Celebrating with some discovered gems, Jaunpuri, Darbari and Mukhtar Begum
The fifth year of Songs of Yore has been more eventful than any preceding year. The year saw centenaries of four great music personalities – Anil Biswas, Begum Akhtar, Khursheed and Kavi Pradeep (the last one in the current calendar year). We remembered all of them – Anil Biswas in a grand manner, befitting his status as the Bhishm Pitamah of film music, with inaugural post by his daughter, and eight other posts on his combinations with different singers. Coincidentally, he also emerged as the Best Music Director, for 1951, which was reviewed in detail last year. The mega-series on SD Burman also concluded last year, notching up 15 posts in all. Arunji’s guest article on Hindi-Telugu in the meta-series on Multiple Version Songs completed the quartet of South Indian languages. Hindi-Bengali similar songs have many dimensions, some of which had been covered earlier. In the year gone by, SSW made a debut as a guest author with his article on Salil Chaudhary, which is likely to be the beginning of a series on him, as he is one of the most versatile talents in films and music. The Master of Multiple Version Songs, Ashok Vaishnav, resumed his super-fine explorations with songs that have hybrid multiple versions. Subodh kept up his date with his series on classical music, with his article on Pilu.
I started the later part of the year, i.e the New (calendar) Year, with some bang, by dedicating it as the Year of the Greatest Mughal and my great favourite, Naushad, followed by his implacable foe, C Ramchandra, and his complete antithesis, OP Nayyar. With all that, and the usual – and some unusual – stuff which the readers have now come to expect from SoY, I might be excused if I indulge in some self-flattery that completing five years of SoY is kind of a mini-milestone.
However, that does not mean that SoY has achieved half of what it might have set out for itself in its life. It has scratched only the surface of what lies in the vaults of the Golden and the Vintage Era of film music. What is not there on SoY is more glaring than what is there. Many readers have mentioned omission of some major artistes in their comments; I also receive mails expressing surprise, or complaint why such and such singer or music director is not yet on SoY. SoY is a combination of some planned, but mostly random thoughts, and many of my great favourites are missing, whom I would have liked to cover yesterday. I have to grant it to the readers that they are quite forthright in expressing their opinion, both in public and in mails to me. It is their participation and sense of belonging that has made SoY what it is today.
Talking of readers, reading through their comments is a fascinating experience. We are used to the encyclopaedic knowledge of Arunji, Hans’s unconventional wisdom, Subodh’s settling the questions about Ragas, SSW’s expert comments on instruments, Jignesh, Arvinder Sharmaji and KS Bhatiaji’s emotional outpourings of songs. There are dozens of other readers, some of whom are regular visitors, some sporadic – listing them would make it too bulky – who add hundreds of rare and unknown songs, and interesting trivia connected with the songs. Every year is a year of discoveries of hidden gems. Let us sample the kind of wonderful discoveries the readers show us.
Mumbakar8, a non-Bengali and settled in the US for several decades, introduced us to Dilip Kumar Roy’s Bengali songs, speculating that he might be the inspiration for SD Burman’s singing. This was taken further by Venkataramanji and Abhijit, who added a lot of information about him and his father Dwijendra Lal Roy (or DL Roy/Ray). I then realized I was very familiar with DL Roy’s work, as I had read Hindi translations of his historical plays, from my school library. In the year gone by, coincidentally, I got to read about him as a major figure in the late 19th/early 20th century renaissance in Bengal. And, the readers completed the circle by introducing me to his talented son I was completely unaware of.
We are aware of a 1947 version of Jhumka gira re, sung by Shamshad Begum from the film Dekhoji, composed by Tufail Faroqui. Hans took us back further, probably to a 30s version of this song, sung by a Punjabi folk singer Dulari, who was from Peshawar.
