Manna Dey
86. Jhir jhir jhir jhir baadarwa barse O kaare kaare – Hemant Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar
Patrani: Lyrics Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri; Music Shankar-Jaikishan
87. Na jane tum kaun meri aankhon mein sama gaye – Lata Mangeshkar & others (Shailendra)
88. Kabhi to aa, kabhi to aa,, O sapnon mein aa ke chale jaanewaale – Lata Mangeshkar (Shailendra)
89. Ari koi jaao ri, piya ko bulaao re, gori ki payal baaje chhun chhana chhum chhum – Lata Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar & Meena Mangeshkar (Shailendra)
Pocketmar: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music Madan Mohan
90. Ye nayi nayi preet hai – Talat Mahmood & Lata Mangeshkar
Rajhath: Lyrics Shalendra; Music Shankar-Jaikishan
91. Sun sakhi more man ki baat – Nadiya kinaare phirun pyasi – Lata Mangeshkar (Hasrat Jaipuri)
92. Aaye bahar ban ke lubha ke chale gaye – Rafi (Hasrat Jaipuri)
93. Ye wada karo chaand ke saamne, bhula to na doge tum is pyar ko – Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar (Hasrat Jaipuri)
94. Mere sapne mein aana re sajna – Lata Mangeshkar (Shailendra)
95. Aaja aaja aaja nadiya pukaare taaron ki chhaiyan tohe kabse pukaare (Shailendra)
Rangeen Raatein: Lyrics Kidar Sharma; Music Roshan
96. Bahut aasan hai chilman se lagkar muskurana – Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar
Roop Kumari: Lyrics BD Mishra; Music SN Tripathi
97. O dekho udhar chaand nikla gagan mein..Idhar aa gayi chaandni muskurati – Manna Dey & Geeta Dutt
Samundari Daaku: Lyricd Vishwanath Aadil; Music Jaidev
98. Dil jawan hai aarzoo jawan – Talat Mahmood ^ Asha Bhosle
Shatranj: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna; Music C Ramchandra
99. Badli mein chhupe chaand ne kuchh mujhse kaha hai, humne bhi suna hai – Hemant Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar
Shrin Farhad: Lyrics Tanveer Naqvi, Saba Afghani; Music S Mohinder
10o. Ai dilruba, jaane wafa – Hemant Kumar & Asha Bhosle (Naqvi)
101. Guzra hua zamana aata nahin dubara, hafiz Khuda tumhara – Lata Mangeshkar (Naqvi)
102. Aankhon mein tumhare jalwe hain, hothon pe tumhare afsana – Rafi & others (Afghani)
103. Hazaaron rang badlega zamana – Rafi (Naqvi)
Taaj: Lyrics Rajendra Krishna: Music Hemant Kumar
104. Baansuriya phir se baja O Kanha – Lata Mangeshkar
Taaj Aur Talwar: Lyrics severa; Music Sudipt
105. Aa ja aa ja ki hum hain akele – Ismail Aazad & chorus (chorus)
Toofan Aur Diya: Lyrics several; Music Vasant Desai
106. Nirbal se ladai bhalwan ki, ye kahani hai diye ki aur toofan ki – Manna Dey & others (Bharat Vyas)
107. Muraliya baaje ri Jamuna ke teer – Meerabai
108. Piya te kahan gayo nehara lagay ke – Meeranai
109. Meri chhoti si bahan dekho gahne pahan sasural chali re ban than ke – Lata Mangeshkar & Geeta Dutt (Bharat Vyas)
110. Meri aan Bhagwan, kan kan se ladi hai – Geeta Dutt (Bharat Vyas)

Special Songs

1. Aa chhua chhu chhu ek main ek tu, chowki baitha bamhana, khel kabaddi angana by Lata Mangeshkar & chorus from Anjana (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Hemant Kumar

In 1956, I find Ravi was Hemant Kumar’s assistant in several films, even though he had debuted as an independent music director a year earlier. Was it because of Ravi’s respect for his mentor or because his debut films Albeli and Vachan (195) had not yet established him among the top-notch composers? Hemant Kumar had arrived in a big way with his first film Naagin (1954), and he continued to compose absolutely melodious songs in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar and himself. Here he has composed a strange song in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar & others. Its nice-quality video shows it is a rural game – something like kabaddi – the girls used to play. Vyjayanthimala leads her team, and Pradeep Kumar watches her furtively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqfCaE4zknQ&list=PLA_A9T_Uj7IyR6W6PL3wDgyUKfVtgh-P9&index=3

2. Dil deewana dil mastana mane na by Talat Mahmood and Lata Mangeshkar from Aawaaz (1956), Zia Sarhadi, music Salil Chowdhury

There was a much later song with similar mukhada, Dll deewaana bin sajna ke mane na by SP Balasubramanyam from Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), composed by Ram Laxman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsS3UP4Nebk&list=PLA_A9T_Uj7Iy472QaOd5XjW98IDgQ678d&index=3

3. Aadhi tum kha lo aadhi hum kha lein by Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Madan Mohan from Fifty-Fifty (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Madan Mohan

HFGK lists only two singers, Rafi and Kishore Kumar, but in this clip you hear a third distinct voice. The Music director was Madan Mohan, he was a good singer, and his voice is credited in another song, Mere jaisa nahi milega ulfat ka parwana. Therefore, in Aadhi tum kha lo too it is quite likely that the third voice was his.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppc3okxjWsw

4. Mere jaisa nahi milega ulfat ka parwana by Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Madan Mohan from Fifty-Fifty (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Madan Mohan

Now the said song with Madan Mohan’s voice in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQcjXWtCZ6A&list=RDAQcjXWtCZ6A&start_radio=1

5. Ton tana dere na dere na…Kadar mori jaane na by Shamshad Begum & Asha Bhosle from Dhaake Ki Malmal (1956), lyrics Jan Nisar Akhtar, music OP Nayyar

This film had one more music director (Robin Chatterjee) and two more lyricists which I have mentioned in the MEMORABLE SONGS, but it seems they did not compose as a duo; each song is credited separately. The lyricist of this wonderful song is an OP Nayyar-regular Jan Nisar Akhtar (for trivia lovers and those who do not know, Javed Akhtar’s father). In this over 8 minutes video format the song only starts at about 5 minutes; so if you are in a hurry to hear the song, you can start there. But I would suggest do hear from the beginning. The initial over three minutes are compilations of his background score. One of them is the famous tune of Vidyapati’s Maithili song, Piya more baalak main taruni re. This was mentioned by Ravindra Kelkar in his Centenary series on OP Nayyar. For a detailed discussion on this connection and connections of more songs with this tune please see SOY’s 14^th Anniversary post and N Venkataraman’s comment #45 in that post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtO4j2Kguf4&list=PLpZLHt6c4Ik8pWE1ORvJHYrg2j8nh8qtT

6. Laut gaya gham ka zamana aayi Khushi lahraati by Lata Mangeshkar & Hemant Kumar from Naya Aadmi (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna, music Vishwanath-Rammoorty

This film was NT Rama Rao and Anjali Devi-starrer. He would go on to become Andhra Pradesh chief minister on the plank of Telugu pride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Skf5iA9DU&list=RDG2Skf5iA9DU&start_radio=1

7. Aa ja aa ja ki hum hain akele by Ismail Aazad & Party from Taaj Aur Talwar (1956), lyrics Ismail Aazad, Music Sudipt

Who is this music director Sudipt? A completely unknown name, but the singer is known because of his evergreen qawwali Humein to loot liya mil ke husnwaalon ne. Therefore, I looked up this qawwali, his voice is recognizable. Not a bad qawwali.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eaZN6LEG-A&list=RD0eaZN6LEG-A&start_radio=1

Now I invite readers for their views on the best of 1956:

Best Male Solo
Best Lata Mangeshkar Solo
Best Solo by Other Female Singers
Best Duets
Best Music Director

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
The song links have been given from the YouTube only for the music lovers’ pleasure. This blog has no commercial interest, nor does it suggest or claim any copyright over these songs.

Note
I am aware that the Table may not show properly on some devices. I have no answer to that. The readers are advised to use commonsense.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine’s Day with guest article by DP Rangan

(Our mid-octogenarian guest author today is an ever romantic. PG Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Cricket, Bridge, Sherlock Holmes, History, Mathematics – his range of interests is limitless. An eternal peripatetic, he drops in India for change of his laundry, or medicines, during Spring when love is in the air. He is about to come back from US/Canada next month for a short visit to Delhi when the weather is conducive here. This is the time when Mr Rangan thought of resuming his writing for Songs Of Yore. “Love is Bliss” is the result of that yearning. He has written a trilogy of love articles for the blog a few years back. Mr Rangan explains how this one is distinct from his earlier love articles. It is my pleasure to welcome him.

Thank you Mr Rangan for this excellent offering. For newcomers, Mr Rangan is a retired senior government official. – AK)

Love between male and female of a species has been in vogue since many aeons with the aim of creating progenies for survival of next generation and beyond. It is a fundamental axiom of life for perpetuation. Birds are a classic example of love dances with gay abandon. Human beings are no less accomplished.

I had already contributed three posts on the theme. I consider it an over simplification to confine them into rigid patterns. It can be interpreted in various ways. I am exploring this aspect and am aiming to inflict another post on the site by coaxing our blog master. But that is far into the future.

Blog followers may question on the superfluity of this post because of an earlier one under the title – Love (Ecstasy). I took a broad view of the theme then and posted duets and solos. Valentine’s Day made it imperative for a deeper scrutiny of the songs to fit it in. It needed live video and presentation of hero and heroines to be part of the song. I considered only duets would reflect the sentiment. I delved into further details and chose songs, ex hypothesis, where the romantic element was present throughout the song. I know this is a highly subjective matter and a few may not agree with some of the songs finding a place in this post. As an author of the post, I claim some privileges of my own to present the songs as chosen. I am not expressing my opinion de haut en bas.

I suddenly got an inspiration to write a post which will convey the spirit of Valentine’s Day. Here are a few songs where the lovers express their mutual love without restraint. My main theme was to choose love duets sung outside the studio and in almost all the cases the love affairs end in a happy union with an occasional exception. Usually, I arrange songs keeping the year they were released. A few songs have the same music director. I am grouping them as such and adding others afterwards.

RAMCHANDRA – RAJENDRA KRISHNA

A frontline music director who has been a torch-bearer in the field of music creation introducing unusual types such as – Aana meri jaan mer jaan Sunday ke Sunday; Mr John Baba Khan etc. He sings male component of duets quite a lot. Here are a few examples of unbridled declaration of love.

