And the Award for the Best Music Director goes to?
When you think of the year 1944, you think of Naushad. That was the beginning of Naushad phenomenon with his Jewel in the crown, Rattan. This was his 13th movie, having debuted in 1940 as an independent music director, he already had five Silver Jubilees under his belt. But the songs of Rattan are remembered even today. That film became a Diamond Jubilee, first of his three Diamond Jubilees. In the year he gave music to three more films; the list of 80/81 Memorable Songs in the Overview Post includes his songs from all the films. His Pahle Aap, too, in the year had some everlasting songs, rightly making the film a Silver Jubilee hit.
But it was still not a one-horse race, as it would become in some later years during Naushad’s dominance. Khemchand Prakash, Naushad’s mentor, is remembered with great respect as one of the doyens of film music. His Bhanwra with KL Saigal as the lead actor-singer naturally had several immortal songs. Bhartrihari had some superb songs by Surendra, aspiring to be another Saigal, and Amirbai Karnataki sang some absolutely melodious songs. The overview post also includes his songs from Mumtaz Mahal and Shahenshah Babar.
KL Saigal had another film in the year, My Sister, for which Pankaj Mullick gave music. Two of the greatest from the New Theatres are bound to create gold.
Some other music directors are also noteworthy even at this distance of time. Anil Biswas was the Bhishm Pitamah of Hindi film music, but his Jwaar Bhata (debut film of the thespian Dilip Kumar) was overshadowed by the glitter of Nuashad. It had some good songs by the Old Horse. Lal Haveli had the top actor-singers of the era in the lead role. The result was some everlasting songs composed by Mir Saheb for Surendra and Noorjehan. Husnlal-Bhagatram in Chaand (their debut film), Sajjad Hussain in Dost and Gaali, SK Pal in Man Ki Jeet gave us some memorable songs.
In most years I have given a consolidated Table of the ten best songs in each of the three categories: Best Male Solos (Wrap Up 1), Best Female Solos (Wrap Up 2) and Best Duets of the year (Wrap Up 3). This gives a quantitative picture of the songs that made the most impact and are remembered till today, with their respective music directors. Let us see how this picture looks.
Consolidated list of the Best Male Solos, Female Solos and Duets of 1944
| Rank | Best male solos |
Best female solos |
Best duets |
| 1-3 |
Ae qatibe-e-taqdeer mujhe itana bata de (Pankaj Mullick) |
1. Chanda des piya ke ja (Khemchand Prakash) |
1-3. Saawan ke baadalo unse ye ja kaho (Naushad) |
|
1-3 |
Do naina matware tihare hum par zulum karein (Pankaj Mullick) |
2. Holi main khelungi un sang dat ke (Hanuman Prasad)
|
1-3. Kya humne bigada hai kyun humko sataate ho (Khemchand Prakash) |
|
1-3 |
Chhupo na chhupo na (Pankaj Mullick) |
3, Sooni padi hai pyar ki duniya tere bagair (Bulo C Rani) |
1-3. O jaanewale baalamwa (Naushad) |
|
4 |
Muskuraate huye yun aankh churaya na karo (Khemchand Prakash) |
Koi prem ka de ke sandesa (Sajjad Hussain) |
Bhiksha de de maiya Pingala (Khemchand Prakash) |
|
5 |
Hum apna unhein bana na sake (Khemchand Prakash) |
Kookat koeliya kunjan mein (Khemchand Prakash) |
Kuchh hansi hai subah-o-sham (Subal Dasgupta) |
|
6 |
Jab tum hi chale pardes (Naushad) |
Sanwariya re kaahe maare nazariya (Amir Ali) |
Mohe le chal balam mele mein (Mir Saheb) |
|
7 |
Madhuban mein mat ja re bhanwra(Khemchand Prakash) |
Mora dheere se ghunghata hataye piya (Khemchand Prakash) |
Humein bhool mat jaiyo rajaji (Khemchand Prakash) |
|
8 |
Ae dil mujhe rone de (Husnlal- Bhagatram) |
Rumjhum barse baadarwa (Naushad) |
Aja kahin door chalein (Naushad) |
|
9 |
Yahi fikr hai sham pichhle savre (Mir Saheb) |
Ankhiya mila ke jiya bharma ke chale nahin jana (Naushad) |
Mohaniya sundar mukhada khol (Mir Saheb) |
|
10 |
Hain kaun dil nahin jo pareshan-e-arzoo (Subal Dasgupta) |
Chale gaye chale gaye, dil mein aag lagaanewale chale gaye (Naushad) |
Madhur suron mein gaaye chaandni (AR Qureshi) |
We can now present the same table music director-wise as follows:
Music directors of 1944 having most number of Memorable Songs
| Sl No. | Music Director | Male solos | Female solos | Duets | Total |
| 1 | Khemchand Prakash | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Naushad | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Pankaj Mullick | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 4 | Mir Saheb | 1 | – | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Subal Dasgupta | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Sajjad Hussain | 1 | – | 1 | |
|
7 |
Bulo C Rani | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| 8 | Husnlal-Bhagatram | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 9 | AR Qureshi | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Hanuman Prasad | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| 11 | Amir Ali | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Total | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
The above Table shows the hierarchy of music directors in terms of their songs in the three best lists:
Khemchand Prakash: 9
Naushad: 7
Pankaj Mullick: 3
Mir Saheb: 3
Next in the list is unexpectedly Subal Dasgupta with 2 songs. Six other music directors make the tail with a song each. Thus this year has in all 11 music directors sharing the 30 best songs in the three categories: best male solos, best female solos and best duets.