Continuing the amazing discoveries, sample this. Venkataramanji mentioned Shamshad Begum’s Saari khushiyan saath layi from Jeewan Jyoti (1953), composed by SD Burman, and the re-use of its tune by him in Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duet Tumhare sang to rain bitayi, kahan bitaaun din in Sagina, more than twenty years later. If you think this is no big deal, a Telugu-speaking Gaddeswarupji, who is a mathematician, settled in Australia for several decades, and not comfortable with Hindi, posts a Shanta Apte song, Har gali mein hain bageeche, from Wahan (1937), and its exact copy 18 years later in a Telugu film Misamma.
So, you get the drift of it. The SoY readers have eclectic interests, and they wander quite freely away from the theme under discussion. To channelise such musings, on Hans’s suggestion, I created a new link, Open House, about seven months ago. SoY was already an adda. Open House reinforces that so that the readers don’t feel constrained by the post currently under discussion. This has already notched up over 400 comments.
I also make some discoveries off-site, some of which are with the readers’ participation. I celebrate the fifth anniversary of SoY with some amazing discoveries I have made in the year.
‘Hemant Kumar’ Ravi
Sometime back I heard on the radio a wonderful ‘Hemant Kumar’-Asha Bhosle duet – Yun hi chupke chupke bahaane bahaane – for the first time, and I filed it in my memory for checking up its detail and using it later in Hemant Kumar with other singers. A few days later, I was surprised to get a mail from Rakesh Srivastava, mentioning this song. I don’t know how and where he came across this song, but his query had me stumped – whether it was composed by Ravi, or the sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar. Pt. Ravi Shankar’s films and songs are all very distinct, and can be counted on fingers; therefore, I was puzzled how anyone could mix him up with Ravi. Soon the mystery was clear. The song was from Ravi’s debut film Vachan (1955), and since his full name was Pandit Ravishankar Sharma, it was possible that some sites mixed up between the two. However, more surprising was the discovery that the male voice was not Hemant Kumar, but Ravi himself. Ravi had been assistant to Hemant Kumar, before he came up on his own. Was he consciously trying to sing like his mentor, or was this his natural voice? We would not know, but listen to this absolutely superb song, which may not be new for many readers.
Yun hi chupke chupke bahane bahane nigahon se dil mein by Ravi and Asha Bhosle from Vachan (1955), lyrics Prem Dhavan, music Ravi
Discovering after three decades
I have a question for the SoY readers, have you heard of a film called Jadoo Nagari (1961), and any of its songs? Long ago, a colleague and his wife had come over, and after dinner we made a polite request to them to sing a song, as a part of usual courtesy, without knowing what to expect. After some hesitation, the lady started singing one after another: Mere sapne mein ana re sajna, Rahate the kabhi jinke dil mein, Rahe na rahe hum etc. She was obviously untrained, she would be slightly unsteady on some notes, there was no instrumental support, but she created magic with emotions and her feelings. It would sound a gross exaggeration, but for me it was as if Lata Mangeshkar was singing live to me. And there was another one which I had not heard before, but it was like a song which had been with me forever – Nigahon mein tum ho khayalon mein tum ho, jidhar dekhati hun nazar aa rahe ho. I had since been searching for this song earnestly, but of no avail. In the Internet era, too, I drew a blank, because every time YT would show up Khayalon mein tum ho from Sainya (1951), composed by Sajjad Husain, but this was not the one I was looking for. I missed it in HFGK too, because the song starts with a different line – Khamosh kar dala…ye hamare dard ki awaz hai – in recital style. Then one fine morning YT decided to co-operate, and I got this song which had been haunting me for over three decades.
Nigahon mein tum ho khayalon meion tum ho by Lata Mangeshkar from Jadoo Nagari (1961), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri, music SN Tripathi
Auto-inspiration or laziness?