1. Sham dhale khidi tale – Lata Mangeshkar and Chitalkar from Albela (1951)

The song starts as a serenade with Bhagwan courting Geeta Bali and the heroine joins him subsequently in gay abandon.

https://youtu.be/DO4M25EjDCM?t=129

2. Udhar se tum chale – Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammad Rafi from Sagai (1951)

The entire romantic scene is played inside a cabin of a ship. Premnath, captain and Rehana Sultan as a passenger are attracted to each other culminating in a love affair.

https://youtu.be/bKKwf6LsG0U?t=4

3. Kitna haseen hai mausam – Chitalkar & Lata Mangeshkar from Aazad (1955)

A Hindi adaptation of the movie Malai Kallan (Thief of the Hill). Meena Kumari and Dilip Kumar (Aazad) are singing merrily each liking other’s company. The producer approached Naushad for music assignment to be completed in two months. Naushad declined saying he does not accept any time schedule. C Ramchandra was given the task and he composed music in a matter of a month with his trademark quality. He wanted Talat Mahmood to croon this song, but took it upon himself when Talat was not available.

https://youtu.be/jaZnV-zzl0o?t=106

4. Kahtein hai pyar kisko – Lata Mangeshkar & Chitalkar from Baarish (1957)

A Dev Anand and Nutan starrer with a weak storyline but good music. He is a dove breeder and Nutan is a country girl. Starting with a dialogue between them, Nutan takes a leading role in the duet.

https://youtu.be/QimGVJkNdVU?t=132

5. Phir wohi chand – Lata Mangeshkar & Chitalkar from film Baarish (1957)

Another romantic song in the same vein, the duet runs its course in a refulgent setting.

https://youtu.be/ayrJfNGoul0

NAUSHAD – SHAKEEL BADAUNI

Naushad was a doyen in the film industry. He also went through initial struggles before achieving his niche. For details please view this you tube presentation by Ms. Vandana Tirumale who has done an extensive research (https://youtu.be/1etWcPibtbA). He had a long innings and produced numerous songs in a large swathe of moods. He was a specialist in adopting Hindustani Classic Raags in his songs.

6. Main bhanwra tu hai phool – Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar from Mela (1948)

The film is set in rustic background. Dilip Kumar and Nargis while traversing in a bullock cart (what else could it be) are describing each other – Dilip Kumar as bee and Nargis as flower. A superb song to be eschewed. The film was a tragedy.

https://youtu.be/-MpHd0D3ySE?list=RD-jxWWVVPxHQ

7. Nadi kinare saath hamare – Mohammad Rafi, Shamshad Begum & Talat Mahmood from film Babul (1950)

The scene unfurls on river front. Mohammad Rafi starts in his characteristic way for the boatsman and then the duet flows smoothly between Munawar Sultana and Dilip Kumar. This is a typical romantic duet by Naushad.

https://youtu.be/-jxWWVVPxHQ?list=RD-jxWWVVPxHQ&t=5

8. Ek shahenshah ne banwa ke haseen Taj Mahal (Raag Lalit) – Mohammad Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar – from Leader (1964)

Dilip Kumar (journalist) and his love, Vyjayanthimala keep an assignment in the premises of Taj Mahal and the wonderful lyrics are about the romantic setting inherent in Taj Mahal. The couple express their mutual love in the process. Choice of Raag Lalit shows mastery of Naushad in compiling this romantic duet.

https://youtu.be/xu9CFdSZtPY

SAJJAD HUSSAIN

Film buffs of yesteryears must be fully aware about the eccentricities of this genius. I have posted a biography on him. It was very difficult to find romantic songs under his baton, especially duets. After wracking my brain, I remembered the following two songs.

9. Teri nazar mein main rahun meri nazar mein tum – Suraiya & Surendra from 1857 (released 1946), lyrics Mohan Singh

The film starts as an immediate aftermath of Sepoy Mutiny (1857) as per British historians, but dubbed as a First War of Independence by Indian narrators. A ruined Nawab and his daughter (Suraiya) are under the protection of a rich zamindar and share the premises without each being aware of the other. Love develops between her and the heir (Surendra). Originally objected to by his father but approved after finding about the royal lineage of the girl. They are carrying on their romance in the garden as a glittering butterfly couple which is reflected in this song.

https://youtu.be/akN0Pyj_V7Y

10. Dil mein sama gaye sanam – Lata Mangeshkar & Talat Mahmood from Sangdil (1952), Lyrics Rajendra Krishna

Sajjad gave exemplary music in this film. This duet sung by Madhubala and Dilip Kumar bears this out.

https://youtu.be/WyJBkxQKQPA?t=33

SHANKAR JAIKISHAN – SHAILENDRA

The pair showed their mettle from inception and scored musical hits film after film and gave evergreen melodies to films under Raj Kapoor banner. I have chosen the following to substantiate their erudite music composition.

11. Dam bhar jo udhar munh phere – Lata Mangeshkar & Mukesh from Aawara (1951)

Raj Kapoor as a petty thief and Nargis as the adopted daughter of a judge are linked romantically. This song set in a cutter is a perfect example of romanticism.

https://youtu.be/E5JruUDe5XU

12. Pyar hua ekrar hua – Manna Dey & Lata Mangeshkar from Shree 420 (1955)

The term – चार सौ बीस – describing a shady character is probably a fallout from this film. Raj Kapoor, one such an individual and Nargis, a hardworking teacher fall in love. This song amidst lashing rains shows how their love is blossoming like a flower.

https://youtu.be/GaRTCpEdeNU?t=12

13. Nain mile chain kahan – Lata Mangeshkar & Manna Dey from Basant Bahar (1956)

The songs from the film are quintessential SJ. This duet by Nimmi and Bharat Bhushan is crème de la crème.

https://youtu.be/4zm78r1Rgc0?t=17

OTHERS

14. Nain mile nain huye – Lata Mangeshkar & Talat Mahmood from Tarana (1951), Music Anil Biswas, lyrics Prem Dhawan

This film is an eminent example how true love triumphs in the end. Dilip Kumar and Madhubala enact a perfect scene of bliss in this song.

https://youtu.be/fSxhEFgOTXc

15. De bhi chuke hum dil nazrana – Kishore Kumar & Geeta Dutt from Jaal (1952), Music S. D. Burman, lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi

The film is set amidst a village of fishermen in suburban Bombay. Dev Anand and Geeta Bali living in the village fall for each other. S D Burman music was great. A duet by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar – Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan could not qualify as Geeta Bali is drawn reluctantly towards Dev Anand like iron falls to a magnet.

https://youtu.be/TKmIrlo2r8E

16. Chanda chamakti raat, Lata Mangeshkar & Talat Mahmood from Do Dhulhe (1955), Music B S Khalla, lyrics Pandit Indra

Shyama and Sajjan act as a romantic pair and this is one of best in the category of romantic songs.

https://youtu.be/LSR2W4DX5ac

17. Nain so nain nahi milaao – Lata Mangeshkar & Hemant Kumar from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Music Vasant Desai, lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri

Unless I am proved wrong, this was the first film taken in ‘technicolour’ in India. It was the story of two dancers Gopi Krishna and Sandhya falling in love but frowned upon by the father of male dancer. In the end they are united in love. Vasant Desai’s music was exquisite. This song is picturised in Brindavan Gardens, Mysore. The song is oozing love between lovers.

https://youtu.be/rl3jNqCaN7Y?t=168

18. Ye nayi nayi preet hai – Lata Mangeshkar & Talat Mahmood from Pocketmaar (1956), Music Madan Mohan, lyrics Rajendra Krishna

Madan Mohan, the magician never fails to deliver. What a wonderful romantic song expressing intense love between Pocketmaar Dev Anand and Geeta Bali.

https://youtu.be/k22r8LVurA0

19. Maang ke saath tumhara maine maang liya sansar – Mohammad Rafi & Asha Bhonsle from Naya Daur (1957), Music O P Nayyar, lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi

This film was a life changer for Dilip Kumar and Madhubala who were expected to tie the knot. Madhubala was the original cast and producer B R Chopra paid her advance. Her father objected to his daughter being taken to Bhopal for the film shots after initial shootings in Mumbai itself. The producer dropped her and took on Vyjayanthimala in her stead. Producer sued father of Madhubala for breach of contract. Dilip Kumar, despite under pressure of father and daughter to support them, acted as a fair witness and the relationship came to an end.

Nayyar was a master in composing ghoda gadi songs and this is one such in the genre. Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar carry on their romance while travelling in the tonga.

https://youtu.be/eMSDOlUQ0r0?t=59

20. Dil tadap tadap ke kah raha – Mukesh & Lata Mangeshkar from Madhumathi (1958), Music Salil Chowdhury, lyrics Shailendra

The plot is an adaptation of basic theme of the vintage film Mahal. Dilip Kumar, plantation manager and Madhumati (Vyjayanthimala) the local hilly belle are in love. This scene amidst hilly jungle surroundings is captivating and the song played in slow rhythm completes the picture.

https://youtu.be/o184v83-gkk?t=94

I can go on in this vein and add more songs. All the above I recollected solely from my memory. I now leave it to the followers to add more such duets of bliss for building a worthwhile collection. Let me confess I go through comments avidly in posts and plunder songs I need for my collection as a buccaneer from YouTube links uploaded.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
The songs links have been given from the YouTube only for the music lover readers. This blog claims no copyright over the songs directly or indirectly which vests with the respective copyright holders.

Notes:
Mr Rangan had written Rajinder Kishan’s name correctly as the lyricist preferred. I have changed it to ‘Rajendra Krishna’ as per my preference and in conformity with how AIR pronounced it and how HFGK wrote.

Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion Book 5
Author: Arunkumar Deshmukh
Publisher: Professor toofaani publishers, East Lansing, MI, USA
Price (Pothi.com): ₹599 plus shipping (Paperback)
Copyright: © Arunkumar Deshmukh
Pages: 146

This is the fifth book in the series, and I have reviewed all the earlier books on this site. I am very pleased about Arunkumar Deshmukh’s output, as I used to say that Arun ji had many books in him. I have the satisfaction of my prediction coming right. Besides this series of books, Arun ji has also brought out some other books under other titles.

Arun ji has kept one feature common in this series of the books to maintain interest. In the picture on the cover page of every Book, at least one would be a familiar face and you are curious who are the other three. For example, in the Book 5, out of four thumbnail pictures I could recognise at least one – of Charlie at the top right-hand corner. He was a famous comedian of the early era, and Johnny Walker acknowledged that he was inspired by him. When Charlie was at the top, he earned more than many eminent heroes and he was wealthier than them.

However, I must mention right at the beginning that Arun ji has not maintained the same care in the content. As I glanced through the book, I had a nagging feeling that some material I had come across earlier. As I glanced, I found that at least two profiles had occurred earlier- RC Boral in Book 3 (p. 97) and Kamal Dasgupta in Book 2 (p. 85). Since the source material must be the same, the write-ups are more or less similar. There is some updation in Kamal Dasgupta, but RC Boral seems to be a cut and paste job.

