A tribute to Shamshad Begum on her 2nd death anniversary (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013)
This year started with Naushad, who was followed by C Ramchandra. We have since seen their close duel with Amirbai Karnataki. Consequently, some readers were surprised not to see a similar comparison in my last post on Shamshad Begum’s songs by Naushad on her 96th birth anniversary. Indeed there is a comparison, but their work with her is so important and large that fitting them in one post would not have done full justice. So here is Shamshad with Naushad’s formidable rival, C Ramchandra, for the readers to judge the match.
Two of the most iconic songs of our films – Ana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday and Mere piya gaye Rangoon – are C Ramchandra-Shamshad Begum creation, he also lending his voice in them. There are many parallels with Naushad: CR, too, had about 60 songs with her, the same as Naushad’s; she had a period of glory with him before Lata Mangeshkar entered his music (and his life) in a big way; he, too, used her as a bridge between the vintage era singers, such as Beenapani Mukherjee, Lalita Deulkar etc. and Lata Mangeshkar (in Naushad’s case, it was between Zohrabai Ambalewali/Amirbai Karnataki and Lata Mangeshkar). But here the parallel ends. In Naushad’s case, all the songs that came Shamshad Begum’s way post-Lata Mangeshar too, though very small in number, seemed to be crafted with great care, making everyone of them a landmark right up to the end. But in the case of C Ramchandra, he became so Lata-centric that he seems to be very cavalier about his songs for Shamshad Begum during the later period, resulting in a mix that has landmark songs at one end, and some largely forgotten ones at the other.
During a brief period in the late 1940s, before Lata Mangeshkar happened in a big way to C Ramchandra, Shamshad Begum was his most important singer, and he was at his creative best. The combination gave some everlasting songs, which are an important part of our musical legacy. Here is my tribute on the second death anniversary of Shamshad Begum with some of her songs composed by C Ramchandra.
1. Ana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday (with Meena Kapoor and Chitalkar) from Shehnai (1947), lyrics PL Santoshi
Naushad used Shamshad Begum for the first time in 1946 (Shahjehan). C Ramchandra followed close on the heels the following year, and made it the Year of Ana meri jaan meri jan Sunday ke Sunday, taking the country by storm and raising the hackles of the purists for its funky Hinglish lyrics and Westernised tune. (Correction: Venkataramanji mentions in comment #21, that CR first used her voice in Safar, 1946, in a duet against him, though the song is not available on YT). It is a stage song picturised on Dulari (lip-synching Meena Kapoor), Mumtaz Ali (Chitalkar) and Rehana lip-synching Shamshad Begum.
2. Badi badi paati likhwaiyan from Khidki (1948), lyrics PL Santoshi
Naushad’s forte was folk and chorus compositions. Here is C Ramchandra’s chorus-backed folk for Shamshad Begum.
3. Kismat hamare saath hai jalnewale jala karein (with Mohantara Talpade and Lata Mangeshkar) from Khidki (1948), lyrics PL Santoshi
This is a unique triad song which has an all male version too in the voice of Chitalkar, Rafi and GM Sajan. Venkataramanji in his first guest article for SoY on ‘Inspired and adopted songs between Tamil and Hindi’ mentions how AV Meiyappa Chettiar and his team were coming out of a cinema hall after watching Khidki, and AVM was so impressed by the refrain ‘डडडा डडडा डडा डडा’ that he decided to have a song based on this tune in his film. Thus, two songs – one all male and the other, all female, just as in Khidki – were created for Vazhkai (1949), which was the debut film of Vyjayanthimala. This film was remade into Bahaar (1950), which became her launch in Hindi films.
4. Maar gayo re more dil pe katari (with Chitalkar) from Nadiya Ke Paar (1948), lyrics Moti B.A.
C Ramchandra, at his peak, creates this beautiful folk chorus dance song for boatmen’s tribe.
5. Tamtam se jhaanko na raniji from Namoona (1949), lyrics PL Santoshi
Ana meri jaan meri jaan in 1947, Dadadaa dadadaa dadaa dadaa in 1948 – C Ramchandra was in full flow. He made 1949 the year of Mere piya gaye Rangoon kiya hai wahaan se telephoon. But he did a lot more. We have seen how Patanga was dominated by Shamshad Begum (though it was an equally powerful transition to Lata Mangeshkar); Namoona was another movie which had this Lata-Shamshad equation. Here is a fabulous street dance-song which captures the best essence of C Ramchandra and Shamshad Begum.