Recently, while strolling in a street, I was drawn by the strains of a beautiful Rafi-Lata duet, composed by SN Tripathi, coming from a distant radio at a paan kiosk. As I reached nearer, I felt something odd, because the voice was not Rafi-Lata’s, but that of Mahendra Kapoor and Suman Kalyanpur. When I came still closer, I found the lyrics, too, entirely different. But the melody was unmistakable, it was SN Tripathi’s famous composition we are all familiar with, from the film Rani Roopmati (1959). At the soonest opportunity, I checked up the YT for the song, and it turned out to be by SN Tripathi for sure, but from a vague film called Been Ka Jadoo (1963). I won’t even call it auto-inspiration, which requires some adaptation, but laziness, which must have made him ask the lyricist to write words to fit in his four year old tune, to the original lyrics of Bharat Vyas. Here is the surprise song I heard for the first time; it may be new for other readers too. No prizes for guessing the original song; in any case the YT link below gives that, too. This, however, does not reduce SN Tripathi one bit in my esteem, because he has composed some of the sweetest songs, and his tradition was carried forward by his protégé, Chitragupta. Talking of discoveries and amazing coincidences, you can’t fail to notice the word Jadoo in the film’s name in this and the preceding one, and the common music director.
Janam janam ka saath hamara, saath kabhi ye chhoote na by Mahendra Kapoor and Suman Kalyanpur from Been Ka Jadoo (1963), lyrics BD Mishra, music SN Tripathi
Joyous Jaunpuri
One of my great favourites, Habib Wali Mohammad, passed away last year (1921 – 4 September 2014). Sometime before that, while browsing the net I came across this beautiful ghazal by Faiz; its beauty enhanced because of its underlying Raga Jaunpuri, which I like tremendously. My impression is that Jaunpuri is not a very common Raga for a ghazal. I would like to hear what experts say on this.
Tum aye ho na shab-e-intezaar guzri hai (Faiz Ahmed ‘Faiz’), sung by Habib Wali Mohammad
The above ghazal has been sung by many famous singers, including Noorjehan. But with due respects to Richard, her version is not as appealing to me as Habib Wali Mohammad’s.
Jaunpuri is considered a light Raga. Being a lay listener, I am not very clear what makes a Raga ‘light’. I find many extremely poignant and moving compositions in Jaunpuri, and some other ‘light’ Ragas, such as Kafi. YT has one hour bada khayal in Jaunpuri, sung by ‘Meera’ Kishori Amonkar. Since Jaunpuri may not figure in Subodh’s series on classical music, let me present a vintage film song in this Raga, which gives a better feel of the Raga than the later ‘filmi’ adaptations, such as Jab dil ko sataye gham from Sargam (1951). Mushtaq Hussain is among the 3-4 composers Naushad worked with as a pianist or assistant, before he got independent assignment in 1940. About the singer, Ashraf Khan, Arunji has a great deal of information, as usual. Therefore, I leave it for him to fill in the details.
Apne man mein preet basa le by Ashraf Khan from Baghbaan (1938), lyrics Mirza Musharraf, music Mushtaq Hussain
Since I have decided to encroach upon Subodh’s territory without his leave, let me add this beautiful Jaunpuri thumri by Dipali Nag.
Chhum chhanan bichhua baaje by Dipali Nag
Listen to the same composition by Kishori Amonkar, which the YT describes as drut khayal, which might be the concluding part of a bada khayal, or a stand-alone presentation. I should now back off and leave it to the experts for technical details. For me, Chhum chhannan bichhua baje in Jaunpuri is absolutely charming.
Darbari delights
When Subodh’s article on Raga Darbari had come in for renewed discussion, I came across a beautiful ghazal, Taskeen ko hum na royen jo zauq-e-nazar mile. I promptly sent it to him and Venkataramanji, in case they wished to post it with their comments. Venkataramanji surprised me by sending its English translation, which I presumed to be his, because he had shown his prowess with Urdu when a Mukesh song Wo teekhi nazron se mere dil par kuchh aise bijali gira rahe hain in my post on his songs by Anil Biswas pierced his heart, transporting him to the days when he was a young lover, and he started pouring out his heart in Urdu verse in his comment. He later clarified that the translation was not his, rather he had searched it from some Internet site.