But I am jumping ahead of myself. PART ONE of the book contains 48 profiles of “Forgotten Lesser-Known Artists”. This has to be understood in relative terms. Because some names are quite familiar to those aware of the broad history of our films, which would be the most followers of SOY. For example, Amirbai Karnataki, RC Boral, Himanshu Rai, Leela Chitnis, Vasant Desai, Timir Baran, KN Singh, Karan Dewan etc. There would be some in the middle. Some surely unknown, such as Ram Singh, Nayampalli etc. PART TWO contains five pairs or triads on similar names. They cause no end of confusion. Trying to remove the confusion has been a singular contribution of Arun ji. For example, among the same set of names I would strongly recommend Naseem Bano-Naseem Akhtar, and several Manohar’s (Manohar Sonik, Manohar Arora and Manoharlal Khanna). We are familiar with the perils of the same name confusion. It happened once with the famous singer Shamshad Begum. An intensely private person, there was a news item of the death of Shamshad Begum in 1998. The reporter and most people erroneously believed that the singer had passed away, But Shamshad Begum who had passed away was a small-time actress by that name who happened to be the mother of this Naseem Bano, and the grandmother of Saira Bano.

PART THREE titled “Look What I Found” contains four articles with catchy titles: “Why do film artists hide their first films/ roles, songs”; “Germans in Hindi film industry”; “Studios spoiled their careers”’; “How they died”. These titles indicate what they contain, these are quite informative and interesting. PART FOUR of the Book, “Special Articles” contains, as the name suggests some articles of special interest. These are also highly informative. I would especially draw attention to “Studios spoiled their careers”. Along with some others, Shantaram also figures in not very flattering terms in this respect. This would match with what I said in response to one of the comments on the review of the songs of 1939. The last “Special Articles” also has some very informative articles, such as “Failure of Star Sons”, “Animals in Films”.

Coming back to Para 3 of my review, with all the painstaking efforts the book has some careless proof-reading mistakes. For example, random use of small letters and capital letters are quite jarring. Why should Prithviraj Kapoor’s surname be written with small ‘k’ or if someone was suffering from cancer, why should it be written with capitals?

At this stage of his output, I dare to give some suggestions to Arun ji: Pause for a while and review what you have achieved. Make an Index of all the profiles you have written so far, so that you avoid duplications. Be consistent with small letters and capitals, and general proof reading. My congratulations all the same to Arun ji on his awesome achievement.

Wishing everyone a very Happy 76th Anniversary of our Republic Day

Now we are entering the thirties, the last stretch going back to when it all began. The first talkie film was made in 1931. Most of the early stars of talkie films carried on from the silent era. The change of era also exposed the shortcomings of many silent film superstars in adjusting to the demands of talkie films, mainly in dialogue delivery and singing abilities. Some made a gradual exit. This also sowed the seeds of professional playback singing. The playback technology had been discovered in 1935/1937, but the constraints of recording technology meant that it was yet to be fully operational in practice. All this turmoil meant that the change of era did not herald a complete transition from silent to talkie era. Silent films still continued to be made for quite a good number of years into the talkie era. The year 1939 was the end of the 30s. Therefore by 1939 the last silent film must have been made a few years ago. Here I am not talking about largely silent films like Pushpak (1987) and Black, which were largely silent because of artistic reasons, just as Schindler’s List (1993) was a b&w film.

You would find a very different style of singing, especially female singing in the year compared to the later period. A constant was KL Saigal in the film Dushman. Saigal’s Karun kya aas niras bhayi and Preet mein hai jeevan jokhon are timeless songs. Similarly, Pankaj Mullick’s Piya milan ko jana from Kapalkundala became his signature song. Many music lovers remember him by this one song. The era of superhit films like Kismet (1943), Ratan (1944) was yet to arrive. But in the year Anil Biswas, Saraswati Devi and RC Pal (Kangan), RC Boral (Haar Jeet), Mir Saheb (Pukar) and Gyan Dutt were major music composers.

The familiar problem of unknowns in the Vintage Era gets progressively more acute as we look further go back. For example, in 1939, singers of 445 songs are not known out of 732 songs with known song titles. That makes 60.79% unknown. Let us have a look at the broad statistics of the year. Yet as we delve deeper, we discover more new jewels.

Broad Statistics

(The total of male solos, female solos and duets is slightly more than the total number of songs. That is because Multiple Version Songs are counted in each category)

Fact file and Trivia

The Second World War started in September 1939. All the British colonies were drawn into the War – willingly or unwillingly. Soon various restrictions, like rationing, blackouts, shortages etc, came into force, whose full impact would be felt a couple of years into the War. At that time India becoming a Republic was not on the horizon. Today we complete 76 years of our Republic. On this occasion I wish everyone a very Happy 77th Republic Day (We count 26 January 1950 as the First Republic Day).

Debuts

Khemchand Prakash (Ghazi Salauddin), K. Datta (Datta Koregaonkar), Rafiq Ghaznavi and Anupam Ghatak made their debut as music directors. Kavi Pradeep wrote his first film song for the film Kangan. In 1939. A very unusual multi-lingual song was presented for the first time in the film Aadmi by Prabhat – Kis liye kal ki baat, which was sung on the screen by Shanta Hublikar. This song was in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bangla, Tamil and Telugu. Different lyricists and music directors were used for each language. In its Marathi version, Manoos, the song had only one version in Marathi.

Kidar Sharma debuted as a director and Ramola as a heroine in a Hindi film with Dil Hi To Hai. Arunkumar Deshmukh states that the first film shot abroad (Africa) was Inside Africa (1939) and not Naaz (1954) as wrongly mentioned by HFGK.

Meena Kumari debuted as a child artiste in Leather Face. Hansa Wadkar debuted as a heroine in the Bombay Talkies film Navjeevan. Thokar became the last movie of Waheedan Bai with Ranjit Studios. Thereafter, she joined Sagar Movietone where she had a successful run with Surendra, and later with National Studios. This film’s Kaali ghata jo chhayi hai is quite pleasant to hear.

After hearing several songs of 1939 closely, I find the following worth repeat hearing.

MEMORABLE SONGS

Aadmi: Lyrics Mushi Aziz, Music Master Krishna Rao
1. Ab kisliye kal ki baat – Shanta Hublikar (Multi-lingual song)
2. Barjori karke sainya ne bainya marodi meri – Ram Marathe
3. Man paapi bhoola kaise ise samjhave – Shahu Modak, Sundarabai
4. Premi premnagar mein jaanye, Premnagar mein prem bajariya – Shanta Hublikar, Shahu Modak
Aap Ki Marzi: Lyrics PL Santoshi, Music Gyan Dutt
5. Aaj mere ghar mehmaan aaye – Khursheed
6. Bhanwra rasiya re manbasiya jaaye kahan tu jaaye kahan – Khursheed
7. Chal dheere dheere chal dheere dheere dheere -Vasanti
Bijlee: Lyrics Pt Anuj; Music Shankar Rao Vyas, Lallubhai Naik
8. Bhaiya tore chhote nanadi, kaahe karun singaar; Solah baras ki mori umariya – Shirin Bano
9. Buddhi ghodi laal lagaam, ye sabzapari, main hun gulfaam, ji ji ji – Shyam Sundar, Lallu Bhai Nayak (?)
Brandy Ki Bottle: Lyrics Pt. Indra; Music Datta Chandekar
10. Aao jhoola jhoolein Kanha Jamuna ke teer – Meenakshi Shirodkar and Vasant Eric
11. Bhari hai aag matwale teri bottle ke pani mein – (?)
Comrades: Lyrics Dr Safdar Aah, Music Anil Biswas
12. Humein hua hai desh nikala – Surendra
13. Aan basey pardes sajanwa – Jyoti and Surendra
14. Madhur milan ka chitra banaayein – Maya Banerji and Surendra
15. Mope daar gaye saari rang ki gagar – Waheedan Bai
Dushman: Lyrics Arzoo Lakhanavi, music Pankaj Mullick
16.Karun kya aas niraas bhayi, diya bujhe phir se jal jaaye – KL Saigal
17. Man darpan hai jag sara – KL Saigal
18. Hans kar kaha Radha ne – Unknown female
19. Preet mein hai jivan jokhon ki jaise kolhu mein sarson – KL Saigal
20. Pyari pyari suraton moh bhari muraton – KL Saigal
Ek Hi Rasta: Lyrics Kidar Sharma; Music Anil Biswas
21. Bhai hum pardesi log humein kaun jaane – Ail Biswas
22. Tu dekh zara dil ka darpan – Anil Biswas
23. Chhalke ras ki gagariya bhaari – Anil Biswas & Bibbo
Ghazi Salauddin: Lyrics ? ; Music Director Khemchand Prakash
24. Kabhi neki bhi uske jee mein gar aa jaaye hai mujhse – Miss Kalyani (Ghalib ghazal)
Gharib Ke Laal: Lyrics (?); Music Sageer Aasif
25. Tujhe Bibbo Kahun ki Sulochana – Mirza Musarraf and Kamla Karnataki
Jawani Ki Reet: Lyrics Arzo Lakhnavi, Music RC Boral
26. Chali pawan harson – Kanan Devi
27. Jawani sab ko dokha de – Najmal Hussain
28. Loot liyo man dheer – Kanan Devi
Kangan: Lyrics Pradeep; Music Saraswati Devi/ Ramchandra Pal
29. Hawa tum dheere baho mere aate honge chitchor – Leela Chitnis (Saraswati Devi)
30. Jogan bhatak rahi hai ban ban – Leela Chitnis (Saraswati Devi)
Kapalkundala: Lyrics (?), music Pamkaj Mullick
31. Piya milan ko jana – Pankaj Mullick
32. Yun dard bhare dil ki aawaz sunayenge – Pankaj Mullick
Ladies Only: Lyrics Zia Sarhadi/ Pt. Indra: Music Anupam Ghatak
33. Aaye piharwa aaye aaye – Bibbo and Surendra
34. Chamke poonam ko poonam ka chaand dariya mein – Surendra & Bibbo
35. Meri sejon ka mehman nadan – Bibbo
Meri Aankhen: Lyrics PL Santoshi; Music Khemchand Prakash
36. Asha sukh ke khel khilaaye – Khursheed
Nadi Kinaare: Lyrics PL Santoshi, DL Madhok; Music Gyan Dutt
37. Aaram kahan hai dil jo pada gairon ke paale – Kantilal
38. Duniya diwani duniya diwani – Sitara Devi and Kantilal and chorus
Pukar: Lyrics Kamal Amrohi; Music Mir Saheb
39. Dhoye mohoba ghat – Sardar Akhtar
40. Dil mein tu aankhon mein tu – Menaka
41. Geet suno geet sainya – Sheela
42. Tum bin hamri kaun khabar le Govardhan Giridhari – Sheela
43. Zindagi ka saaz bhi kya saaz hai, baj raha hai phir bi beaawaz hai – Naseem Bano
Sach Hai: Lyrics Pt. Niranjan Sharma ‘Ajit’; Music Sauresh Babu Babu Mane
44. Bahati Ganga Kashi teerath aya – Suresh Babu ‘Mane’
Sant Tulsidas: Lyrics Pt Indra Chandra, Music Gyan Dutt
45. Ban chale Ram Raghurai – Vishnupant Phagnis
Sapera; Lyrics Kidar Sharma, music RC Boral
46. Man mere aandhi ban ja  – Kanan Devi
Thokar: Lyrics PL Santoshi; Music Gyan Dutt
47. Acche Isa ho mareezon ka khayal achcha hai – Waheedan Bai
48. Kaali jo ghata chhayi hai – Waheedan Bai
Zambo Ka Beta: Lyrics Pt. Shivkumar; Music Badri Prasad
49. Hai ishq wahi aag jo pani mein laga de – Vatsala Kumthekar

Non-film songs
50. Mujhe na sapnon se bahlao by Jagmohan Sursagar (Lyrics Faiyyaz Hashmi; Music Kamal Dasgupta)

Once you are on a discovery trip, you get many special songs in a year. Here are a few of my favourite Special Songs. I have tried to give some brief write-up why I find these songs special.

