Best songs of 1950: Wrap Up 1

Songs of Yore Award for the Best Male Playback Singer goes to?

The year 1950 too shows, like 1951,  that male solos were far outnumbered by female solos (by about a factor of 4), both in the total songs and in my Select List which comprised about 15% of the total songs of the year. There have been many additions by the readers to the Select List. These are overwhelmingly female solos, and within that Lata Mangeshkar songs. If we include those songs the Select list would be about 200, and the female solo dominance over male solos would be even more pronounced. Such overwhelming asymmetry was a feature of film songs in general across all the years. We leave the reasons for such difference for another time; we limit ourselves in this post to intra-male solos’ analysis.

Venkataramanji’s statistical analysis greatly enhances our overall understanding of the relative share of different singers in the total number of songs in the year, and their share in memorable songs as reflected by my Select List in my overview post. Let me mention some important facts:

• The year had 30 male singers in all.  The Select List has songs of 12 singers. Thus, as many as 18 male singers must have gone completely unnoticed even during those days.
• Out of the above, four singers – Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Rafi and GM Durrani – accounted for a little more than 50% of the songs, 26 other singers sharing the balance.
• Between the 4 dominant singers we find that Talat Mahmood and Mukesh had proportionately larger share of their songs becoming hits as compared to Rafi’s. I had described this phenomenon as ‘inversion of pyramid’ last year. To have a sense of the numbers, Talat Mahmood had about 11% share in the total male solos, but in my Select List he has 21%. 

One reason for this is the special niche of Talat Mahmood and Mukesh. They got relatively smaller number of songs of their type which had a higher success rate. Because of the dominance of these two singers in the year (this was the feature in 1951 too), as you run down the list of 24 solos in the Select List, you may feel all their 8 songs deserve to be in the final ten, leaving room for only two other songs. Since there are some very good songs by other singers too, we subconsciously do some rationing by limiting Talat and Mukesh songs to, say 5, and distribute the remaining 5 to other singers. Venkataramanji has included 3 of Talat and 2 of Mukesh, Ashokji has done it the other way round. Several readers have given their final vote, which is either for Talat and Mukesh. So it is clear which way the wind blows. The Mukesh favourite is Teri dunia mein dil lagta nahi, whereas Talat Mahmood favourite is Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal. Arunji is unambiguous: it is Talat Mahmood and the song is Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal. Ravindra Kelkar’s list of ten is topped by this song, but he qualifies that the list is not in any particular order.  Jignesh’s best singer is also Talat Mahmood, but it is for an unexpected song Jab kisi ke rukh se zulfein aa ke lahrane lagin from Anmol Ratan. This composition is as good as any, but Anil Biswas’s song has achieved some kind of legendary status. Jignesh sure knows his Vinod; he is not awed by reputation.

A measure of Talat Mahmmod and Mukesh’s pole star position in the year is Ashokji’s further exploration on his blog.  Taking off from my overview article, he has written six posts on female solos, and two on male solos: one each on Talat and Mukesh.  In these he presents many more songs than are there in my Select List.

A very interesting comment is by Mumbaikar8. Her best singer is Talat Mahmood, but she says Manna Dey brings the most to the table. I take it to mean that the best male  song as opposed to the best singer is Upar gagan vishal, according to her.

In discussions several readers added a fairly large number of solos outside the list, most of which were new to me and, I am sure, to the readers. Mahesh, whose name rhymes with Mukesh, added four of his solos: one from Raj Mukut, one from Ram Darshan and two from Bebus. I especially liked Hey priye tumhare swagat ko from Ram Darshan, composed by DC Dutt. Venkataramanji added some good songs from unreleased films: Nazar aa nigaahon se chhup janewale by Shankar Dasgupta from Piya and Khela khel mohabbat ka by SD Batish from Kamini. Ashok Vaihnavji adds an interesting GM Durrani song from Madari: Main koi jhooth bolya, which could be the precursor of the famous bhangra from Jaagte Raho, Ki main jhooth bolya.