6. Jiya mora dole sajan man bhaaye balam man bhaaye from Namoona, lyrics PL Santoshi
The leading lady, Kamini Kaushal, is beside herself with joy because सजन मन भाये बलम मन भाये. If Shamshad Begum is good for the street singer-dancer for a fun song, she is equally good for this superb romantic song for the leading lady. This song takes me to the long discussion I had with SSW in my last post on the suitability of Shamshad Begum’s voice for the heroine, and incidentally I had made a mention of Kamini Kaushal. He should probably agree now that there is nothing discordant in her singing for the leading lady. This movie, too, had passing-the-baton, similar to what we saw in Patanga, as CR would compose a sweet, sad song Ek thes lagi dil toot gaya in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar.
7. Mere sipahiya hamari gali aiyo (with Chitalkar) from Sipahiya (1949), lyrics Raj Kunwar
With Sipahiya CR’s tilt to Lata Mangeshakar becomes visible with three solos and two duets (with himself), whereas Shamshad Begum had just three duets with him. But he had a way of composing nice, hummable songs for himself, and Shamshad Begum had a very high par, as seen in this delightful duet.
8. Idhar muhabbat udhar zamana, jidhar kaho hum udhar chalein from Samaadhi (1950), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
This was the film which had Gore gore O bake chore and Abhi shaam ayegi nikalenge taare. C Ramchandra’s interest in Shamshad Begum seems to have started waning.
9. Muhabbat meri rang lane lagi hai from Nirala (1950), lyrics PL Santoshi
Nirala had two all-time great Lata Mangeshkar songs: Mehfil mein jal uthi shama and Aisi muhabbat se hum baaj aaye. Muhabbat meri rang laane lagi hai has CR orchestration for a typical Lata song. CR seems to have fitted Shamshad Begum’s voice in a karaoke track, as a gesture to her.
10. Mere peechhe peechhe aa ke O chore gore gore mat khaans re mat khaans re (with Chitalkar) from Ghunghroo (1952), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
There is a clear differential treatment to Shamshad Begum compared to Lata Mangeshkar. This is a flippant song compared to Lata Mangeshkar’s Kaali kaali ratiyan yaad sataaye or Badnaam ho raha hai ab ishq ka fasana.
11. Ye tirchhi nazar aur teekhi ada hothon ki sajaawat kya kahna (with Lata Mangeshkar) from Laharein (1953), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
A nice qawwali duet, Shamshad Begum dominates over Lata. The same qawwali is repeated in Duniya Gol Hai (1955). The reason is soon clear – both films were produced by C Ramchandra.
The last time Shamshad Begum’s voice seems to have been used by C Ramchandra is in the film Shaarda (1957), as one of the several voices in the song Bhaagwan (भागवान) zara dhhere bol, picturised as a humorous stage performance. Shamshad Begum’s voice usually dominates over other singers, but in this song she is quite unnoticeable. A very tame end to CR-Shamshad Begum association, which had a glorious beginning.
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Would it be possible to link early posts which are related. I was searching for some of my favourite songs and found that there is at least one earlier post
I meant this https://www.songsofyore.com/patanga-1949-and-its-music/ but clicked too early.
I was expecting this after the last article on her. I am really pleased because she is very close to my heart as a singer and as a person. As was the case with Naushad, it was a case of could have been more, especially because Shamshad was exceptional in the kind of songs in which CR specialised. Unlike Naushad, CR composed very few solos for her, so the list by you naturally has less solos. And also there is less of variety as compared to Naushad.
I would mention her songs of not much known films. One such film was Nazrana. HFGK listed this in appendix because the year of the film was not known. There were 3 songs by her in the film. Links of 2 are available on youtube.