What surprised me even more was that he sent a long thesis with the translation. This was a mix of learning and gravitas we associate with Venkataramanji, and outpourings of a lover-with-a-broken-heart. I don’t intend to give that long discussion here; I am sure he would be again transported to those days of romance, and would involuntarily switch to his shayari.
तस्कीं को हम न रोयें जो ज़ौक़-ए-नज़र मिले
हूरान-ए-ख़ुल्द में तेरी सूरत मगर मिले
अपनी गली में मुझको न कर दफ्न बाद-ए-क़त्ल
मेरे पते से ख़्ल्क़ को क्यों तेरा पता मिले
साक़ीगरी की शर्म करो आज वरना हम
हर शब पिया ही करते हैं मय जिस क़दर मिले
तुझसे तो कुछ कलाम नहीं लेकिन ऐ नदीम
मेरा सलाम कहियो अगर नामाबर मिले
तुझको भी हम दिखायें कि मजनूं ने क्या किया
फुर्सत कशाकश-ए-ग़म-ए-पिन्हा से गर मिले
लाज़िम नहीं कि खिज़्र की हम पैरवी करें
माना कि इक बुज़ुर्ग हमें हमसफर मिले
ऐ साकिनान-ए-कूचा-ए-दिलदार देखना
तुमको कहीं जो ग़ालिब-ए-आशुफ्ता सर मिले
(Note: You can find the ghazal’s Roman transcript, and detailed interpretation of its various verses here.)
Taskeen ko hum na royein jo zauq-e-nazar miley (Ghalib), sung by Iqbal Bano
Darbari and Mukhtar Begum
Surprises never end. Soon after Taskeen ko hum na royein, I came across a vintage ghazal, Chori kahin khule na, from a 1933 film, exactly on the same tune. This has to be the precursor of this Darbari tune for ghazals, just like Deewana banana hai to became a stock tune for many ghazals. The YT link mentions this was recorded in 1938, which seems quite likely, because the sound quality is surprisingly clear for a 1933 recording.
चोरी कहीं खुले ना नसीमे बहार की
खुशबू उड़ा चल आए है जो ये सू-ए-यार की
चोरी कहीं खुले ना..
गुलशन में देखकर मेरे मस्त-ए-शबाब को
शरमाई जा रही है जवानी बहार की
चोरी कहीं खुले ना..
ऐ मेरे दिल के चैन मेरे दिल की रोशनी
और सुबह कई बे शबे इंतज़ार की
चोरी कहीं खुले ना..
जुर्रत तो देखियेगा नसीमे बहार की
ये भी बलायें लेने लगी ज़ुल्फ-ए-यार की
चोरी कहीं खुले ना..
ऐ हश्र देखना तो ये है चौदहवीं का चांद
आसमां के हाथ में तस्वीर-ए-यार की
चोरी कहीं खुले ना..
Chori kahin khule na naseem-e-bahaar ki by Mukhtar Begum from Aurat Ka Pyar (1933; recorded in 1938), lyrics Agha Hashr Kashmiri, music Mushraq Ahmad
I was doubtful if I would get any information on Mukhtar Begum. Some more browsing revealed a lot of information on her. It turns out she was the elder sister and mentor of Farida Khanum, who is very well-known to all music lovers, because of her iconic ghazal, Aaj jaane ki zid na karo. She was married to Agha Hashr Kashmiri. An article by RK Tamiri has this information on her:
Mukhtar Begum:
A ravishing beauty Mukhtar Begum was a famous stage dancer in the 1930s. She came in contact with Agha Hashr during a theatre performance. His patronage took her fame to almost celestial heights. Subsequently, the two decided to marry.
Mukhtar Begum was born in Amritsar. Trained initially by Mian Meharban Khan in Music, Mukhtar then underwent a long apprenticeship under Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of Patiala gharana. Her intense training equipped her well to practise different genres of classical music – Thumri, Dadra and Ghazal. Soon her fame as a melody queen spread far and wide in undivided Punjab. The elite sections of the society invited her to perform mujras at their havelis and mansions. Her melodic skills were also witnessed in the courts of Nawabs and Maharajas in different regions of India.