These additions introduce us to some hidden gems, and also give us some very interesting insight into the music of that period. Venkataramanji has included one song in his final ten from outside the Select List. The song is by GM Durrani from Khel – Apni mehfil mein phir ek baar – composed by Sajjad Husain. Ashok Vaishnavji also included in his ten a song from outside the Select List – Kadam kadam badhaye ja by Chitalkar from Samadhi. He also added an icing on the cake, a non-film song by Talat mahmood, Mera pyar mujhe lauta do. However, generally the final choice remains within the conventional Select List.

Before jumping to the final conclusion, it is prudent to do this exercise in two steps. Going down the list I make a First Cut of the most memorable songs singer-wise.

FIRST CUT

Talat Mahmood
1.  Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal
2.  Jab kisi ke rukh pe zulfein aa ke lahrane lagi
3.  Mera jeevan sathi bichhad gaya
Mukesh
4. Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahi
5.  Preet laga ke maine ye phal paya
Rafi
6.  Akele mein wo ghabaraate to honge
7.  Na thamate hain aansoo na rukte hain naale
Manna Dey
8.  Upar gagan vishal
Krishna Dayal
9.  Aa ja nigahon mein aa ja
Kishore Kumar
10.  Ada se muskuraye ja
Shankar Dasgupta
11.  Dukh se bhara hua hai dil
Arun Kumar
12.  Jab tum the hamare aur hum the tumhare
GM Durrani
13.  Ye duniya bewafai ki wafa ka raaz kya jaane
14.  Apni mehfil mein phir ek baar
Khan Mastana
15.  Unki nazaron se koi nazarein mila ke poochhe

You would not be off the mark if you choose the final ten from the above list. The Best Song would be surely one from the above list. The exercise is now more manageable. Let us do it by inclusion. It is difficult to leave any of the five songs of Talat Mahmood-Mukesh. In the remaining five it is fair that we take Manna Dey’s Upar gagan vishal, which has an important place in his singing career as the song which gave him a major launch pad. If we don’t go by reputation, Krishna Dayal’s Aa ja nigahon mein aa ja should be a sure entry. No one who listens to this song can fail to be mesmerized by it. We should include one by Rafi at least as recognition for having the largest number of songs in the year. Either of the two songs is equally good. Let us take Akele mein wo ghabrate to honge as it was the first hit song of Khayyam-Rafi combination. It is now really a toss-up for the two remaining slots. My own favourites are Kishore Kumar and Arun Kumar’s songs, but readers have generally mentioned Khan Mastana, GM Durrani or Shankar Dasgupta’s songs. I would let my choice be overridden by others’ choice and take two songs from them.

Having selected the Final Ten, their ordering would broadly fall into two boxes. Talat-Mukesh five songs take the first five slots. Within that 1-2 are Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal and Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahi. The bottom five slots are taken by the other singers, their inter-se order may vary widely from person to person. Within these parameters I have given the final ordering using my preference.

Best 10 Male Solos of 1950

1. Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho by Talat Mahmood from Arzoo, lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri, music Anil Biswas

Reams have been written on this song.  Talat Mahmood had earned renown as a singer of non-film ghazals and geets, and had also sung a few film songs before Arzoo.  But to this song goes the credit to have placed him as a top playback singer and the voice of Dilip Kumar.  It has figured prominently in my post on Anil Biswas’s songs for Talat.

2. Teri duniya mein dil lagata nahi by Mukesh from Bawre Nain, lyrics Kidar Sharma, music Roshan

After the failure of his debut film Neki Aur Badi a year earlier, Roshan could have gone into oblivion, but Kidar Sharma had faith in him. Almost every song of this film acquired iconic status.  It is one of the best ever of Mukesh.

3. Jab kisi ke rukh pe zulfein aa ke lahrane lagin by Talat Mahmood from Anmol Ratan, lyrics DN Madhok, music Vinod

One of the forgotten composers, Vinod was hugely talented.  I paid a tribute to him about four years ago in my series on Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies.  And I find this song figures at the top in the list. Talat Mahmood’s voice is as silky as a lady’s tresses.  This song is Jignesh’s top choice for the Best Male Solo of the year.