Roti na kisi ko, kisi ko motiyon ka dher – solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLDtj7uY0nk
Ek thi jawani – with a male voice (probably CR) asking ‘phir kya hua’ in between like ‘jhumka gira re’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oNBhVtjFfk
There was a song ‘mere husn ke charche aam hue hain gali gali’ in film Ustad Pedro (1951), which became very popular and which we heard on radio even in the 70s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOne8zdKL8Y
Hans,
Since I have been discussing Naushad-CR in the year, many would have expected this. You are right, given CR’s style, there should have been many more songs of this combination, including solos.
Thanks for adding the songs. The first two were new for me.
AK ji,
My admiration for songs of Shamshad Begum is at the highest plane. However, many times I wonder if it was first C Ramchandra and then O P Nayyar which sort of led to the decline of main actress songs for Shamshad Begum. In spite of their immense popularity I blame “sunday ke sunday” and “mere piya gaye rangoon”.
The popularity of such songs sort of diminished the serious main story related songs for Shamshad Begum. Patanga and Namoona would be a case in point I suppose.
I know some more knowledge readers will jump at me for my comment, but lets see the reactions.
AK, I have never said that Shamshad sounded discordant singing for the heroine, my position was simply that it would seem that the average person and most MD’s settled on Lata’s child woman (in the early years) voice for the roine. Now even that statement should be taken as an opinion and nothing else. I really like Shamshad’s singing because of the character in her voice. A great voice does not make a great singer just as good handwriting does not make one a great author and Shamshad had that extra je ne sais quoi. 🙂 (English in any other language sounds like French) I actually prefer women singers with deeper voices.ke Kavitha Seth, Rekha Bharadwaj and so on. What use did Hindi Film Industry have for Usha Uthup one of the most talented singers I have heard and a magnificent voice?
maheshmamadapur,
I am not knowledgeable so I will not jump on you but join in saying that because of the immense popularity of those songs MDs overlooked that she was capable of this too.
Teri nagariya na bhaee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKgsmeYgKcs
Ak ji,
Thanks for this post.
You know my weakness-nay, fondness for CR.
I think both Naushad and CR used Shamshad to their advantage,whenever it suited them.
As far as Shamshad singing or not singing for the lead actresses-Heroines- is,in my opinion,of no consequence.
One must understand that in the early era,i.e. upto say begining of the 50’s, the songs in a film were inserted/placed/arranged
/put/added as per the demands and suitability of the situations. This meant that songs were sung by other characters than the Hero/heroines. The distribution of songs sometimes was almost 70% to others and 30% to lead pairs.
It was later,when the Hero/Heroines realised that songs can help them in popularity,they started demanding more songs for themselves in the films. This led to creating situations for songs in the films to give songs to Lead players. Thus important singers sang more for the Hero heroines and the others got less/no songs.
I think,Girls school-49 was the film where CR was last heard in 4 duets in a film,with Shamshad,before he totally fell for Lata ji- professionally and..
These songs were having the old charm of Shamshad-Chitalkar magic and should have been a part of today’s article,in my humble opinion.
Thanks.
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Mahesh, SSW, Mumbaikar8
I think we are all agreeing that Shamshad Begum had a remarkable voice and she was immensely popular. Let us rest our case at that.
Mumbaikar8, you have added a very nice song, thanks a lot.
P.S.
Mahesh,
You are making a controversial point, though it has some grain of truth in it. Let us see what the experts say.
SSW,
I thought I had scored a brownie point with that example. 🙂
The dance and song in Number 5 is new to me. Does anybody know the name of the dancer? Thanks.
gaddeswarup ji,
The dancer is CUCKOO, the Rubber Girl,as she was known in her haydays and the ‘Tum Tum se jhanknewali’ is SHANTI MADHOK.
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Arunkumarji, There is one more dance by Cuckoo in that film where she seemed her normal self. So I had doubts. But Atul in his blog also guessed that she was Cuckoo.
Arunji,
I am with you on CR, but I don’t know whether you are with me on Naushad.
You have given interesting insight into shift to songs on heroes and heroines. I think Hans had also made some mention in this regard.
Girls School just escaped my attention, because I had put it to Anil Bias. Thanks for mentioning it.
Beautiful collection, but you may also want to add these song of her.