Special Songs

1. Bahati Ganga Kashi teerath aya by Sureshbabu Mane from Sach Hai, lyrics Pt. Niranjan Sharma, music Suresh Babu Mane

Suresh Babu Mane was trained in Kirana gharana by the doyen of Kirana and his father, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan himself. Note the stress on ‘ha’ in the first word.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6-FFmSs10U&list=RDE6-FFmSs10U&start_radio=1

2. Tujhe Bibbo ki Sulochana by Mirza Musarraf and Kamla Karnataki from Gharib Ke Lal (1939), music Sageer Aasif

This must be the first referential song in Hindi films naming the reigning film stars of the time. Every line of the song consists of about three-four film starts. You can test your knowledge by how many stars you know among those mentioned in the song. Arunkumar Deshmukh says there are 32 leading film starts mentioned in the song, which is a record till date.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODVt9cWJLg&list=RDcODVt9cWJLg&start_radio=1

3. Barjori karke sainya ne bainya marodi meri by Ram Marathe from Aadmi (1939), lyrics Munshi Aziz, music Master Krishna Rao

A 12-year old Ram Marathe gives playback to Shanta Hublikar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmEqftWcPEU&list=PLpZLHt6c4Ik-IL-sNarXSpQEqN_2GE0pQ&index=8

4. Main sadke tere nigahein-e-mohabbat by Rafiq Ghazanvi from Sitara (1939), lyrics Mushi Dil Lakhanvi, music Rafiq Ghazanvi

We know Rafiq Ghazanvi was a multi-faceted talent. The following is a nice ghazal-singing style of the olden days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpHXumPKyd0&t=174s

5. Premi premnagar mein jaanye by Shanta Hublikar & Shahu Modak from Aadmi (1939), lyrics Munshi Aziz, music Master Krishnarao

Now this is an interesting song showing filming within a film. We are lucky that its video clip is available. Shantaram seems to have a New Theatres (Calcutta) fixation. New Theatres had come up with a roaring hit Devdas (1935), a film based on the eponymous Sarat Chandra-classic, starring KL Saigal, Jamuna and Rajkumari. It is said that Shantaram was not too pleased with a film based on a young man self-destructing himself to alcohol upon failure in love. Aadmi was his counter, a film with a positive message. Here Shahu Modak does not get the tawaif Shanta Hublikar, but she herself walks out of his life and forces him to marry a girl from a decent family. But this clip is important as it shows film-making those days. Shahu Modak and Shanta Hublikar on the run bump into a live filming scene. Even though playback technology had been discovered, you can see live recording was still in vogue. The director, music director and musicians are trying to keep pace with the couple, the camera and all the equipments are on a cart following the couple.

Shanta Ram also seems to have a KL Saigal-complex. Prabhat had some pretty good singers from Marathi Natya Sangeet/light classical background, but they did not create nation-wide sensation as KL Saigal did. If you look at the lyrics of this song, Shantaram trivialises Prem (love) which KL Saigal and Uma Shashi lifted to lofty heights in their duet Premnagar mein banaungi ghar main taj ke sab sansaar from Chandidas (1934).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQckR0D5YA&list=RDhHQckR0D5YA&start_radio=1

6. Ab kisliye kal ki baat (multilingual song in several languages) by Shanra Hublikar from Aadmi (1939), lyrics several, music Master Krishnarao

This must be the first experiment of its kind when the actress-singer Shanta Hublikar entertains her patrons in several languages. Her patrons must be from different linguistic groups and she effortlessly switches from Gujarat to Punjabi to Telugu to Bangla to Tamil Nadu, besides the main language Hindi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1G0aq7nA4E&list=RDL1G0aq7nA4E&start_radio=1

7. Dance scene from the film Brandy Ki Bottle (1939), music Dada Chandekar

We are lucky to have a reasonable video clip from the film Brandy Ki Bottle (1939) showing a scene of a female dancer entertaining the drooling patrons. I have no idea of the story. I guess the dancer is the leading lady Meenakshi Shirodkar. The present Shirodkar family might as well be connected to her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWEYc5rvep8&list=RDUWEYc5rvep8&start_radio=1

8. Bhari hai aag matwaale teri bottle ke paani mein by (?) from Brandy Ki Bottle (1939), lyrics (?), music Dada Chandekar

Here is a nice video evidence of a very early qawwali-style singing. Here the main qawwal is with the harmonium and other side-qawwals provide rhythmic clapping. A very good qawwali which helps set the record of the first qawwali in Hindi films. Given that talkies began in 1931, we can’t be yet sure, but that proves we have to be on the lookout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfG—sxr5I&list=RDbfG—sxr5I&start_radio=1

9. Saawan aaye ya na aaye piya ghar aaye saawna hai by Harish from Saadhana (1939), lyrics Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi, music Anupam Ghatak

We all know Saawan aaye ya na aaye by Rafi and Asha Bhosle from the film Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966), composed by Naushad. Here we get its original in a slightly different tune sung by Harish. The lyricist is our beloved crooked villain Kanhaiyal. There is no question of crediting the original source. Who is going to catch?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C88-S6JoQ1Y&list=RDC88-S6JoQ1Y&start_radio=1

Now I present the best songs of 1939 for the readers’ views about the SOY Awards for the best songs of 1939 in different categories, such as

Best Male Solo of the year
Best Female Solo of the year
Best Duet of the year
Best Music Director of the Year

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
1. Arunkumar Deshkumh has generously shared his notes of the best songs of 1939.
2. HFGK
3. Atul Song A Day
4. Professor Surjit Singh’s site
5. YouTube
6. I have mostly used information commonly available in the public domain. I can’t vouchsafe for the accuracy of many of the data used here.

Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar as a tribute to OP Nayyar on his Centenary (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007)

(We have now reached the concluding post of the guest author in the series of tributes to OP Nayyar, coinciding with his centenary. OP Nayyar was one of the most complex personalities of Hindi film music. His personality impacted his music and his relationships to a great extent. Mr Kelkar is an OPN-admirer but he does not let this cloud his judgement of the man. In discussions with him, we agreed that this would be the most befitting tribute to OP Nayyar. Mr Kelkar forces you to rethink your views of OP Nayyar – perhaps such towering talents cannot be judged on the standards of middle-class morality. You feel sympathy that he suffered because of his own hubris. Thank you Mr. Kelkar for helming an excellent series.

Mr Kelkar has been a close observer of OP Nayyar. He has done Masters in Statistics and Computer Science. A retired IT-professional, he is now based out of Pune. – AK)

This is the fifth and final post on OP Nayyar in the celebration of his hundredth birth anniversary which concludes on 16^th January 2026. I consider Anil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramchandra, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan and OP Nayyar as the top six music composers of the golden period. Amongst these six music giants, OP stands out because he is the only one to accomplish this without Lata Mangeshkar, who was the reigning deity of the golden period. This made me believe that OP’s birth centenary needs to be celebrated as a fitting acknowledgement.

In this post we will have an overview of OP’s musical career along with other aspects related to his life.

OP’s Childhood

There are many interesting characteristics in OP’s personality that defined the man. The biggest reason behind the sort of person he became was the hardships he suffered in his childhood. It’s a well-accepted premise that the grooming the child receives from the age of 4 to 12 shapes the character of the child when it grows up. OP was born in a family of four brothers and one sister. All his siblings were studious and followed the discipline set by their father. OP was the oddity; he was indifferent towards studies and had in born attraction towards the music. Due to his rebellious nature he would get frequently thrashed by his father. In addition, no family member had any interest in his musical pursuits and he never received any encouragement. His father would frequently comment that OP will end up becoming a street music player asking for alms and this made him even more depressed. All this made OP bitter towards his family and made him extra determined to prove them wrong by becoming a success in musical world. These psychological scars inflicted in his childhood never left him and affected his music career in the long run because of his outlook towards others.

OP’s rapport with Producers

OP’s first producer was DS Pancholi and OP remained grateful to him for giving him the break in films. Guru Dutt, Shashadhar Mukherjee and Sheikh Mukhtar were three other producers whom OP acknowledged for helping him in shaping his musical character. As far as other producers were concerned, he would be business like with them. He would tell them “Pay me my fees, accept my songs and that is it”. Due to this, he was not close to any producer and so there was no question of a producer repeating OP because of his closeness with OP. That’s one of the main reasons that OP scored music for only 78 films in a career span of 42 years. He had a very poor PR unlike many other MDs.

OP’s association with heroes/heroines

OP also was not close with Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. OP’s association with Shammi Kapoor began from OP’s first film Aasman (1951). Originally Shammi Kapoor was to be the hero and Shammi attended first few musical sittings with OP. Later on Shammi Kapoor was replaced by Nasir Khan. So right from 1951, Shammi Kapoor was a good friend and had great admiration for OP. But he still preferred Shankar-Jaikishan, due to OP’s strong character. This is one more factor as to why OP’s tally of the films is so less. Madhubala considered OP as a good friend and would offer discount in her films if music was composed by OP.

OP’s rapport with lyrics writers

OP always gave enormous importance to the lyrics. In an interview, he has said “I have always been selective and very particular about lyrics because I love poetry. Of course, I have personal fondness for romantic lyrics, so romance in my poetry was very important. The richness of the thought in the poetry of my lyric writers contributed to the making of OP Nayyar”. He worked the most with Majrooh Sultanpuri (125 songs), SH Bihari (94 songs), Jan Nisar Akhtar (84 songs) and Qamar Jalalabadi (74 songs). OP and Majrooh had a fall out about words in two songs of ‘Mere Sanam’ (1965). That film turned out to be their last association. OP stopped working with Sahir when Sahir inadvertently claimed that because of him SD Burman became popular. OP remained in touch with Qamar Jalalabadi till the end. I remember meeting Qamar Jalalabadi in 1993 on OP’s birthday when OP was residing in a remote Mumbai suburb, Virar. At that time, Qamar Jalalabadi also lived in Virar with his daughter.

