Wishing Lata Mangeshkar a very happy 89th birthday (b. 28 September 1929)
Among all the music director-singer combinations Madan Mohan-Lata Mangeshkar ranks among the very top. This article by Anirudh Bhattacharjee and Srijit Mukherji quotes OP Nayyar as having once said, “It is difficult to figure out whether Madan Mohan was made for Lata Mangeshkar or vice versa.” We have all heard of Naushad’s ultimate tribute to Madan Mohan that he was willing to offer his entire work for two ghazals of Anpadh (Aapki nazron ne samjha; Hai isi mein pyar ki aabroo). Even allowing for Naushad’s Lakhanavi nafasat, and the fact that he said it in his obituary, it is undisputed that he was held in very high esteem for the quality of his music by his peers and music maestros, besides the listeners. It is said that Begum Akhtar was so impressed by the tune of Kadar jaane na (Bhai Bhai) that she called him once, when she was feeling low, and asked him to sing it for fifteen minutes on telephone. We may recall that Madan Mohan was himself a very good singer and he was very close to Begum Akhtar from his AIR days.
DP Rangan set-off a tandem series on Roshan-Madan Mohan with their classical-based songs. I have since written on their songs for Rafi (Madan Mohan’s; Roshan-Rafi covered earlier); Qawwalis; Mukesh; and Asha Bhosle. Several readers requested that I write on their ghazals. Since I am covering them generally by singers, ghazal would have been an overlapping category. Fortunately, Talat Mahmood, widely regarded as a legend in ghazal singing, was an important singer for both Madan Mohan and Roshan, and he is yet to be covered. Therefore, a tandem post also gives us an opportunity to look at their prowess for ghazal composition for this singer gifted with a silky-smooth voice. I would be flexible in the definition of the genre, and would also include songs that may not be strictly ghazal as per the rules of structure and meter.
Greeting Asha Bhosle on her 85th birthday (b. 8 September 1933) with her best songs by Roshan and Madan Mohan
In Lata Mangeshkar era, music directors could be divided into two groups: Those who were like their wings chopped-off without her; and those who equally wanted her, but could survive even without her. (OP Nayyar was in a class of his own.) The first group had some of the greatest names, such as Naushad, C Ramchandra and Shankar-Jaikishan. I have earlier said they probably used Asha Bhosle ‘reluctantly’. But another Master, SD Burman, could not only survive a long hiatus with Lata Mangeshkar, but also produce some of the best music with Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt. Roshan and Madan Mohan were among the privileged few who, as per the popular literature, didn’t ever face the ire of the Empress. Though their Lata Mangeshkar songs far outweigh Asha Bhosle’s in quality and stature, and possibly in numbers, they have used Asha Bhosle very prominently to create some of her and their best songs. DP Rangan has set off a series on these two great composers in tandem. We can add another commonality between them: their willing and voluntary use of Asha Bhosle.
A tribute to Mukesh on his 42nd death anniversary (22 July 1923 – 27 August 1976)
R
oshan and Madan Mohan were in tandem in relation to Mukesh at least in one respect: Both used him very prominently in 1950 – Roshan in Bawre Nain, which was his second movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahi, and two duets, Mujhe sach sach bata (Rajkumari) and Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aya nahi karte (with Geeta Roy/Dutt); Madan Mohan in Aankhen, which was his debut movie, in which Mukesh sang a solo, Preet laga ke maine ye phal paya and a duet, Humse nain milana B.A. pass kar ke (with Shamshad Begum). The songs of Bawre Nain went on to become all-time great classics; those of Aankhen, too, are quite popular till this day. With such beginning, one would have expected them to use Mukesh consistently. But for inexplicable reasons, their trajectory diverged completely – while Roshan remained steady with Mukesh, giving him a large number of everlasting songs, Madan Mohan almost blocked him out of his radar screen, bringing him back in fits and starts after a gap of several years.
Welcoming the ‘writer’ Arunkumar Deshmukh and his first book
‘Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion’
By Arunkumar Deshmukh & Prof Surjit Singh
Published by Professor Toofaanii Publishers
I want some information about Master Vitthal and Zubeida, the lead actors of the first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’, for writing my dissertation for my film course. Where can I get information about the early stars like Master Nissar and Jahanara Kajjan, and other actors, such as Mridula, Vasanti, Bhudo Advani etc? Did the hero Shyam of ‘Dillagi’ (1949) also sing his songs, such as the duets with Suraiya, ‘Tu mera chaand main teri chaandni’ or ‘Zaalim zamana mujhko tumse chhuda raha hai’? Is Rajkumari, who played the role of Chandramukhi in ‘Devdas’ (1935), the same as the famous singer Rajkumari who sang ‘Suno bairi balam kuchh bol’ in ‘Bawre Nain’ (1950)? Are Sitara Kanpuri and Sitara Devi the same person?
While Roshan and Madan Mohan generally proceeded in tandem, one or the other created a special niche for himself in some genre. Roshan became known as the undisputed master of qawwalis, whereas Madan Mohan became a byword for ghazals. The essential difference in the two forms is not one of content, but of singing style. Therefore, it would have been surprising if Madan Mohan had not composed any qawwalis. And a search does lead to some nice qawwalis by him. Of course, Roshan’s several qawwalis have achieved everlasting fame.