1: Teri Mehfil Mein Kismat Aazma Kar Hum Bhi Dekhenge (Mughal-e-Azam)
2: Dil Ke Sheesh Mahal Mein Aaya (Ambar)
3: Door Koi Gaye Dhun Ye Sunaye (Baiju Bawra)
4: Ek Do Teen Aaja Mausam Hai Rangeen (Awara)
5: Kajra Mohabbat Wala Ankhiyon Mein Aisa Dala (Kismat)
6: Mohabbat Karne Walon Ka (Ankhen)
7: Nache Ang Ve Chalke Rang Ve (Heer Ranjha)
Amit,
Welcome to Songs of Yore. All are her very famous songs. But this post was for her songs by C Ramchandra.
Naushad and C Rmachandra, at best, fill in but two colors of the spectrum of Shamshad Begum’s songs.
If her songs with other music directors, in the same period, be placed alongwith, then that should make the exercise complete, and certainly quite interesting as well.
Ashokji,
If we take her songs with all the music directors, I think most would agree it would be dominated by Naushad, for the same period.
AK ji,
Thanks for the last two posts on Shamshad Begum. I enjoyed it. Like Arun ji, I also have a preference of CR over Naushad. For me, CR’s music had something extra.
By the way, the songs you have posted, are they according to you the best 11 or 12 songs of Shamshad for CR & Naushad respectively? Or is it just a representation out of 60 odd songs that CR & Naushad composed for Shamshad ?
The reason I ask is that, OP Nayyar composed 35 songs for Shamshad comprising of 21 duets & 14 solos. In my view, if I pick 12 best songs out of them, they in no way are inferior to your posted songs.
Just as an afterthought, I liked song nos 8 & 9, but it seems from your comments that you feel they were better suited for Lata. Is my observation correct?
Ravindra Kelkar,
I meant these as the best of Shamshad with CR and Naushad respectively. It is possible that some people may find the best of OPN-Sahmshad better than the songs in the two posts. I didn’t have any specific composer in my mind, but it seems to me that my top choice would be her songs by Naushad. All these are a matter of personal choice.
I have not stated any such thing in #8, but #9 I did feel as if it was meant to be a Lata Mangeshkar song, which by implication may be interpreted that it would sound better in her voice.
AK’ji; No doubt C Ramchandra used Shamshad and Lataji very effectively in fun/ funny songs , the likes of’ aana meri jaan sunday ke sunday’ , but it was hardly a case for Naushad to experiment with . Naushad I think was more perfection oriented for Shamshad; be it solo, chorus or duets . To cite some examples…….1. Na bole pee pee more angana [Dulari] ….2. Dil hai tera deewana [Babul]……3. Kisee ke dil mein rahena tha [ duet with Lata from Babul] …..4 Dhadke mera dil mujh ko jawani [ chorus from Mela ] ……5 Milte hi aankhen dil hua [ duet with Talat] .
Shamshad had that hidden talent which she could easily mould her typical pitched voice for both happy and sad songs . Dar na mohabbat kar le …. a duet with Lata is one example . After giving so many hits I think she was carried away to fading mode when various MDs started using her voice as ‘ male actor dancer voice ‘ . To some extent Manna dey also met the same fate as his voice got over used by comedians .
As far as CR is concerned Shamshad was more of a flexible singer in his camp ; perhaps in the company of Rajendra krishna who wrote quite a number of CR songs [ funny as well] of the late 40s thru 60s .
AKji,
I agree with you that Shamsad Begum had remarkable voice and she was immensely popular. You have mentioned everything that could be said in comparison with her association with Naushad. I am with you too on Naushad, no doubt Shamsad- CR duo gave us some wonderful songs. Thanks for the post and nice selection of songs. I think her first film with C Ramchandra was Safar (1946). As far as I know, none of her songs from this film is available on YT. The audio of a duet with CR, Kabhi chupke se ratiya mein, was posted by Gajendraji in Anmol Fankaar. But the audio quality is not good. I simply ditto whatever Hans ji has added by way of his comments.
Thanks to Hansji, Mumbaikarji, for the additional songs. I would like to add two more songs, one from Khidki and the other one from Sanwariya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml2aFJqEeCg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSrc3J08GqE
Venkataramanji,
Thanks for the correction.
I have already included the song from Khidki at #2 in my post. The song from Saanwariya was new to me. It is very melodious and soft, and it shows another facet of CR-Shamshad Begum combination.
That was an oversight on my part.