OP’s bond with his musicians

OP always gave enormous respect to his musicians and treated them very well. He had a great empathy towards them. He was the one who started the procedure of paying the musicians immediately after the song recording was over. He would tell the musicians to avoid travelling in the crowded Mumbai local trains and come by taxi. OP would pay them the fare of the taxi. His only condition was that they should come on time. For anybody coming late, he could be strict and scolded them and in case of repeated offenders would not hesitate to dismiss them. I think he was the first MD to openly name the musicians that participated in his recordings and acknowledge their contribution in the success of his songs. In my last post I have already named most of his musicians. One name missing is that of Babu Sing who played Harmonium in OP’s songs. In OP’s last film Zidd (1993), Ustaad Zakir Hussain played tabla in the song ‘Tujhe pyar kar loon’. It seems Zakir turned up at the recording and requested OP to include him in the recording. OP obliged and made space in the song for tabla. The link to the song is provided here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3B7_Bier0

OP’s rapport with his singers

In the following photograph we have OP with Rafi and Geeta Dutt.

Everybody knows that OP never used Lata Mangeshkar. (I have already given details about their rift in my earlier blogs). Due to this, OP had to come up with such tunes that unavailability of Lata was not a constraint. This gave his music a different feel and unique appeal. OP added a different dimension to Rafi’s repertoire by giving him romantic, light songs and making him sing with gay abandon. Note that it was mainly from 1957 onwards that Rafi became major singer for many MDs including SD Burman and Shankar Jaikishan, In an interview, OP said “Geeta Dutt’s voice had real character, she had original voice. Shamshad Begum had the best voice, a truly khanakati aawaz. However, over all, Asha Bhosle was the best; she had certain vocal abilities that Lata or even Shamshad never had. I gave my best composing for Asha and she gave all her best singing for me”. Everybody feels that OP’s break-up with Asha in 1972 finished OP’s career. But if one takes a close look at OP’s career, he scored music for just two films in 1969, none in 1970, one film each in 1971 and 1972, and only two films in 1973 (last two films where Asha sang for OP, with songs being recorded before break-up). This indicates that OP was already getting isolated and was not a major force any longer. Note that, from 1970 onwards LP, KA, RD, SJ were scoring music for more than 10 films each per year. Hence my conclusion is that if the break-up hadn’t happened, may be OP would have continued to get a couple of films every year, that’s all.

OP’s family troubles

OP had a weakness for women. I present here a few of his quotes on women, given in different interviews.

“I feel that God created woman and then fell at her feet. Woman is God’s greatest creation.”

“OP Nayyar is a nobody without women. Women have inspired me, helped me overcome many crises like addiction to smoking, drinking. I am ever grateful to all the women who came into my life”.

“I am not a trained musician. I needed inspiration to compose which came always from women, women singers.”

This outlook towards women was the main cause of discord in his marriage. He married Saroj Mohini Arora in 1951. It was a love marriage. In another interview he told, “Before I married, I told my wife that I would always remain a womaniser. She took a promise that I would never marry again”. He had three daughters and one son. He broke up with his family in 1988, 37 years after marriage. At that time, OP was close to a lady less than half his age. His children, who had grown up by that time were fed up with this. The family members took an objection to it. OP threatened to throw them out of house. His wife and children filed a court case. OP was on a slippery ground with his reputation being at stake and was advised to settle the matter out of court. As a result, OP decided to walk out of the house by transferring his property to his wife. He died in 2008; so for the last twenty years of his life he had very minimal contact with his family.  His wife passed away within one year after OP’s death. It’s understood that all his children are unmarried and live in the same house as of date. In the following photograph we see OP with his wife and eldest daughter.

OP’s last years

After the break up with his family, he lived in a remote suburb Virar in Mumbai for six years. For the last ten years of his life, OP lived as a PG with a family in Thane, another suburb in Mumbai. He was treated by them as a senior family member of the family and gave him respect and love. Finally he had found peace and lived a contented life with them till his death. OP had always had spiritual streak in him and that helped him in overcoming his family setback. He would tell us without any trace of emotion that his current situation is a result of his bad karma and no one else needs to be blamed, adding that it’s good that he is wiping out his bad karma in this life itself. Financially he himself managed fairly well. Around 1990 RPG bought HMV. In next couple of years, RPG reissued many OP albums on cassette and these were lapped up by his fans. The royalty received from the sale made OP financially comfortable. He also appeared in TVS SaReGaMa shows on TV and would be present in music shows featuring OP songs in various parts of India as well as in some Gulf countries. In Pune, every year there would be one such show where OP in person would grace the occasion. This generated additional income for him. One must give him the credit that till the end he never lost his stature and compromised on his principles. He always appeared in public in white silk attire, Italian shoes and top hat. Do not believe in the stories that he died a pauper; he lived like a king and died by living life on his own terms.

OP and his fan following

OP had a wonderful fan following. Even after being out of limelight for more than a decade, many of his fans would travel to Mumbai to greet him on his birthdays. He had a way with him to make his fans feel at home in his presence. In his musical shows he would always be surrounded by his fans and his shows were always houseful. My friend, Vishwas Nerurkar has compiled ‘Geet Kosh’ of many music personalities including Lata, Asha, Naushad, Madan Mohan, Khaiyyam, OP, RD Burman, Gulzar, etc. and has met and worked with many of them in person during his work. He claims that OP was the most glamorous of all and the kind of reverence and adoration OP received from his fans was unique. I can readily believe this since OP had a magnetic personality and would always stand out in a crowd.

Other talents

Other than music, he had two more outstanding talents. He was a widely acclaimed homeopath doctor. His fans arranged free clinics in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad where OP treated ailing, helpless patients by giving free treatment. It’s claimed that he cured many hopeless patients of their ailment. I suppose there are many patients still alive who can vouch for this. Raju Bharatan considered him as the finest homeopath. Another talent he developed was that of reading horoscope. Here also there are many stories about the accuracy of his reading of the horoscope of the people who consulted him. But he always felt that it’s not good to believe about your prediction of the future. He would say ‘Stars only indicate, they don’t dictate’. Two other passions he pursued were poetry and spirituality. He adored ‘Saint Kabir’, as can be gauged from the fact that he cut his first record by reciting Kabir vani. I feel, after his family setback, he turned even more towards spirituality.

OP as a person

OP lived his life king-size. He enjoyed to the fullest all the things that he loved like company of women, whiskey, imported cigarettes, expensive watches, American cars, etc. He had strong likes and dislikes. If he liked somebody, he would go all out to help him in his hour of need. On the other hand if somebody had rubbed him on the wrong side, he never forgave them. One drawback was he could be impulsive and this would sometimes land him into trouble and result into souring relationship with others. Towards his fans, he exuded genuine warmth, was very friendly and very open. He was very generous; he would tip the domestic help and waiters extravagantly for the service. He had wild side to him when it came to his passions. On the other hand, he held high moral standards when it came to punctuality, truthfulness, sincerity, honesty and he expected the same from others. This moralistic aspect affected adversely his music career by having conflicts with producers, directors, lyric writers, singers, etc.

Conclusion

As an end piece I quote from an article written by Raju Bharatan which aptly sums up OP Nayyar the composer.

“There were trendsetters before OP Nayyar, there have been pathfinders after him. But OP Nayyar’s niche, in our music, remains his own. We have seen litany of great composers in action, but OP Nayyar’s ‘balancing’ stands out as his own. OP Nayyar’s imitators are legion. But there is one, and only one, OP Nayyar: The Original.

His Mystique; it is unique”.

Now let’s listen to some of his songs. These songs have no common theme. This list represents my varied reflections on many aspects of his career.

Let’s start with two songs inspired from Naushad songs. OP had a great admiration for Naushad, the composer. This can be ascertained from the following incident. Once, a well-known musician came late for rehearsal at OP’s musical room. As OP asked him the reason, he told OP that he had gone to Naushad because he had promised Naushad to give him a tune. He expected that OP will be pleased since this showed Naushad in a poor light as a composer, OP was furious, he sternly told him, ‘Next time come up with a good excuse. Naushad taking tunes from you? What are you talking about?’

The image below shows Naushad and Jaikishan with OP.

1. O leke pahla pahla pyar – Shamshad, Rafi, Asha Bhosle – CID(1956). Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jSE-ZiIkfc

The tune ‘Jadunagari se aya hai koi jaadugar’ is same as that of ‘Necktie waale babu ko bula de koi re” from the song

Dil na lage jiya na lage – Parul Gosh – Namaste (1943). Lyrics – DN Madhok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ5z83fFjUo

CID songs created a craze and helped OP to consolidate himself as an MD even more firmly. Raj Khosla was the director and in an interview he told a wonderful tale regarding the picturization of this song. He says “I told Dev Anand that he is not going to lisp this song. This shocked him. He asked ‘What am I supposed to do?’ I told him you are to just walk and he did”. The style in which Dev Anand has walked created a sensation amongst his fans. After watching this, many Dev fans started walking in his manner. The heroine Sadhana has also told in an interview that she watched this movie many times just to see the way Dev walks in this song. It’s also a fact that OP had offered this tune to a couple of producers earlier, who rejected it. When he played this tune to Guru Dutt, he immediately approved it and it showed Guru Dutt had a wonderful ear for music, since this song remains one of the most popular of OP songs. Harmonium is the main instrument used in the orchestration of this song and the beautiful harmonium pieces are played by Babu Sing. OP loved this instrument and has used it in numerous songs. I had not included it in my post on OP’s instruments with the intention of including it in this post.

2. Barso re – Asha Bhosle – Phagun (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSCREw1KonM

The tune ‘Aaj kisi ke preet nagar mein lag naa aaye aag’ is same as that of ‘Aaj kisi ki haar hui hai aaj kisi ki jeet’ from the song:

Jhoom jhoom ke nacho aaj – Mukesh – Andaz (1949). Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sppKUfO5Nbw&list=RDsppKUfO5Nbw&start_radio=1

In the OP song, the interlude piece based on high pitched chorus in conjunction with clarinet/flute piece leading to the Antara is exemplary.

3. Ab to tum sang naina laagi – Asha Bhosle – Dhake Ki Malmal (1956) – Lyrics – Jan Nisar Akhtar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXCJ-8dWln8

The interlude of this song is based upon Maithili Dhun. I provide here link to Maithili Lokgeet:

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YrEZDVEDhU

Based on the Maithili Dhun, N Dutta created the song ‘Tere pyaar ka aasra chahata hoon’. Later on OP Nayyar composed another song based on this.

5. Bahut shukriya badi meharbani – Rafi, Asha – Ek Musafir Ek Haseena (1962) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2aSBlqu8sk

This is an evergreen duet. Another song where Harmonium is given prominence. Rafi is outstanding in this song. Raju Bharatan has mentioned in the book ‘Down The Melody Lane’ that OP contacted N Dutta and told him that he has composed a song inspired by the song ‘Tere pyar ka aasra chaahta hoon’. However, since OP had used the Maithili Dhun as interlude in 1956 itself,  it’s moot point as to whether OP got inspired by N Dutta’s song or not.