After some time, Mukhtar Begum shifted to Calcutta, which was then the hub of theatre and films. It was there that she played a lead role in many stage plays, scripted by Agha Hashr. During her stay in Calcutta, Madam Noor Jehan (then Allah Wasai) met her ideal singer Mukhtar Begum. The latter encouraged her and recommended Allah Wasai to her husband’s Maidan Theatre and here she got the name of “Baby Noorjehan”.
Mukhtar Begum also acted in a couple of films. Some of her roles in films were unintentionally amusing. Habib Tanvir recalls,”In one film, Mukhtar Begum sat with all her bulk, face front, in a mid-shot, static, and sang a classical song as long as perhaps 20 minutes that appeared to be an infinity, and yet it was an edifying experience”.
She also broadcast her music from All India Radio. Mukhtar Begum participated in a number of music conferences organised in pre-partition India. Towards the fag end of her illustrious career, she recorded several ghazals, including many ghazals of Agha Hashr. Her thumri-accented ghazals of classical Urdu poets recorded for the gramophone companies and radio became her identity and also a hallmark of her personality. According to M Sayeed Malik, a music connoisseur, “There was a certain uniqueness and vivacity in her vocals, which distinguished her from her contemporaries”. Mukhtar Begum always chose Punjabi ang style of thumri, though she was not averse to Poorbi style.
After partition, she decided to leave India, and settled in Lahore. She continued to sing as long as her health permitted. Her illustrious students, to whom she imparted training in music and performing skills included her sister Farida Khanum, playback singer Naseem Begum and film star Rani. In her last years she lived in Karachi, where she passed away on February 25, 1982.
This article from Pakistan Film Magazine gives a list of her 18 films in the period 1932-40, said to be her complete filmography, in which she appeared. This includes the famous, Indrasabha, which has the record for having largest number of songs (about 70) in any film. She was also the music director in one of them, Prem Ki Aag (1936).
I struck further gold of one hour recording of Mukhtar Begum, preceded by tributes by Noorjehan. ‘Baby’ Noorjehan, when she was aspiring to become a singer, idolized Mukhtar Begum and her dream was to sing like her one day (I am not surprised). Mukhtar Begum blessed her that when she would start singing, others would stop. Tina Sani was also influenced by her. This recording starts with another ghazal, Rota hai dil zafa-e-mohabbat se rooth ke, and in a chain of amazing surprises, this is also in Darbari. And lo and behold, it is followed by Chori kahin khule na. Can we draw a conclusion that Darbari was the favourite Raga of early female ghazal singers?
This recording also has her dadra and thumri. Thus, for me, SoY’s fifth year is also special for the discovery of Mukhtar Begum, whom I instantly placed in the category of the great light singers who had a complete repertoire of ghazal, thumri and dadra, like Begum Akhtar, and later Shobha Gurtu.
{ 119 comments… read them below or add one }
Heartiest Congratulations on completing Five years and many best wishes for the future …!!!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your knowledge of Hindi Cinema with all of us. God bless you!
Congratulations for a path-breaking journey of FIVE years. We are quite sure we have seen only the traditional tip of the iceberg, in spite of “SoY (having) achieved half of what it might have set out for itself in its life. It has scratched only the surface of what lies in the vaults of the Golden and the Vintage Era of film music. What is not there on SoY is more glaring than what is there. ”
In fact it is the waiting for that Unknown that makes what is being presented more engrossing. And there are loads of examples in this very post, by way of “Hemantkumar’ Ravi, Discovering after three decades, Auto-inspiration or Laziness, Joyous Jaunpuri, Darbari Delights, Darbari and Mukhtar Begum.
It is a matter of pride for me to be an active reader of SoY.
Wishing many(raised to n) returns……………………….
Congrats! best wishes for your future works!