AK ji,
Thanks for the clarification (comment 19). I am an OP Nayaar fan, so I was just curious to compare OP’s work with Shamshad with these two stalwarts & personally I felt OPs best 12 Shamshad songs are as good as those posted by you. However, as you said it’s purely the case of personal taste.
It is a commonly held view that, just the way Naushad & CR dumped Shamshad after discovering Lata, OP did the same after Naya Daur clicked with Asha. It is true that OP after 1958 never gave a solo song to either Geeta or Shamshad. However, there is a big difference between the OP situation to that of CR & Naushad. Before the advent of Lata, Shamshad was the main female singer for CR & Naushad. In case of OP, Shamshad was never the main singer.
OP started his career in 1952 with film Aasmaan & tested success in his 4th film in Aarpaar in 1954 & the first super hit song of OP was Shamshad’s “Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar”. But Asha sang the first song for OP in his 2nd film Chham Chhama Chham, while Shamshad sang for OP for the first time in only the 4th film, Aarpaar.
By end of 1956, OP had scored for 19 films & the distribution of female songs was – Shamshad – 27 songs, Geeta – 43 songs & Asha – 59 songs. Please note that already Asha has sung more songs than Geeta & Shamshad & as can be seen, the female songs are shared between the three, so the initial success OP enjoyed is contributed to by all the three, not only Shamshad (plus Rafi of course).
Naya Daur was released in 1957 & after that by end of 1958, Asha took over completely all the female songs in OP films.
By end of 1958, OP had scored for 36 films & the distribution was –
Shamshad – 33 songs, Geeta – 63 songs & Asha – 148 songs.
After 1958, there was not a single Geeta song for OP, while Shamshad had 4 songs, all female duets with Asha, the last being Kajara Mohabbatwala in Kismat(1968).
Shamshad was the main female singer for OP in only 3 films – Mehbooba (1954) – all 4 female songs, CID (1956) – 4 songs, Naya Andaz (1956) – 6 songs. Mehbooba was the movie for which OP faced the bycott of film music industry, the call being given by Anil Biswas, Naushad & Lata Mangeshkar. One can understand Naushad & Anil Biswas being invloved, since the underlying issue concerned replacing one composer by another composer half way, but how Lata came into scene is unfathomable to me. Here Shamshad came to OP’s rescue & agreed to sing for OP defying the ban.
Ravindra Kelkar,
Thanks a lot for your very informative clarification. In OPN and CR’s case, part of the tilt to Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar respectively could perhaps also be seen in terms of their personal relationships.
About your last paragraph, I think the composer at the receiving end of the said change was Roshan, who had already given some outstanding songs for Lata Mangeshkar. She was naturally favourably disposed towards him. You could also say she joined the fight as a matter of principle.
AK Ji, Ravindra Keller Ji,
Kindly see the comments (starting from no 4), by Arun Kumar Deshmukh Ji, in your post of Roshan’s songs by Lata. You will get the details.
There is one correction to my earlier post no 24. Shamshad’s first song for OP was a duet with Kishore Kumar in the film Chham Chhamma Chham (OP’s 2nd film), & “Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar” was her 2nd song. Interestingly, Asha also sang her first song for OP in Chham Chhamma Chham. A point to be noted is that Asha had 10 songs in that film (as against only one for Shamshad), this clearly indicates that OP saw a lot of potential in Asha right from the begining of their association.
Ravindra ji,
Asha got 10 songs in this film,not because OPN found some spark in her,but simply because in those days,Shamshad was charging 500+ per song and Asha charged only 100+ per song as she was in dire need of work and wanted songs at any cost. OPN was himself a new composer and wasn’t getting much as a fees per film.
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Arunji has hit the nail on its head. OPN and Asha were providing services for a pittance in those days. Lata by her singing and politics and Asha by her cheap rate grabbed the bulk of female songs. The same situation presented itself again in the early 70s when KK was singing more songs at cheap rates and there were new MDs emerging. Asha has been singing more songs than Lata ever since 1953 (barring 2 years) but she was not declared no. 1, but KK’s claims (though started later) started even when he was not even no. 1 in the matter of quantity.