4. Mera jeevan sathi bichhad gaya from Babul, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Naushad

Jignesh does not care for reputation.  This would have been higher in my list.  Hans gives more credit to Naushad than Anil Biswas for launching Talat Mahmood in a big way.  It is another matter that this film effectively became their first and last association.

5. Preet laga ke maine by Mukesh from Ankhen, lyrics Raja Menhdi Ali Khan, music Madan Mohan

Madan Mohan creates outstanding music in his debut.  Morning shows the day.

6. Aa ja nigahon mein aa ja by Krishna Goyal from Dahej, lyrics Shams Lakhanavi, music Vasant Desai

Normally I include those songs as ‘Special Songs’ in the overview article, which are not likely to make it to the final list.  But readers are as much charmed by it as I am, and figures in many main lists.  Born in Jammu in 1927, after educatio and learning music there, he joined Lahore radio as a singer.  The desire of singing in films pulled him to Bambay where he got his first singing assignment in Krishna Sudama (1947), under Shyambabu Pathak. He sang two bhajans in the film which were picturised on him.  In his next film Raees (1948) he sang three duets with Shanti Sharma.  His songs in Dahej got him recognition.  He sang in 7-8 more film in the 50s, but could not go far because of his limited range.

7. Akele mein wo ghabarate to honge by Rafi from Biwi, lyrics Wali Saheb, music Sharmaji (Khayyam)

Khayyam had not yet started using his real name.  In the early 50s Rafi was overtaken by Talat Mahmmod and Mukesh, not in total number of songs, but in songs that became memorable.  Rafi would of course become arguably the greatest playback singer, and he would have some excellent songs with Khayyam.  This song has an important place as their first hit.

8. Upar gagan vishal by Manna Dey from Mashal, lyrics Pradeep, music SD Burman

Having debuted as a singer in Tamanna (1942), it took Manna Dey eight years to get recognition as a major playback singer with this song.  None among the mainstream singers could do philosophical message songs better than him, who would earn renown for singing in open full-throated voice.  Naturally it has figured at the top in my post on his songs by SD Burman.

9. Unki nazaron se koi nazarein mila ke poochhe by Khan Mastana from Hanste Rehna, lyrics Farooq Qaiser, music Wadhawa

Born in November 1917 in Agra in a music loving family, Hafiz Khan a.k.a Khan Mastana learnt the sitar from his father.  He later came to Calcutta, where charmed by KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, KC Dey, his interest shifted from playing the sitar to singing.  After singing in radio, he shifted to Bombay where he got his first singing assignment in Bahadur Kisan (1938) under Mir Saheb.  He got fame and prominence when he sang for Minerva Movietone’s films of Sohrab Modi.  Sohrab Modi took him as music director in Wasiyat (1940). During 40s he was among the top singers, and earned great fame and wealth.  But in a vagary of fortune as happened in several cases in the film world, he died in penury on 6 March 1972.

10. Dukh se bhara hua hai dil by Shankar Dasgupta from Jaan Pehchan, lyrics Shakeel Badayuni, music Khemchand Prakash and Manna Dey

Born in 1927 in Bengal, Shankar Dasgupta, inspired by his mother, started learning classical music at the age of eight. He also played the violin.  He debuted as a singer in Milan (1946) under Anil Biswas.  He sang about 50 songs in 31 films.  He was endowed with a very sweet voice, but his range was limited.  He worked as assistant to Anil Biswas. He gave music as an independent music director for the film Sheeshe Ki Deewar (1954).  Dukh se bhara hua hai dil is one of his best and is extremely melodious.

To sum up,

The SoY Award for the Best Male Playback Singer of 1950 goes to Talat Mahmood.

And,

The Best Male Solo of 1950 is Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal jahan koi na ho.

Acknowledgement:
The profile of Krishna Goyal, Khan Mastana and Shankar Dasgupta is based on Anil Bhargava’s Swaron Ki Yatra.