(I can’t but wonder at the underlying unity among various genres of music. It is really a small world. In SOY’s 14th Anniversary post, besides ‘Tere pyar ka aasra chahta hun’, I discussed its similarity to Hemant Kumar’s ‘Mohabbat mein meri tarah jo luta ho, mere sath wo bhi gale mile ke ro le’ (‘Shart’, 1954), and Malika Pukhraj’s old ghazal ‘Arey maygusaaro’. And now, OP Nayyar-composed ‘Dhae ki Malmal’ and ‘Ek Musafir Ek Haseena’. While at this, please also see in that post discussions at #45-48 for N Venkataraman’s proof of AK’s conjecture – no harm in playing a professional mathematician. Amidst all this, a constant and the oldest is Vidyapati’s ‘Piya more balak main taruni re’.- AK)

6. Chhota sa baalama – Asha Bhosle – Ragini (1958) – Qamar Jalalabadi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlpJZs0YuK8

This song was based upon a Marathi Natya Sangeet sung by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar (father of Lata and Asha)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnfBk0ZPYD8&list=RDQnfBk0ZPYD8&start_radio=1

7. This song was included in a Marathi film Doodh Bhaat (1952) which was sung by Asha Bhosle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ya4aHAiwbs&list=RD0ya4aHAiwbs&start_radio=1

Asha Bhosle has sung many Natya-Sangeet songs (originally sung by her father), in extremely effective manner and all of them are very popular in Maharashtra. The transformation done by OP in a ‘Chhota sa balama’ is superb; by adding OP touch to it. This amply demonstrates his genius.

It’s my observation that in the golden era, all the great music directors used to get inspired by the wonderful songs being created by their peers. Let’s listen to a few OP songs which I feel OP composed as a sort of salute to his peers.

8. Poochho na humein hum unke liye – Asha Bhosle – Mitti Mein Sona (1960) – Lyrics – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sntXTKQiTPI

I think OP was inspired by Madan Mohan’s song ‘Hum pyar mein jalne walon ko’ from the film Jailor, to create a song to match it. Importantly it pitted Asha Bhosle against her sister Lata Mangeshkar in Lata’s domain. Both are superb songs and it’s very difficult to pick which is better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4QYNzsLeTQ

The film Mitti Mein Sona is not available for viewing and the pity is that ‘Poochho na humein’ song was not included in the movie, hence the second stanza of the song is not available, though in music shows on OP this song has been presented in full that includes both the stanzas. I provide link here of one such presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH6JbKoXu1k

10. Main khidki mei aaungi – Rafi, Asha – Kalpana (1960) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiWVtO6ZivE

I think OP was highly impressed by the song ‘Jivan mein piya tera saath rahe’ from the film Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959). OP composed this song by using same template. Opening sher by the female singer followed by aalaap by Rafi, then fast clarinet/flute intro piece. Both the songs end with a short clarinet/flute piece. The link to Goonj Uthi Shehnai song is given here for reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hekj4MgNRG4

The funny thing is that the music pieces of the Goonj Uthi Shehnai song remind you of OP. In the OP song you get the impression that Asha and Rafi are competing with each other as to who sings better. The opening sher and the intro piece are terrific. The interlude music piece reminds you that of the song ‘Humdum mere maan bhi jao’ from Mere Sanam (1965).

11. Jee chaahta hai kheench loon tasveer aap ki – Rafi, Asha – Basant (1960) – Lyrics – Shevan Rizvi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaS1b8-Nx5Y

The opening aalaap by Asha reminds me that of the aalaap by Lata in the song ‘Tere sur aur mere geet’ from the film Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959). The link is provided here for reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiW-wm7jY58

Vasant Desai and OP were good friends and it seems that OP was highly impressed by his score for the film ‘Goonj Uthi Shehnai’. Coming back to this OP song, it’s so melodious that no wonder that Pt. Shivkumar Sharma called OP as ‘Melodiously Romantic King of Rhythm’. He further emphasized that OP’s melody and romance can never get old, it will remain fresh forever. Notice that this is one of those rare songs which start with antara.  There is no doubt that Asha has excelled in this song. The movie ‘Basant’ had 14 songs and it had 10 Rafi-Asha duets which is a record. The film didn’t include 4 of the 14 songs which probably is also a record to have so many songs dropped from the film.

12. Chaand raaton ko nikale – Asha Bhosle – Aisa Bhi Hota Hai (1971) – Lyrics SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTsqyeYLXJU

My contention is that this was OP’s answer to the popular song ‘Chanda hai tu mera suraj hai tu’ from film ‘Aaradhana’. This is another OP song where you have mukhra in Western beats and antara in Indian beats.

O meri gori gori jaan – Kishore Kumar – Aisa Bhi Hota Hai (1971) – Lyrics – SH Bihari

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZePUgFEJQc

Here OP has created a composition to tell  the producers that he was perfectly capable to fit in the new tend. This was the time period where Kishore Kumar/RD Burman combination was the current flavor and OP has come up with a song to tell the producers that he can perfectly capable to fit in the new trend.

Now let us listen to two interesting songs.

13. My name is kishori and yours – Asha Bhosle – Dil Aur Mohabbat (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ito9zMPx8Y

This is not a song but a few words and then music and it’s used to ensure Joy Mukherjee loses in the gambling, I can’t help feeling that the words of this song probably inspired Shakti Samanta/RD Burman/Anand Bakshi to create the song with the wording ‘Mera naam hai shabnam’ in the film Kati Patang.

14. O gori sharmaon na – Asha Bhosle, Kama Barot – Shrimanji (1968) – Lyrics SH Bihari

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omFNHPmtJF8

This is another case where the theme of the song is used in another very famous film song ‘Rukmani Rukmani’ in the film ‘Roja’. Again like the last song, this OP song is picturised as a comedy song and the words and their meaning is wasted. However, in ‘Roja’ the lyrics match with the picturisation of the song. Coming back to OP song, it has many interesting features. The opening sher is in typical OP fashion. The song is lisped by four persons, three females and IS Johar (in the disguise of a lady), in the voice of Asha Bhosle. The melodious interludes are based upon the combination of taar-shehnai and flute. No other instrument is used. On top of this, we have accordion used as a counter melody in prominent manner. OP at his experimental best.

Now let us listen to the title music of two films. The MD of these two films is not OP, but still music composed by OP is used. Also, there is no mention of OP in the titles. I have no knowledge about how this can happen. People claim that such music pieces are treated as a stock music and can be used by other producers. I don’t know. May be knowledgeable folks in the SOY family will throw some light on this.

15. Title music of film Preetam (1971)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uyluT270ls

16. I have provided here a link to the film. Watch/listen from the time 1:53 to 4:10 mins. This title music is the same as that of the film Mere Sanam (1965). The link is provided here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5uZS2Rhy5I

Watch/listen from the time 5:40 to 8:10 mins. In the title music of Preetam, the Rafi and Asha aalaaps have been excluded. The title music has OP stamp all over it.

17. Title music of a Marathi film Bayako Maheri Jaate (1963)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFFgbB1sSQM

Watch/listen from 0:25 to 3:37 mins. This music piece was taken from the film Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POnUGNEbFUA

18. Watch from 1hr:44min:50sec to 1hr:47min:20sec. The song ‘Sar par topi’ starts immediately after this background music piece.

Now let’s listen to the last song.

19. Pukarata chala hoon main –  Rafi – Mere Sanam (1965) – Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLKBwutnPwA

We have many songs that have been copied from western tunes. This has been done by all our music directors. But this song has the distinction of being copied in a western album called ‘Call Of the Spring’. This was released in 2009.

20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbjv4IfisOw

PS: Let me express my gratitude to AK for allowing me to write these blogs in celebration of OP Nayyar’s hundredth birth anniversary. THANK YOU!!

Wishing all the readers and their families a very Happy New Year

Soulfully Yours: Ravi
Author: Manek Premchand
Published by: Blue Pencil, Delhi 2025
ISBN: 978-81-943921-4-9
Price: ₹675 (Paperback on Amazon); Pages: 455

The regulars of this blog are well-informed about old film music. How do we view Ravi? I have been quite open about my assessment of him. I don’t put him in the top 5 surely, which comprises: Naushad, C Ramchandra, Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman and OP Nayyar. My next 5 would start with Roshan, Madan Mohan and Chitragupta. Thereafter, it becomes very crowded: Khayyam, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury, Jaidev, Kalyanji-Anandji. So Ravi would fit in my ranking at # 11-15. I believe that was the general view, until Hans Jakhar rehabilitated him on SOY through his series of guest articles.

Manek Premchand starts his biography of Ravi, titled “Soulfully Yours: Ravi” with precisely this Ravi paradox in his article, Overview: Composer Ravi – The Man, and His Music. Giving a long list of his superhit parade, including some timeless songs, he poses a question, “Why this paradox, where Ravi’s music shines, but his name fades?” Then he proceeds to answer it in a unique psychoanalytical way: it is the gap between his Average Joe life and his vibrant compositions. He was self-effacing to a fault, he shunned limelight; away from publicity or marketing himself. He let his music speak for his talent. His simple name of two letters was an extension of his personality. There is nothing flashy or star-like in his name, and there was nothing flashy or signature style about his music. Contrast this with the year-end article on OP Nayyar – the man was flashy as was his music.

An amusing aside which corroborates this point. Manekji recently sent me a message “I have asked my publisher to send you a copy of my newest book, Soulfully Yours Ravi”. The publisher did mention the author, but she forgot to give the book’s name. Therefore, I took it as Manekji signing off with a salutation. So, I innocently replied, “Ravi? I thought you are known as Manek Premchand.” I am sure Manekji didn’t realise that my fleeting reading caused this grave faux pas. It is only the Average Joe name like Ravi which could have caused this misunderstanding that someone could use it as his nom de plume.

In the next chapter Ravi: Composer, Lyricist, Singer, the author examines the Ravi question deeper, and mentions how Ravi’s superlative music was behind the success of many films, in which many others got the Filmfare Award, such as the Best Singer, Best Leading Man or Lady, Best Movie, but he didn’t for the Best Music Director. In several years he got nominated, but finally another person got it. When he did get his first Filmfare Award for Gharana (1961) for the Best Music, some of us dismissed it as a “Sleeper Award” or were surprised, Ravi?.  The world does not remember a runner-up. In recent Messi mania in India, along with him were also Luis Suarez and Rodrigo D Paul, being pushed around by the crowd.