Music is more emotion than data. Therefore, let us see how the readers view the top music directors of the year. Arunkumar Deshmukh, first off the block, chooses Naushad as the best music director for Rattan. For Canasya, the best music director is Pankaj Mullick for My Sister (Meri Bahen). Anup Phadke endorses Naushad for Rattan. N Venkataraman mentions three music directors: Naushad, Pankaj Mullick and Khemchand Prakash in that order.
Raunak has a great insight into the music of the Vintage Era, and has special fascination for the New Theatres stalwarts. He starts with a caveat that because of the chaos all around due to the pandemic, he has not been able to do as minute a study for 1944, as he did for 1945; nevertheless he has penned very detailed and perceptive comments. Expectedly, he is mesmerised by the soundtrack of Pankaj Mullick’s My Sister. But instead of KL Saigal’s, he chooses a song of Utpala Sen and another of Suprova Sarkar for special mention. He also does deep analysis of Khemchand Prakash’s music. Finally, instead of naming the best music director of the year, he mentions three best ‘albums’: My Sister by Pankaj Mullick, Rattan by Naushad, and Bhartrihari by Khemchand Prakash.
Neeruahaf does not tread the beaten path. She chooses Bulo C Rani as the best music director for Caravan.
The above discussion shows the general consensus that the three top music directors of the year were Naushad, Khemchand Prakash and Pankaj Mullick. This matches with the data in the Table. The best among these three is a mater of personal preference. Naushad seems to be the general favourite, as he is also mine. But it is difficult to ignore the numbers, by which Khemchand Prakash overtakes him. Pankaj Mullick evokes such admiration that for him the numbers cannot be the determining criteria.
I think the fairest outcome seems to be:
And the SOY Award for the Best Music Director of 1944 goes jointly to:
1-3. Naushad
1-3. Khemchand Prakash
1-3. Pankaj Mullick
As the year-wise review for 1944 comes to an end, it is time to thank all the readers for their participation, and special thanks again to Arunji for his notes about the year.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
AKji,
You appreciate your thoughtful inclusiveness in the selection of Best Music Director (s) for the year 1944. Nobody will dispute your considerate selection.
Venkataramanji,
Thanks a lot for your endorsement. The year-wise reviews of the vintage years give us some very nice overview, which in many cases is not clearly known.
AKji,
Very comprehensive review of MDs of 1944.
And I agree with your choice.
Anup
🙂
AK ji,
A well accomplished effort for threadbare analysis of 1944. No qualms with your conclusion and Many Thanks.
“”But it was still not a one-horse race, as it would become in some later years during Naushad’s dominance””.
Are we talking about 47-48 since Barsaat changed everything thereafter.
Anup,
Thanks a lot for your endorsement.
Mahesh,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. I am, of course, talking about later years. The year 1946 with Anmol Ghadi and Shahjehan was a clear Naushad race all the way in all the categories. Some more years too. Even after 1949, whenever he did more than one film, i.e. 20 plus songs as was the norm those days, he would sweep the mindspace. Barsaat onwards more stars shone, but Naushad remained the brightest in several years.
AK ji
I like how you have honoured all three of them. Caravan’s songs are spellbinding but guess there were just too many geniuses around this time.
Neeruahaf,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. The three we have honoured are remembered till today with their songs. Others had a tough fight on their hand. Next in recognition would be Mir Saheb for ‘Lal Haveli’.
AKji, I can see all the hard work that you have put in to collate the data of an entire year. The series on 1944 has been very educative for me.
Anita,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Good to know that you found the series useful.
Indeed a very balanced analysis of the overall picture that emerges when we view the year w.r.t. music directors.