A tribute to Rafi on his 38th death anniversary (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980)
Six years ago to this day, I wrote on the best songs of Rafi by Roshan. Roshan for me was among the big four, with Naushad, SD Burman and OP Nayyar, who gave the best songs for Rafi. Later, I added a fifth seat for Shankar-Jaikshan at the high table. I also mentioned that next in line would be, what we may call, the middle group consisting of Chitragupta, Ravi and Madan Mohan and, thereafter, several others, including some unknown, forgotten composers who gave some unforgettable songs for Rafi. We have already discussed some in the series on Forgotten Composers, such as C Arjun’s Paas baitho tabiyat bahal jayegi, or Lachchiram’s Tu shokh kali main mast pawan and Sab jawan sab haseen. Thanks to DP Rangan doing the tandem post on Roshan-Madan Mohan, it is a coincidence that I am writing on Madan Mohan-Rafi combination after I have covered the Big Five.
Guest article by DP Rangan to pay tribute to Sajjad Hussain on his 23rd death anniversary (15 June 1917 – 21 July 1995)
(Sajjad Hussain has been acknowledged as an undisputed genius by all the stalwarts of film music. His name also became a byword for his short temper and his spats with his colleagues. This came in the way of a ‘successful’ career. But whatever he composed – about a hundred songs in 14 films – has achieved everlasting fame. DP Rangan has done some very in-depth research to come up with a worthy tribute to a composer, who was ‘difficult’ in more ways than one. Thank you Mr Rangan. – AK)
The title was chosen to emphasize what invaluable contributions of film music of a genius was lost to film goers by the negative attitude of the industry towards a music director who refused to compromise on his principles and to kowtow to the directives of bigwigs in the industry and insisted his own ideas of music composition should prevail.
Guest article by DP Rangan, with annotation by Subodh Agrawal, as a joint tribute to Roshan on his 101st birth anniversary (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967) and to Madan Mohan on his 43rd death anniversary (25 June 1924 – 14 July 1975)
(Subodh Agrawal once said that we often think of music directors in tandem: RC Boral & Pankaj Mullick; Naushad & C Ramchandra; Shankar-Jaikishan & OP Nayyar; Khayyam & Jaidev and so on. They had either similar musical sensibilities, or they were the dominant players at some point of time, or they had something else in common. Roshan & Madan Mohan stand out in tandem in many ways: Punjab origin; their classical-based, melodious music far from the ‘Punjab School’; both acclaimed for high quality of their music, but commercial success not commensurate with their quality. One earned fame as the King of Qawwalis; the other, King of Ghazals. After the special series on the stalwarts Anil Biswas, SD Burman, Naushad, C Ramchandra, Shankar-Jaikishan and OP Nayyar, I had planned to write on Roshan-MM in tandem, when DP Rangan wrote to me that he wanted to do a post on Madan Mohan. I passed on my idea of the tandem post with focus on their classical-based songs. That brought in Subodh to a subject that belonged to him in the first place. It is befitting that this post is being written by two guest writers in tandem: One highly motivated to take up any challenge; and the other, learned in classical music with the ability to explain it in a fluent style. Thanks a lot Mr Rangan and Subodh for this excellent post as a joint tribute to the two highly respected music directors. – AK)
While woolgathering I often relapse into old memories reliving the moments when songs used to blare from transistors, a technology gift from Japan, making it possible to carry music with us on the go. I was particularly mesmerized by songs based on classical music, Hindustani and Carnatic. In the initial years after birth of talkies circa 1931, music directors used to rely on classical music for setting tunes in films and branched into other genres as ghazal, light songs, qawwali etc. in subsequent years. Many of Saigal’s film songs were microcosms of classic music, like Baalam aaye (Devdas), Babul mora (Street Singer), Hat gayi lo kaari ghata (Lagan). The contemporary situation in Kollywood was practically the same. Classical music-inspired film music pieces will hold sway over years and grow in value over ages as there will be no dearth of music lovers to lap it up.
And the SoY award for the Best Female Singer goes to?
This was the year of female playback singers. Compared to 19 male solos as discussed in the Wrap Up 1, female solos numbered 67 (N Venkataraman counted 69) in the list of 117/119 Memorable Songs (referred to also as Master List) in my overview post . They were from immense variety of voices. The year saw the departure of the Malika-e-tarannum Noorjehan post-partition. It also saw the entry of Lata Mangeshkar as a ‘playback’ singer with the film Aap Ki Sewa Mein, composed by Datta Davjekar. As is too well known, this 18 year old girl would sweep all the established vintage singers aside in a couple of years, and, for two decades thereafer, she would be the undisputed queen of female playback singing. Her debut song Paaon lagun kar jori re has come to public consciousness only during the Internet era, but connoisseurs have acclaimed it as an outstanding song.
Among all the music director-singer combinations Madan Mohan-Lata Mangeshkar ranks among the very top. This article by Anirudh Bhattacharjee and Srijit Mukherji quotes OP Nayyar as having once said, “It is difficult to figure out whether Madan Mohan was made for Lata Mangeshkar or vice versa.” We have all heard of Naushad’s ultimate tribute to Madan Mohan that he was willing to offer his entire work for two ghazals of Anpadh (Aapki nazron ne samjha; Hai isi mein pyar ki aabroo). Even allowing for Naushad’s Lakhanavi nafasat, and the fact that he said it in his obituary, it is undisputed that he was held in very high esteem for the quality of his music by his peers and music maestros, besides the listeners. It is said that Begum Akhtar was so impressed by the tune of Kadar jaane na (Bhai Bhai) that she called him once, when she was feeling low, and asked him to sing it for fifteen minutes on telephone. We may recall that Madan Mohan was himself a very good singer and he was very close to Begum Akhtar from his AIR days. 