His next chapter, Taking a Close Look at Ravi’s Top 100 Hindi Film Songs, is in many ways the meat of the book. I was curious to find if two of my top favourite Rafi songs figure in the list. Both Na jhatko zulf se paani ye moti phoot jayenge/ Tumhara kuchh na bigadega magar dil toot jayenge (Shehnai, 1964) and Ye jhuke jhuke naina, ye lat balkhati to dil kyun na mera deewana ho tera (Bharosa, 1963) were missing from the top 100 list. This can mean only two things: There cannot ever be an agreed list of top 100 songs, or Ravi’s work is so huge that even top 100 songs cannot accommodate someone’s top two Rafi favourites.  Manek ji next proceeds to analyse each song in detail, its lyrics, music arrangement, significance of the raag Ravi has chosen etc. This section also lets him coin some interesting phrases. The readers of this blog are aware from my reviews of his earlier books that Manek ji is quite a wordsmith; and in this chapter his poetic instincts are in full flow. While discussing Aage bhi jaane na tu, peechhe bhi jaane na tu – and he includes several songs from Waqt (1963) – he coins a phrase The Tyranny of Time. There are other metaphors which I like, for example Wounds That Time Could Not Heal; A Poetic Mermaid in a Murder Mystery; The Architecture of Letting Go; Shadows of the Past; Smiling Through Sorrow and so on. In this chapter Manek ji also briefly dwells on the difference between a ghazal and other forms of Urdu poetry, such as a nazm. It needs to be said again and again that not every song that uses Urdu words predominantly is a ghazal.

We all have our own list of BHNW (Better Heard, Not Watched) songs. My own favourite Ye jhuke jhuke naina, ye lat balkhati, is a prime example of a BHNW song. A comprehensive analysis of 100 songs also lets the author mention several trivia and information. For example, how many are aware that Tally Ho (in Baar baar dekho, hazar baar dekho; China Town) has its origin in the British fox-hunting tradition? Manekji also briefly refers to the episode of misattribution of the lyricist of Darshan do Ghanshyam meri ankhiyan pyasi re in the multiple Oscars awarded film, Slumdog Millionaire. The lyricist is not Surdas, but the Hindi poet Gopal Singh ‘Nepali’ (Film Narsi Bhagat, 1957, music director Ravi). Manek ji also offers a possible reason for confusion – The Bhakti poet Surdas (16^th century) had written a bhajan, Ankhiyan Hari darshan ki pyasi, with similar thoughts. But Nepali’s lyrics and Manna Dey’s rendering of Darshan do Ghanshyam are too good to be mauled by sloppy research.

Ravi was a master of ghazals. Manek ji has listed over 60 film ghazals, some sung in qawwali style (with rhythmic clapping added, such as Sharma ke ye sab pardanasheen aanchal ko sanwara karte hain). But the most interesting information in Ghazals Composed by Ravi is that he has set about two dozen non-film ghazals too of Mirza Ghalib for Doordarshan (1989-90). The piano has been visually featured by many music directors beautifully on the screen. Ravi is an important composer of piano songs. The author gives a list of over twenty such songs. There are some more chapters dissecting songs on different parameters: Title songs, Lori songs, Ravi’s Parodies, Mujra songs, Qawwali songs etc.

The last 160 pages would be a delight for statisticians and data lovers. These give Ravi’s Filmography with songs – films in a year are listed alphabetically, and songs in a film too appear alphabetically. This seems to me a more convenient approach. Also given are Ravi Stats with Lyricists and Poets; Ravi as a Singer; Ravi as a Lyricist; Alphabetical Song List; Ravi’s Non-film Compositions. Such huge data set is bound to throw up some interesting information. One knew that Ravi also wrote lyrics, but lyricist for 69 songs is a startling figure. Ravi gave Lata Mangeshkar less than one-fourth of the songs he composed for Asha Bhosle. Our Data Man, Hans Jakhar had hinted about Ravi’s preference for the younger sister over the mighty empress. Now I would be on the lookout for such evidence in case of N Datta, who according to him showed even more pronounced preference for Asha Bhosle.

Thus, overall this book does full justice to Ravi, which I believe was Manek ji’s primary objective. Are there any flaws in the book? I have to be really quibbling over small things. I believe Manek ji has been lazy in explaining the ‘ghazal’ as a popular form of Urdu poetry. This is what he says:

The lines of the first couplet end in AA
The lines of the second couplet end in BA
The lines of the third couplet end in CA
The lines of the fourth couplet end in DA
And so on

His illustration and explanation make it further clear that in the first couplet both the lines end with the same group of words (Humradeef). Second couplet onwards the first line has to be completely odd, such as B, C, D, but the second line of each couplet ends with the same group of words, i.e Humradeef. So far so good, but another important feature of a ghazal which lends it a charm is that the immediately preceding word (or group of words) before the Humradeef (A) has to be rhyming, i.e. Humqafia. For instance in the example given by Manek ji, Bhari duniya mein aakhir dil ko samjhane kahan jaayen, the humqafia words in the ghazal are before ‘A’ – samjhane, deewane, parwane, afsane, sukoon paane etc. Take another example of a ghazal by Shakeel Badayuni himself, but now composed by Naushad (Amar, 1954) – Na milta gham to barbaadi ke afsane kahan jaate/ Agar duniya chaman hoti to veerane kahan jaate. Look at the rhyming words (Humqafia) before the repeating words (Humradeef) Kahan jaate: Agar hoote sabhi apne to bagane kahan jaate/ Na jalti shamma mehfil mein to parwane kahan jaate/ Zamane bhar ke aage haath failane kahan jaate). I would rewrite Manek ji’s explanation as follows:

The lines of the first couplet end in Q1A-Q2A
The lines of the second couplet end in B-Q3A
The lines of the third couplet end in C-Q4A
The lines of the fourth couplet end in D-Q5A
And so on
(Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5 are the rhyming words preceding the ‘A’.)

Guest article by Ravindra Kelkar in the series of Centenar Celebrations of OP Nayyar (b. 16 January 1926 – d. 28 January 2007)

(Ravindra Kelkar is a well-known OP Nayyar-fan. The grand centenary celebration of Rafi on SOY inspired him to mount a similar centenary celebration for OP Nayyar. Ashok Vaishnav’s articles on RD Burman’s orchestration inspired him to write this exclusive post on OP Nayyar’s unique orchestration. Not every music director developed a signature style of orchestration. You could identify his songs from afar.

I am a reluctant and late admirer of OP Nayyar. Reluctant, because of his complete exclusion of Lata Mangeshkar. Late, because I started noticing his Rafi songs in a new light. Not only solos, duets too, in which Rafi started the song. They were out of this word, and I had no hesitation in putting him among the top five composers for Rafi. But this piece is quite an eye-opener, and makes you look at OP Nayyar’s famous songs with new insight.

Ravindra Kelkar has a double Master’s degree in Statistics and Computer Science. He has been an IT professional. Now retired, he is based out of Pune. I have to thank Mr. Kelkar for an excellent and comprehensive article on OP Nayyar’s unique orchestration. This is going to be his penultimate article in OP Nayyar’s centenary celebrations. This is also the last article in the year 2025. Therefore, I have to also wish a Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to all, and enjoy your vacation. – AK)

This year, so far we have four posts published on the SOY blog about RD Burman’s orchestration. All by Mr. Ashok Vaishnav with so much depth that I felt inspired to attempt to write a post of similar nature on OP Nayyar. RD Burman belonged to the next crop of MDs after the golden period of Hindi Film Music. Roughly speaking, I consider the years from 1950 to 1970 as the golden period. For me, the golden period ended with the advent of Kishore Kumar from Aradhana and emergence of RD Burman-Asha combination and subsequent decline in the premier position held by Lata and Rafi.

Everyone is aware that the orchestration aspect of a Hindi Film song is comprised of prelude/intro piece, interludes, and postlude piece. Then there is the facet of counter melody which runs parallel to the main song, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the song. It complements the main melody without overshadowing it. Mostly, the creation of the counter melody is a task assigned to the Assistant/Arranger. He writes the counter melody to harmonize with the underlying chord progression. For OP, this was taken care of by Sebastian D’Souza. OP in his interview given to Vividh Bharati has said that ‘In the songs that I have created, 50% credit goes to the lyrics, 25% is shared by the singers and orchestration and only the remaining 25% goes to composer, no more’. This was a very startling confession for me. In another interview, he mentioned that lyrics is the soul, tune is the body and orchestration and rendering of the song is the clothes and ornaments, and without the soul you have a dead body. It’s important to know these views of OP when one tries to study the orchestration in his songs. Generally speaking, the tune was the main focus of the song and orchestration was in supporting role, in the Golden Era. OP also had the same mindset when composing a tune.

Most of you will agree when I say that as soon as people heard the opening notes of an OP Nayyar song they were able to identify the composer. Of course, OP is not unique in this regard, but for other MDs the proportion of such songs is much less than that of OP. The main ingredient that created this identity was his orchestration.  OP’s career took off from the success of Aar Paar (1954). He enjoyed tremendous success till 1960. During this period his orchestration included some very typical musical arrangements which resulted in enabling the listener to associate the song with OP. This comprised of the combination of clarinet with flute and sarangi with cello. Clarinet/Flute combination was introduced by RC Boral. But sarangi/cello was OP’s creation. He also employed mandolin, double bass, electric guitar. The rhythm section looked after by his assistant GS Kohli, would comprise of dholak, tabla, bongo supported by percussion instruments like, tambourines, castanets, wooden blocks, Chinese temple blocks etc. All this forged a strong OP identity with his songs. The popularity of his songs and the commercial success his movies enjoyed at the box office in this period was phenomenal. As a consequence of this, in the time period from 1957 to 1960, many other MDs came up with songs which had likeliness with OP style (those interested to know more about this, may refer to my post ‘OP Nayyar’s influence on other Music Directors’ (published on this blog on 31 August 2017). This fact, along with OP’s strong character and uncompromising nature resulted in OP losing his foothold in Hindi Music Film industry. He did introspection and came to the realization that he must remodel his composing style and re-engineer is orchestration. This was evident when he made a successful comeback with Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) and continued till his break-up with Asha Bhosle in 1972-73.  The orchestration of the songs in the period from 1962 to 1973 is quite different from the earlier period. Here we find that OP made ample use of sitar, santoor, sarod, taar shehnai, along with sarangi and flute. His rhythm section made pronounced use of drum beats along with dholak and other ensembles.

Why OP’s music sounds distinctly different than other MDs?

It is a fact that OP’s music sounds very different from his contemporaries’ due to his musical arrangements and composing style. Another reason is that the orchestration included many instruments not used much by other composers. I quote from an article which I came across some time back. I unfortunately, don’t know the name of the author. The author writes “OP Nayyar had uncanny ability to marry western rhythms with Indian beats. He often used Western instruments like drum and castanets to set the pace in the mukhra of the songs, only to seamlessly transition to Indian percussion instruments like the dholak and tabla in the antara. This duality lent his compositions a dynamic texture that was entirely his own. The  song Balma khuli hawa mein from Kashmir Ki Kali exemplify this fusion, with the Western drumbeats blending effortlessly into the earthy, melodious cadence of Indian folk rhythms. His music wasn’t contrived or forced; instead, it felt like a natural conversation between two musical worlds. In OP Nayyar’s book of rhythm, rules were merely suggestions and tradition was a “starting point, not a boundary.”  I can’t agree more and could not have put it better!

Now let us listen to some of his songs which highlight this and also his use of some other musical instruments.