Arun ji, the singers & the recording artists are paid by producers, not by the composer, as far as I know. So OP was not resposible for payment to the singers, so how much OP was paid is of no consequence. PL Santoshi was the producer & as per my knowledge he was not a good financial shape at that time, so it could very well be that commercially it made sense to go for Asha, as you have suggested.
Well to cut a long story short, based various discussions I had with OP over the many years, I stick to my claim that OP saw a tremendous potential in Asha when he worked with her in Chham Chhamma Chham.
Ravindra ji,
I dont think I have said that OPN was paying her. It is a common knwledge that all payments are made by Producers.
The film was NOT produced by PL Santoshi. It was a Mohan studios’production and Ramnik bhai Shah was the Producer. It is also a common knowledge that the Producer has a say , in most cases, which singer is to be taken…and NOT the director (P L Santoshi was the Director in this film.).
Payment to Asha and payment to OPN were two different things. This was mentioned to stress that being new OPN could not dictate any terms about selection of singers, to the Producers in those days. Later on ofcourse he had his way in most cases-post Naya Daur- a cool 5 years away from Chham chhama chham-52.
I have never talked to OPN,but from the several interviews he gave to different people, to me atleast, he sounded very boastful.
Anyone can conclude in any way . Freedom of speech,writing etc etc……
No offence intended please.
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Arun Ji,
I agree, it is a matter of personal freedom, so I understand you viewpoint is different from mine & I accept it with open mind.
In my personal interactions with OP, I found him to be modest to a fault while talking about his achievements. He had strong views on a lot of matters, but about his work he was very modest. He had a very poor PR sense & that hurt his career, but he never bothered about it, which possibly gave the impression that he was boastful, arrogant, insensitive, egoist, etc.
Ravindra Kelkar has mentioned the boycott of OPN for Mehbooba. AK has mentioned that it could be said Lata joined this as matter of principle. I had mentioned this OPN boycott in comment 57 in Naushad-Shamshad post. I think the only principle Lata knew was herself. She stepped in here because the MD concerned was OPN who was not recording her. Prior to the replacement, Roshan had recorded songs in her voice in Mehbooba. Since most of the songs were for the female character, she was to sing the remaining songs also. So she went to Biswas who was chief of CMDA and any agenda brought by Lata naturally became his agenda.
If she worked on a principle she should have boycotted the film Hulchul in which K. Asif replaced Sajjad Hussain with Mohammad Shafi. But Shafi recorded female songs in her voice so she did not have any problem. Later K. Asif also replaced Biswas with Naushad for Mughal-e-Azam, but her conscience did not trouble her because she herself was doing the bulk of singing there. As to my knowledge, Roshan was also replaced in 1953 for Gunah after recording one song (Arunji to confirm) by Snehal Bhatkar, but Lata gladly sang for him in that film.
It is also a fallacy that Shamshad came to OPN’s rescue when all other singers had boycotted him. This fact is widely believed and also mentioned by Ravindra Kelkar. After the Biswas directive, it was Lata alone who declared that she would not sing any song in the film in solidarity with Roshan. Actually she was protecting her prestige, because it was sure that OPN would not use her. OPN replaced Roshan for Mehbooba and Mohd. Shafi (who replaced Sajjad Hussain for Hulchul) for Mangu simultaneously. In both these films Shamshad, Rafi and Asha sang for him. He round about the same time composed music for Mr and Mrs 55 and Musafirkhana and in these films Geeta, Nirmala and Durrani also sang songs along with Shamshad, Rafi and Asha. I dont know which singer boycotted OPN.
In this episode,the information I have is like this…
O.P.Nayyar’s films like Aarpaar,CID,Mr.&Mrs 55,Baap re Baap etc became very famous but he did not get any payments from Gurudutt.Once OPN went to Guru Dutt to ask for his payments,as his small child needed milk and he had no money,but,according to OPN,Guru dutt who was fully drunk threw away OPN by kicking him without any payments.
OPN had become very bitter. He approached Mr. Kapoor,a famous and influential ditributor. It was Kapoor,on whose recommendation OPN had got Guru Dutts Aarpar. He compalined aginst Guru Dutt to him. Once again Kapoor contacted the producers of mehbooba,Mangu and Sabse bada Rupaiah and to make quick money OPN started snatching films from other Composers.Roshan was removed from Mehbooba(1954),Mohd.Shafi was removed from Mangu(1955)and Naashad was removed from Sabse bada Rupaiyya.All these films went to OPNayyar.( based on OPN’s own interviews).Later OPN accepted that what he did was totally wrong ( as told to Raju Bharatan).
