Wishing Lata Mangeshkar Happy 84th Birthday
The most discussed aspect about SD Burman-Lata Mangeshkar combination is their break up for about five years, 1958-62, rather than their music. In that, he is among a long line of film and music personalities with whom she had one of her famous run-ins. But there is a vital difference. From all accounts, this one did not have the acrimony common to her other fall-outs. And when they finally came together, my understanding is – again from accounts available in public domain – that it was with mutual respect. In the hiatus of five years SD Burman was none the worse as he continued to give some of the greatest music of his career, now with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle, but he realized he had something beyond, where only Lata Mangeshkar could reach. She also felt that there was something unique in Dada’s music, without which she would remain incomplete. Thus their second innings led to another set of great melodies in Bandini, Guide, Tere Mere Sapne, Prem Pujari, Talash, Anurag, Abhiman etc which continued till the very end of his career. For those interested, here is one account of their split and patch-up. (Note: While most accounts mention Bandini (1963) as their patch-up film, she has a couple of songs in Dr Vidya (1962). Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh has informed me that their first song after patch up was ‘Pawan diwani’ from Dr Vidya.)
Songs of Yore award for the Best Female Playback Singer goes to Lata, Lata,.…..Lata Mangeshkar
Continuing the string of posts on the best songs of 1953, and Wrap Up 1 on the best male playback singer, I present here the second wrap up on the best female playback singer, based on the readers’ comments and my own preferences.
Who is the best female playback singer of 1953, is really a no-brainer. You can give slot 1 to 10 to Lata Mangeshkar, and there would be another ten outstanding songs, anyone of which could have made it to the list. So, writing the second wrap up on female playback songs boils down to looking carefully at the songs by ‘other’ singers to see how many can be included in the final list of ten, leaving the rest for ‘The Female Playback Singer’ of the Golden Era.
Greeting her Happy Birthday on her 80th Anniversary
Two music directors – OP Nayyar and RD Burman – are credited with the making of Asha Bhosle. Since everyone says this, I am not going to question it, but my own preference is different. RD Burman-Asha Bhosle is essentially a post-69 phenomenon, when music was RD Burman-ised, to which I do not relate much. As for OP Nayyar, my judgement was coloured by the complete absence of Lata Mangeshkar from his music. He was rehabilitated in my esteem because of Rafi for whom he gave some of his greatest songs. If I make a selection of the best songs of Asha Bhosle, it would be dominated by SD Burman. When I wrote a post on my favourite ‘special’ Asha Bhosle songs, four out of nine film songs were by SD Burman – Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul, Tujhe mili roshni mujhko andhera, Koi aya dhadkan kahti hai and Dhalki jaye chunariya hamari ho Ram. I find that there are still a large number of great Asha Bholse songs by SD Burman deserving a separate post.
A tribute on his death anniversary August 27
For someone who is a great fan of both Mukesh and SD Burman, the most intriguing question is why did SD Burman use him so sparingly. Whenever he did use him the results were stunning. The best example is O janewale ho sake to laut ke ana from Bandini. This film had superlative songs by Lata Mangeshkar (Mora gora ang laike, Jogi jabse tu aya mere dware), Asha Bhosle (Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul, O panchhi pyare), Manna Dey (Mat ro mata laal tere bahutere) and SD Burman himself (O re manjhi mere sajan hain us paar). That Mukesh’s O janewale stands equally tall among these gems is a testimony to the greatness of both SD Burman and Mukesh. Earlier a similar phenomenon happened in Bambai Ka Babu with Mukesh song Chal ri sajni ab kya soche towering over outstanding songs by Mohmmad Rafi and Asha Bhosle. There was something special in Mukesh’s voice which made his few songs leave an impact far deeper than more numerous songs of other singers.
Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav
(Many talented music personalities from regional films/languages enriched Hindi film music. Some achieved great name and fame in Hindi films, especially those from Bengal, such as SD Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chaudhary, or in the Vintage Era, RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick; or from Marathi, such as C Ramchandra or Vasant Desai, or in the Vintage Era, Keshavrao Bhole etc. Some others, especially from Gujarat, could not replicate their success they had in their native language. Avinash Vyas is one such case. Highly talented, and the Pole Star of Gujarati film music, commercial success eluded him in the fickle world of Hindi films. Our familiar expert, Ashokji, is paying a tribute to this genius on his death anniversary, August 20. – AK)
Avinash Vyas (21 July 1912 – 20 August 1984), true to his name, Avinash, has left indelible mark on the world of Gujarati sugam (light) music, through around 10000+ songs. He composed music for over 190 Gujarati films (around 1200 songs). His songs covered a very wide panorama of subjects and moods. He can be single-handedly considered to have pioneered roping in almost the entire front ranking playback singers from Hindi Film World for the Gujarati film and / or non-film songs.
Songs of Yore award for the Best Male Playback Singer goes to?