Avinash Scrapwala, Khyati Bhatt
Thanks a lot for your good wishes.
Latha,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your good wishes.
Ashokji,
Thanks a lot for your very generous words. You have been a very important partner in these discoveries.
Heartiest congratulations at the completion of 5 years of SoY. I know of no other Blog full of so much of history and knowledge about Bollywood/Hind Music of yore.
Video clip of the Jadoo Nagri (1961) number “Nigahon mein tum ho khayalon meion tum ho” is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/faLQe0h-7e4, and that of the full movie at https://youtu.be/Xtqr2-dP0io.
Congratulations and thanks.
Swarup
AK’ji; With so many inputs on varying topics , the years gone by just looks like Yesterday only . Congratulations on achieving the milestone and wish you and SoY family many more such to come . ” Aye gaye manzilon ke nishan, lehra ke jhooma jhuka aasman , leekin rookega na yeh carvaan “.
Shekhar,
Welcome to SoY, and thanks a lot for your generous words. And thanks for the video clips.
Gaddeswarupji,
Thanks a lot.
KS Bhatiaji,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes. I hope SoY carries on in the spirit of the couplet you have mentioned.
AK Ji,
First and foremost,
many congratulations for the completion of 5th year of SoY.
A little more than a year has passed since I joined Soy, as it was the first music site, that impressed me after I became net savvy.
The year has seen a classical duel of Naushad with CR/OP, both out of the box composers, with a capacity to spring up a classical surprise whenever the situation demanded.
Looking forward to some more on them.
And answering to your question about the song from ‘Jadoonagri’, I was aware of the song, and have it in my Lata playlist.
Though the song from ‘Been Ka Jadoo’ by SNT was a very pleasant surprise.
Looking forward to some more surprises from you, and inspired by KS Bhatia Ji’ sheer, I wish all the contributors of SoY the very best in life with this Lata song from ‘Chor Bazaar’, music Sardar Malik.
https://youtu.be/Pp6__WJLX7Q
Arvinder Sharmaji,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes. You have been so active, it seems you have been with SoY for years.
I would have some more on Naushad for sure, probably some on CR too. Can’t promise OPN, because as I have stated, his exclusion of Lata Mangeshkar limited him as far as I am concerned.
I am not surprised you were familiar with Nigahon mein tum ho. I am curious to know how many are familiar with the song from Been Ka Jadoo.
May the Caravan keep moving.
AK Ji,
Heartiest congratulations for having completed 5 years of Songs of yore.
This blog has become a place for cinematic chats for many. Music lovers, like me,enjoy their visits here,perhaps learn few new things from comments of many experts here and enjoy the exclusive songs.
To continue with added new zeal every year in running a Blog for more than 5 years is surely an achievement.
Your ‘swaant sukhay’ has diluted to some extent,hopefully,looking at the enthusiastic participation of so many music lovers.
As far as the song from film Jaadu Nagari-1961, this said song was discussed on atulsongaday on 18-2-2012 and in the comments section I had given information on the film along with the story of the film as I had seen this film and had noted down its details in my diary then. Here is the link,in case you want further information on the film
http://atulsongaday.me/2012/02/18/nigaahon-mein-tum-ho/
Congratulations once again.
All the best for many more years to SOY.
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. You not only enrich SoY by your participation, you are always prompt to responding to any queries I mail to you. I once remarked jokingly that if you start charging a token fee per question, you would be a multi-millionaire.
I had not seen that post on Atul’s site. Probably it came before I started following it regularly.
AK Ji,
Many thanks for your kind words.
AK Ji,
I wonder whether many more are following this blog than we see in the comments. A friend from my Delhi days (1982-86) has just sent me a link to a version song. Those days I did not talk about songs, may be he found it through this site. http://youtu.be/3lYcliQ86KU
AK Ji
Thanks for mention of my name.
In our introductory interaction I had requested for a song-Chali Jaye Re Jeewan Ki Gadi.I wish same for SOY.May the beautiful train of this wonderful site goes on….and on uninterruptedly.Completion of five years is a milestone only,many more still to be crossed.