When Roshan was removed from Mehbooba,Lata Mangeshkar became very angry(she respected Roshan) and she announced that she will not sing the balance songs of Mehbooba,to which OPN retorted,”but I am not asking her to sing in Mehbooba”.Enraged, Lata felt that injustice has been done to Roshan, Lata managed to garner support of Naushad,Anil Bishwas and others who took this matter of replacing Music Directors in the Cine Music Directors’ association,which boycotted OPN.He was not getting Recording studios,musicians nor any singers for his songs.At that time Shamshad Begum stood by him like a rock and did all his songs free for him.
(Later on the matter watered down and singers started doing work for OPN.)
Even to such a great helper,OPN ditched Shamshad Begum in preference to Asha Bhosle,just like he ditched Geeta Dutt !
As far as Snehal Bhatkar replacing Roshan there is a different story.
In 1949,Kidar Sharma was about to produce Neki aur Badi. he had made a contract with Snehal Bhatkar for the music of this film. Snehal had started work also. meanwhile Kidar sharma wanted to give an opportunity to Roshanlal as a Music Director in Hindi films. He went to Snehal Bhatkar and discussed this problem. With a veru generous heart Snehal Bhatkar offered to withdraw from the film Neki aur Badi. Kidar thanked him and called Roshanlal. Thus Roshan replaced Snehal bhatkar and made his debut with Neki aur Badi. That time it was decided to do something in return for Snehal.
In 1953,Roshan had got established but Snehal was shaky. Kidar Sharma who was making film Gunah, with Roshan as MD, talked to Roshan and both decided to give this film to Snehal Bhatkar.
This is the story of this change in film Gunah. It was all mutual and no one complained.( this is from the lifestory of Snehal bhatkar and Kidar sharma’s book).
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Arunji,
Thanks for the info. I would take that Roshan/Bhatkar exchange was mutual. But, Roshan was far from a well established MD in 1953. Nobody would replace a well established MD. I would also not buy OPN’s argument that he did not have money for buying milk for his child. Aar Paar was his 4th film. Even for Aar Paar he had taken majority of his money. As per the story he went to Guru Dutt to get the balance of Rs. 3000, which means the remaining he had already got. It would be foolish to assume that after so much money he did not have money for milk. After the phenomenal success of Aar Paar he got many offers and it is a well known fact that such offers come with signing amount. So in my view he was not short of money. On the contrary I would claim that he was in a healthy enough financial condition due to these offers. The simple fact is that the producers of the films Mehbooba and Mangu which were released in 1954 wanted to take advantage of his popularity and he very consciously accepted these offers.
Regarding Lata factor my point still remains despite the matter of Gunah being agreed as mutual. Did she not have respect for Sajjad Hussain or Biswas who were replaced by K. Asif. From your vast knowledge of HFM, I would like to know another instance of an MD being boycotted for replacing other MD.
I would also not like to believe that there was any boycott by recording studios or musicians or singers. Chadhte sooraj ko sabka salam hota hai and OPN was a rising son. I would give logical reasoning. Aar Paar was released on 5th May and Mehbooba on 14th October. OPN must have been given the offer for Mehbooba sometime in June at the earliest after watching its success at the box-office. The film was released within four months after all the recordings, filming, editing etc. How could that have happened if the studios and musicians were boycotting. Otherwise also it was not the business of OPN to get studios etc and the producers must have taken everything into account before offering him the films. Mangu was released about 2 months later. Sabse Bada Rupaiya came by the end of 1955, so that was not part of this hurried change. In Mehbooba itself Shamshad and Rafi sang for him.
It is also not believable that Shamshad had to sing free if the boycott was any reality, because in that case the producers would have been ready to get her services even at enhanced rates.
Hans ji,
I only gave whatever information I had in this connection. I will not conclude or opine on anything on this issue. All happenings can be questioned. I strongly believe that Logic does not work in every case when human beings are involved.