Fusion between Western beats and Indian beats

Let us begin with four songs where he has created fusion of the Western beats with the Indian rhythm in a delightful manner. I think, possibly, OP was the first MD to come up with the idea to have mukhra in western beats and antara in Indian beats. The first song OP composed of this nature was ‘Sun sun sun sun zalima’ in the film Aar Paar (1954) which was his fourth film. The popularity of this experiment probably encouraged OP to continue with this idea. There are more than fifty such OP songs.

1. Balma khuli hawan mein – Asha Bhosle – Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKeIUenJtAY

This song was not included in the film. Such a pity, since it’s a fabulous song sung so well by Asha Bhosle. The initial piece is not included in the soundtrack of the record. It’s a good guess that the song immediately followed this music piece.  The producer Shakti Samanta, considered Kashmir Ki Kali as the best musical film among all his films that he produced, which included Aaradhana, Amar Prem, An Evening In Paris, Howrah Bridge. Sawan Ki Ghata, etc.

2. Dekho kasam se – Rafi and Asha Bhosle – Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) – Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCqYt3L3RhY.

A foot-tapping duet by OP. This was the movie which established the careers of Shammi       Kapoor and Nasir Hussain (director). The hero is angry with the heroine initially and in the end discards his fake anger. Nasir Hussain used this same formula in Teesari Manzil ( ‘O Mere Sona Re’) and Hum Kissi Se Kam Nahin (‘Ye Ladka Hai Allah’) songs. The vibraphone grabs your attention. There is an interview available of Burjor Lord in which he claims that OP guided him on where to play the vibraphone in the song. OP told him to play the note when there is silence and then it will have the desired effect.

3. Aankhon hi aankon mein – Rafi and Geeta Dutt – C.I.D. (1956) – Lyrics  – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23F1FF68w_w.

An evergreen duet by OP. A perfect example of the Western and Indian fusion. The stanzas are all sung by Geeta Dutt. The way Rafi takes over from Geeta Dutt in the Mukhra is exemplary.

4. Mere dil ki payal baaje sainyya – Asha Bhosle – Ragini (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Rv3uMydHc&list=PLpZLHt6c4Ik8esXK-zxVhvlRR6a3i2Qnj&index=1

This truly represents the genius of OP as a composer. The song has a prelude of more than a minute and a half. It starts with Western beats of bongo and shifts to Punjab folk. The song starts with stanza and then we get to the mukhra. Notice the way rhythm is introduced in the mukhra. The end piece in Western beats takes you to the climax of the song with claps enhancing the effect. Superb fusion of Western beats with Indian beats and Punjab folk melody. The total effect is mesmerizing.

Now let us dwell on another unique aspect of OP’s originality in orchestration. In many of OP songs you find that he changes the pace of the rhythm in the second line of the mukhra to make the song sound catchier. There is no doubt that the rhythm orientation was in his blood.  I present here three songs of this type.

5. Huzurewaalaa jo ho ijaazat – Asha Bhosle and Minu Purushottam – Ye Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1966) – Lyrics – Aziz Kashmiri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ym4uOOtEo

A very popular duet. It has a huge and enchanting prelude. Interestingly, in the song in the movie, the interlude has laughter by Asha Bhosle, however in the LP, the laughter is missing. Clapping is an added attraction. Impeccable use of claps which was an OP monopoly.

6. Ek pardesi mera dil le gaya – Rafi and Asha Bhosle – Phagun (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJe9dNb6HZ4

Another duet which is extremely popular even after more than 67 years.  So many remixes are made of this song. Enjoy the song and the ‘shoulder’ dance by Bharat Bhushan!

7. Ye chand sa roshan chehra – Rafi – Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-bdclQyWGM

Astonishingly, OP has used the same idea of changing the rhythm in the second line of the mukhra in the song having western beats. Notice the subtle use of vibraphone when the rhythm changes on the word tarif. Shammi Kapoor loved this song the most amongst all his songs. The claps in the end give the song additional zest. It’s a pity that Shammi Kapoor preferred Shankar-Jaikishan to OP once he was established. The rhythm-oriented style of OP suited Shammi Kapoor much more than Shankar-Jaikishan. According to my thinking, though, Shammi Kapoor had great admiration for OP, he preferred to work with SJ because he could freely make suggestions in the song without any fear of retribution.

Now let us shift our focus to OP’s use of his favorite instruments. The remarkable thing in OP’s case is, you name an instrument and you find OP songs having that instrument being used exquisitely. In OP’s songs the instruments like sarangi, sitar, santoor, taar-shehanai, piano, etc. stand out. This is because he used them mostly one at a time and gave them individual place in the song. He ensured that the sound of the instrument will reach the listener without any interference. He avoided heavy orchestration as a rule. His motto was optimal orchestration with maximum effect and he succeeded in extracting the desired effect from the limited instruments he used in his songs.

Clarinet/flute combination

In the time period between 1954 and 1960 OP used this combination profusely, so much so that it became his signature tune. The various permutations and combinations he came up with is mind blowing.

8. Boojh mera kya naav (naam) re – Shamshad Begum – CID (1956) – Lyrics  – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Though most of the already presented songs have a strong prelude/intro piece, this is one more song with a beautiful prelude.  A breezy prelude, full of zest was an attractive feature of OP’s orchestration. Though other composers have also composed many songs with beautiful prelude, OP has a very high proportion of such songs, compared to others. I remember listening to this song repeatedly to memorize the intro piece and there were many others who also did the same. For all the OP fans the intro piece remains integral part of an OP song.

https://youtu.be/Nyr_d2aW97k

9. Chhun chhun ghunghroo bole – Asha Bhosle – Phagun (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UoqYy0lrm8

A lovely song. Another song where OP has doubled the rhythm beats in the second line of the mukhra.

Sarangi

OP’s association with Pt. Ramnarayan’s sarangi started from his Lahore days. Pt. Ramnarayan accompanied OP when he sang on the Lahore Radio. OP loved this instrument and popularized it by combining it with cello. This combination sounds more mellifluous than just plain sarangi. He very successfully transformed sarangi from being a Kotha / mourning instrument into a romantic instrument.

10. Kar ke pyar pyar pyar – Asha Bhosle – Mujrim (1958) – Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNN418vdFZw

Such a melodious song, having so many elements to take note of. The interlude piece is as expected from OP in that time period, having clarinet-flute combo and sarangi-cello combo. The sarangi piece and its accompanied rhythm is outstanding.

Accordion

Accordion was a favorite instrument of SJ and no doubt SJ almost had a monopoly over it. However, OP was not averse to this instrument and composed some beautiful songs having accordion as the main instrument.

11. Dekh ke teri nazar – Rafi and Asha Bhosle – Howrah Bridge (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmNkJ7-1qgc&list=RDYmNkJ7-1qgc&start_radio=1

The song has accordion as the only instrument, with a token appearance of mandolin. Accordion here is played by Goody Seervai and I believe he is shown playing it in the clip of the song. Another example of how OP managed to achieve maximum effect with minimal orchestration. Listen to the opening intricate piece of accordion. It’s like you are listening to an end piece of a raag in a sitar/santoor concert, with the player finishing his presentation of the raag with a flourish, by weaving an intricate pattern of play.

Electric Guitar

This was one more instrument which was integral part of OP’s orchestration and by default got identified with OP along with clarinet. There are many OP songs which have this as main instrument. Generally he used it when the song was being picturized with water in the background. OP felt the sound waves of this instrument perfectly matched with the water waves. Electric guitar was played by Sardar Hajarasing.

12. Mohabbat Kar Lo – Rafi, Geeta Dutt and Suman Kalyanpur– Aar Paar (1954) – Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59KQ37zw43s&list=RD59KQ37zw43s&start_radio=1

The sound effect produced by electric guitar in conjunction with double bass is magical.

13. Nadi ka kinara ho – Asha Bhosle – CID 909 (1967) – Lyrics – Verma Malik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1HMyrQvnGA

Note the bass of dholak and the thaap. OP always personally looked over the recording of the song along with the recordist and ensured that he got the desired sound effect, especially the bass of the dholak.

14. Piano

This majestic popular instrument has been effectively used by all the composers and OP is no exception. There are many songs of OP where he has used it with great finesse. I present here his best song.

Aap ke haseen rukh pe – Rafi – Baharein Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966)- Lyrics – Anjaan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQblX2TmEZI

Bongo

OP used this sparingly, since dholak and drumbeats were his favourites. But he had a unique way of using it in a few of his songs.

15. Main Bambai ka Babu – Rafi – Naya Daur (1957) – Lyrics – Sahir Ludhiyanvi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lLA1dColvo

The bongo here is used as a tasha. Tasha is a popular instrument used with dhol in Maharashtra during Ganapati immersion procession. Johny Walker owed his career to the opportunity he got in enacting OP’s songs in the voice of Rafi.

Flute

Flute is also a widely used instrument in Hindi Film music. OP used it in many songs.

16. Piya piya na laage mora jiya – Asha Bhosle – Phagun (1958) – Lyrics – Qamar Jalalabadi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSzu4_hBVGQ

This is an OP-Asha classic. The flute is played by Sumant Raj who was a versatile artist and played many other instruments.

Saxophone

This is also a popular instrument used frequently in Hindi Film music and OP has made good use of it.

17. Hai duniya usi ki – Rafi – Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTNhMH4GqI4

Orchestration is almost totally based upon saxophone, played by Manohari Singh. In sad songs, OP invariably used the main tune as the interlude to enhance the sad effect of the song, another unique feature of OP’s orchestration.

Sitar, Santoor, Sarod, Taar-Shehnai

Finally let us listen to songs having orchestration based upon these Indian classical instruments (in addition to flute and sarangi). One can only have admiration for OP that he used these instruments so beautifully, keeping in mind the fact that he received no formal training in Indian Classical music.

18. Na jaane kyun – Rafi – Mohabbat Zindagi Hai (1966) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIf7ml5fFqU

Superb lyrics, great tune, wonderful singing by Rafi and splendid interludes of sitar and santoor. What more do you need?

19. Tumhein mohabbat hai hum se mana – Rafi and Asha – Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFtixrIEph4

Another wonderful duet. Notice that the orchestration includes sarod, santoor, sarangi, taar-shehnai and each instrument is given enough space that it stands out. Asha Bhosle has excelled in this song. Though other duets from this film are more popular, it’s the problem of plenty.

20. Phir miloge kabhi – Rafi and Asha – Ye Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1966) – Lyrics – SH Bihari.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzCmC5rDqKM

I have provided here audio link, since it has the initial sitar and sarod piece. One more example of the orchestration that includes sitar, sarod, sarangi, taar-shehanai, santoor and flute. It would have been some experience to attend the live recording of this song. Just imagine Ustad Rais Khan(sitar), Pt. Shivkumar Sharma (santoor), Pt. Ramnarayan (sarangi), Zarin Daruwala (sarod), Dakshina Mohan Tagore (taar-shehnai), Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya (flute) assembled and preparing for the recording!  It will be interesting to find out if any other composer has done it. OP was a master of duets because he utilized the contrast between the masculine and feminine aspect beautifully. This is a prime example of that.

Acknowledgement
1. YouTube
2. Internet in general