I regret because of some reason or other I am not able to catch up with old posts,and newer posts too
My sincere compliments on achieving this proud feat !!
Ak,
Last night (or this morning) when I wished you and your team happy anniversary by no means I was thinking myself as a team member. I was once more pleasantly surprised! Thanks.
You deserve all the praise and good wishes for the dedication and good work.
You are up at 5.00 A.M. on a Saturday:)
All I can say after being included as a contributor is a Sahir’s sher “जब तुम मुझे अपना कहते हो अपने पे गुरूर आ जाता है”
Long Live SoY and its team !
Many many congratulations to Akji and all the stalwarts who have created interesting articles for SoY. Thanks to all of them for restoring our old invaluable film music to life again. May this caravan run with same speed and passion for Centuries..
Gaddeswarupji,
We would not really know. The WordPress does give some kind of statistics. The number of persons visiting per day is about 350 but that is not the same thing as ‘following’.
Mukesh version of Ye hansta hua kaarwan zindagi ka is absolutely charming. Your friend might have got it from anywhere.
Rakesh Srivastava,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes.
Mumbaikar8,
Thanks a lot for your compliments. You are an integral part of SoY team.
Jignesh,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes.
Gaddeswarup’ji ; refer@ 17, Thanks for the beautiful version song which has more surprises in store in the sense that it is very difficult to guess who the duet singer with mukesh is ? My guess is either Usha khanna or Krishna kalle .
Bhatiaji,
According to the site Down Melody Lane the female singer is Jalu Bhesania, I do not know who this singer is.
http://www.downmelodylane.com/version.html
Arvindersharma’ji ; Thanks for the kind words. During the year i really enjoyed my moments of discussions with you in the company of AKji specially on the Rafi / Mohinder kapoor swaping songs [with reference to Ravi/Sahir combo songs ]. I am equally thankful to Mumbaiker8 for reminding us of beautiful numbers of Ravi/Sahir songs .
Mumbaikar8; Thanks for the prompt reply. I have not heard of this singer either . This song might be a stage performance of Mukesh / Hemant Star Nite or a reharsel before a final recording.
KS Bhatia Ji,
Many thanks for remembering me once again.
And mumbaikar8 is absolutely correct. HFGK by Hamraaz Ji mentions Jelu Bhesania as the female singer of this song.
Looking forward to another meeting with you, Sir.
Congratulations on the milestone, AK. I read all your posts, even if I have not been a regular commenter recently.
Wishing you all the best on the journey forward.
Anu,
Thanks a lot for your kind words and good wishes.
AK,
Thanks for introducing me to Mukhtar Begum .
I have made peace, I cannot understand Jaunpursi and Darbaris, I will just enjoy them and be happy.
Thanks once again.
Mumbaikar8 at 26. I got the link from that site. The owner Rajeeva Karamdikar is an eminent scientist who works in probability and statistics. I got the link yesterday from him but did not notice the part you linked. We were colleagues in Delhi and he must have noticed my interest in Hindi film songs somewhere, may be from this site. He would be a much more worthwhile addition for comments here than me.
Mumbaikar8 , a jaune pursuite is French for young pursuit while D’arbres just means “of trees”. See French is very much like Hindi cinema , it involves people chasing people around trees avec le chanson.
And that should be “la chanson”. Pardonne, my slip is showing. 🙂
Gaddeswarupji,
Down Melody lane is an interesting and very well maintained site. I am a regular visitor of that site.
Your comments are by no means less, but it would be great if he joins us, the more the merrier.
SSW,
Interesting definition.
Indian cinema has moved ahead though no trees avec la chanson anymore.
AK:
Hearty Congratulations on completing five years. The quality of content and the knowledge of followers who contribute so much of expertise on your blog makes SoY as ‘THE BLOG’ for Golden and Vintage years. Your initiative to ‘award’ the best songs, singers and music directors before the Filmfare award came into being is a wonderful inspiration. And above all your sense of humour and your style of writing makes everything so enjoyable.