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks for your reply. You have every right to keep or express your opinion. I was talking about logic in the matter of dates of release of the films which is a fact.
Otherwise also, logic is very important in human matters as per me. Circumstantial evidence is mostly based on logic. We have been shown the coloured version of things like history, mythology, HFM etc. It is upto us to either believe whatever is supplied to us like sheep or to test it on the basis of logic and reasoning.
Arunji & AKji,
As per my information, OP left Sabse Bada Ruppaiya, since he had some financial issues with the producer & he was replaced by Nashad.
By the way, in Baap Re Baap we have three songs by C Ramchnandra & rest of the 7 songs are by OP. Do you have any idea, if it was the case of OP replacing CR or other way round? Probably Arunji will be in a position to enlighten us (if he can’t then possibly nobody can).
Ravindra kelkar ji,
When Baap re Baap-55 was in its last phase of completion,there arose a dispute between OPN and Kardar,the film’s producer and Director. As expected,hot headed nayyar left the film. Kardar also immediately paid him off. But the music was incomplete. 3 more songs were yet to be done-2 Asha solos and 1 Kishore solo.
Kardar had tremendous faith in C.Ramchandra. Even when Kardar and Naushad were partners,Kardar held the view that CR was better than Naushad. he had said so in an interview also. Kardar requested CR to take over the film’s music.
CR agreed on 2 conditions. One,his name should not appear in credits
( he had done this earlier in 1946 with S D Burman, when he did his first film with Filmistan. CR helped SDBurman but his name was not to come in the credits.) and two- no records will be issued-the name of the composer was a must for that.
Kardar agreed and CR did the balance 3 songs. CR’s name does not appear in the credits of Baap re Baap-55,because of this only. No record numbers are given in HFGK for these 3 songs.
This is what I know of this episode.
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks for the information. I was not aware of the Baap Re Baap story.
Mehbooba & Mangu story has been referred to in number articles/interviews. Just for your information (most probably you already know), there was a very well written article by the journalist “Ambarish Mishra” in Marathi on OP- the title of the article was “Main Shayad Tumhare Liye Ajanabi Hoon” – it was as if OP is telling his story – sort of autobiography. Also there is a very good interview of OP taken by Amin Sayani – in that he has mentioned in detail the story of Mehbooba & Mangu.
I wonder why OPN is the villain in every episode. When he replaces another MD he is accused of snatching the film and when he is replaced he is hot headed and leaves the film on his own. And Kardar of the godly qualities, who drew a fraudulent contract to rob Naushad of the profits of Musical Pictures, paid him off without OPN completing the film. Is this believable.
Regarding Kardar’s tremendous faith and considering CR the best MD, his actions speak louder than his words. Even after his break-up with Naushad, he gave just one film to CR out of the 8 films he made in the 50s. And in 1966, he went back to the same Naushad – who had made his Kardar Productions a household name – for Dil Diya Dard Liya. He went to Naushad because after parting with him just one film Yasmin completed Silver Jubilee and that too barely. So that tells us in whom he had faith. He praised CR (Naushad’s bitter rival) because Naushad was demanding his money from Kardar. If Kardar had any iota of faith or any gratitude to CR, this was the time to call for CR whose career was in doldrums.
In my view in Baap Re Baap, Kardar used CR against OPN. And CR perhaps helped his cause because Kardar had not paid his full dues for Yasmin. After Yasmin’s success, why he changed CR for OPN. OPN perhaps after the Guru Dutt experience, wanted all his money before the completion of the film and he knew Kardar had ditched Naushad. Kardar tried to ditch him but OPN was perhaps wiser in drawing the contract than Naushad and Kardar had to pay him. The 3 songs which remained are no different in composition and orchestration than the remaining 8 songs, so most of the work had been done by OPN. OPN perhaps wanted his money before the final recording of the songs. The records of these 3 songs had not been cut perhaps to hurt OPN because he would have got the royalty. It is well known that OPN asked for and was paid the whole royalty by producers because he was in such a demand.
Regarding CR’s helping SDB in Shikari, he perhaps did it because the Filmistan people offered him their films in return. CR, who was till that time doing just ‘c’ grade films got 8 or 9 Filmistan films which changed his whole career and by the end of 1950 he was competing with Naushad.