In the first Wrap Up I take a look at the best male solos of 1953. I am greatly helped by the readers’ comments on the survey article – Best songs of 1953 – which are not only very exhaustive, but much more involved and analytical compared to the last year when I did a similar string of posts on the songs of 1955. So, here is my attempt to summarise the sense of the House about the best male playback singer of 1953.
A very general observation that comes out from the readers’ comments is that “it was not the year for male solos” (Subodh). Jignesh went further to say that the music of 1953 was the weakest in the entire 50s. However, it is interesting to note that it was the male solos which attracted the most intense and involved discussion, and I can point two reasons for that. One was Lata Mangeshkar – she alone accounted for as much as all the male songs taken together – we are grateful to Mr N Venkataraman for this observation based on a detailed statistical analysis. Such asymmetry always draws attention. The other reason to my mind is Mohammad Rafi – he is conspicuous by the absence of any great song which you would definitely like to include. This sent people on a feverish hunt for Rafi songs which, some felt, I might have missed to include in the shortlist. These explorers included Jignesh, Venkaramanji as well as Mr Ashok Vaishnav, who is a management professional, but who in his previous birth must have been a gold prospector. The result was that a lot many very good songs were added by these dedicated searchers, which were either unknown to me or which I had inadvertently missed. Most others such as Subodh, Anuradha Warrier, Gaddeswarupji, Kuldep Chauhan, Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh, Canasya and Mahesh Mamadapur confined themselves to my shortlist which had about two dozen male solos.
A tribute on Rafi’s death anniversary July 31
There is one thing common between Mohammad Rafi and SD Burman. If Rafi was the most versatile singer, SD Burman was the most versatile composer. He is the only music director who can claim to have composed equally great music with Rafi as with Kishore Kumar, his two main singers. There were also films in which he used the voice of Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand, when he composed unparalleled songs like Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan. And whenever he used Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh, he created songs which became landmarks of their career.
A tribute on her death anniversary July 20
There is a great deal common between Geeta Dutt and SD Burman – both being Bengalis is just one of them. Geeta Dutt was born on 23rd November, 1930 at Faridpur in East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) in a prosperous landlord family. Her family had to move to Bombay in 1942 in the wake of Quit India movement, which turned anti-landlord. Her singing was noticed by the music director Hanuman Prasad when he was passing by their apartment. He gave her a break in Bhakt Prahlad (1946) to sing a few lines in a chorus. She had some more songs in 1946, but none that could create any ripples.
SoY regulars would recall that last year I wrote a string of posts on the best songs of 1955. The idea came from the readers’ suggestion to do a yearwise review of the best songs of pre-Filmfare Award years. Even though Baiju Bawra (1952) became the first film to win the award for the best music, it transpired that in later years, no film of 1953 or 1955 won the Filmfare award, whereas two films of 1954 – Taxi Driver and Nagin – won the award in the years 1955 and 1956 respectively. Without getting into the reasons for this discrepancy, I decided to make the record straight and covered the year 1955. From this logic, this year I am reviewing the songs of 1953 (I am proceeding in the reverse order as suggested by the readers). Thereafter, it would be the turn of 1951, after which the sequence would become regular.
There are some people whose reputation precedes their arrival. Jamal Sen has come in for some great praise on at least three occasions on this blog. In Subodh’s piece on Yaman, Jamal Sen’s composition Sapna ban sajan aye was mentioned in comments as one of the best examples of Yaman, and several readers mentioned him as a befitting candidate for this series. Earlier, while researching for Suraiya’s songs, I came across an unheard gem Raton ki need chheen li ankhon ke intezar ne from Shokhiyan (1951), which I had to include over some other well known songs. And later, while writing on Mubarak Begum, Jamal Sen’s contribution in giving her some of the most memorable songs, especially the duet with Mohammad Rafi, Devta tum ho mera sahara in Dayera (1953), was recognised.
The most discussed aspect about SD Burman-Lata Mangeshkar combination is their break up for about five years, 1958-62, rather than their music. In that, he is among a long line of film and music personalities with whom she had one of her famous run-ins. But there is a vital difference. From all accounts, this one did not have the acrimony common to her other fall-outs. And when they finally came together, my understanding is – again from accounts available in public domain – that it was with mutual respect. In the hiatus of five years SD Burman was none the worse as he continued to give some of the greatest music of his career, now with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle, but he realized he had something beyond, where only Lata Mangeshkar could reach. She also felt that there was something unique in Dada’s music, without which she would remain incomplete. Thus their second innings led to another set of great melodies in Bandini, Guide, Tere Mere Sapne, Prem Pujari, Talash, Anurag, Abhiman etc which continued till the very end of his career. For those interested, here is one account of their split and patch-up. (Note: While most accounts mention Bandini (1963) as their patch-up film, she has a couple of songs in Dr Vidya (1962). Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh has informed me that their first song after patch up was ‘Pawan diwani’ from Dr Vidya.)