Most of us, who have been brought up with golden era style of music, would certainly gravitate towards Naushad. Khmechand Prakash and Pankaj Mullik, being classified as vintage era music directors, also probably easily get the higher billing because the films that they scored music in 1944 remained popular well into 50s and 60s.. It is certainly is well accepted that the longevity of popularity of songs for the whole album is indeed a very good measure for evaluating the effectiveness of a music director.
Beyond that , in my personal view, it becomes almost impossible to meaningfully make any statement about the quality of music by the other music directors or the role their music had played in the success of the respective films vis-a-vis other films in the same year, or for that matter with reference to the films of that period.
Playing the role of an umpire in such a situation is most hazardous task.
AKji deserves all compliments for having accomplished that ht job with real finesse.
I
Ashokji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation and your detailed comments. You are right, these three music directors come first in our mind for the best songs of 1944. The detailed reviews help us place others in perspective in relation to the Big Guns.
AK ji
Compliments for completing a fairly tough task of the series regarding 1944 songs. As always you have been meticulous. Taking note of the opinions of the readers you have arrived at decisions which are appropriate.
Thanks.
Tyagiji,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
AK,
I agree with friends that there is a lot of effort in all these yearly reviews and wrap ups which increases as we go backwards. Most of your interpretations are spot on.
Regarding the best MD, it was Naushad without any doubt. When we go backwards and judge him in 1944, we always have the giant of later years in mind. But, to me for 1944 he should be judged as he was then. Before that year Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash and Ghulam Haider were front runners. I will talk about Khemchand Prakash only. He had four films, three of which belonged to Ranjet Movietone, a big banner of those times. In these films he worked with leading stars of the time like KL Saigal, Surendra and Khursheed. On the other hand, Naushad had no stars in Rattan and no big singers except Ameerbai and Zohrabai. He created everlasting gems with non-singers like Karan Dewan and Shyam Kumar. KCP could not do any miracle like Rattan with all which he had. Though his KL Saigal solos and a duet from Bhanwara have been included in top 10, but they are hardly remembered or even good songs and in comparison with Rattan they stand no chance. Very few of his songs included in top 10 are remembered these days. On the other hand 8 of the 10 songs of Rattan are still remembered. In my view he has been unjustly equated with Naushad.
Pankaj Mullick’s case was stronger, but he has only one film to show in the year and the other arguments I gave for KCP also apply here. He had the additional advantage of a long association with KLS which meant better tuning with him.
Since there has been talk Naushad of later years, I would say, later he had most of the times big stars with him like in Anmol Ghadi and Shahjehan.
Hans,
You give an interesting perspective about 1944 and Naushad. We can imagine the storm he would have created with Rattan with not so stalwart actors. That makes him a front-runner by miles. But on SOY we have a somewhat refined taste, no haughtiness intended. I have a quibble with you on dismissing KL Saigal songs. To my mind they are timeless. There was something of the old aura too, Naushad being one time assistant to Khemchand Prakash who was regarded as one the doyens of film music. Same with Pankaj Mullick, a tall stalwart. You can say the result was a combination of popularity of the songs, their quality, and the stature of the stalwarts.
AK,
Now it is my turn to be surprised when you say songs of Rattan lacked refined taste. I have not dismissed KL Saigal songs, I intended to say they are not remembered in comparison with Rattan songs. I think for judging a year’s songs only that year’s songs should count and no aura should decide on them. In 1949 no body talked about old aura when discussing Lata Mangeshkar.
Pankaj Mullick was a doyen, but, Khemchand Prakash being a doyen of music,in relation to Naushad, at that time is debatable. KCP became an independent MD with Ranjit Movietone in 1939. At that time Gyan Dutt was a regular MD with them. From 1939 to 43, Ranjit produced 30 films of which both had 15 each and there was no preferential treatment for KCP. If KCP came up with Tansen with KLS, GD also had Bhakt Surdas with him. In fact KCP gave greater music after leaving Ranjit in 1945. And this was the second stint which put him in the list of immortals. Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar promoted KCP in their interviews, because they were unhappy with Naushad.
You yourself have mentioned Naushad had 5 silver jubilees before Rattan. I doubt if KCP had this much success prior to Rattan. Being an assistant for one film hardly means anything, because KCP himself worked as assistant to Timir Baran and Gyan Dutt, at least. Ghulam Muhammad worked for a long time as assistant to Naushad, who even spoon fed him with independent films and even hired him for his own production house. Suppose we have to compare their work in 1955 in Udan Khatola and Mirza Ghalib, would we consider the fact that one was assistant to another.
Hans,
Perhaps we are saying the same thing in different ways.
AK,
Yes, round about the same thing.