Wish you many more years of success and may this venerable blog grow stronger with every passing year.
Mumbaikar8,
I don’t understand Jaupuris aur Darbaris either. But aren’t these beautiful?
Ravi,
Such praise from a fellow blogger means a lot. Thanks a lot for your generous words and good wishes.
Congratulations and many many thanks Resp.Sir ji.
AK ji,
Attn: Mumbaikar8 and K S Bhatia ji
I have been seeing many comments here and elsewhere too ( sometimes misleading or misunderstood also) on Version songs. here is some info on this.
In the 50s and 60s, the atmosphere amongst the Cine artistes was very friendly. The Playback singers used to appreciate each others and also sometimes pass on songs to needy persons ( like Talat gave Madhumati songs to Mukesh,who was in trouble those days). Someone started a toom-idea- why not sing the other singer’s popular song and make a record. The idea caught up and several singers recorded songs of other singers. later on the singers themselves realised that outsiders were taking advantage of this and slowly this stopped.
This matter was explained by Talat Mahmood in an interview. Such records were called ‘Version ‘songs.
Version songs were also those songs,which were, sometimes recorded by the composers using a non-entity or chorus artistes or a less known singer,if the intended singer was not available and the recording was necessary for the shooting scenes. later the original singer would record that song. Some of these songs also came to the market and were called Version songs.
http://www.downmelodylane.com/version.html
This site has given a list of about 60 such version songs.
Many times people seeing such version records on You Tube,conclude that “originally this song was to be given to this singer,but then it was changed to someone else’, which may not be true in all cases. One must remember this.
I know this is unconnected with the article on discussion,but it is better to explain things immediately,when the matter is on the table itself.
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This version making actually started in the 30s itself when Pankaj mullick recorded some of Saigal’s songs.
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Markand Dave,
Thanks a lot.
Arunji,
This is very useful, and was necessary here. I was also looking for details on the singer Ashraf Khan of Apne man mein preet basa le.
AK ji,
Thanks.
As far as Ashraf Khan is concerned,he was a very well known actor singer of the 40s,who must have sung not less than 20-25 songs.
he was famous for his role in film ROTI-42.
He renounced his film work and became a Sufi saint. His temples are built and even today many Cine-artistes go to bow there. He has millions of followers all over the world.
For more info on him read my article on him here-
http://atulsongaday.me/2012/10/15/roti-roti-roti/
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Congratulations, AKji, for this wonderfule achievement. Completing 5 years is no mean achievement. This blog is absolutely delightful, informative, & full of surprises. The major credit goes to you for making it so interesting. All of the people who participate in comments are open & freindly. I am relatively, a new comer – read it for the first time, about 4 months back, so I have not yet caught up with all the material posted here over the last five years.
Anyway, here is wishing that this continues to flourish for many more years to come.
Arun’ji @42; Thanks for the over view . We never thought of singers making some side buisness for keeping their house hold going . During 70s , when Johny mera naam was about to be released , a flood of 45 rpm records of its songs were released in the market with dummy singers . One of such song was ‘ Pal bhar ke liye koi hamaiyen pyar kar le ‘ of which Kishore was the original singer and the dummy……… i am not able to recollect . At that time we thought it to be the strategy of the producer to fail its competeter Mera naam joker by releasing the records earlier.
Arunji,
Thanks for timely and detailed explanation. Appreciate it!
K S Bhatia ji,
The version songs of film Johnny mera naam-70 were sung by
1. O mere raja…Anwar and krishna Kalle
2. Nafrat karnewalon ke….Ambar kumar
3. Pal bhar ke liye…. Ambar kumar and
4. o babul pyare…. Pushpa Paghdhare
record no.-EP-EMOE 2022
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Arunji,
Ref your comment #46. I had seen that article on Atul’s blog. Therefore, I wanted you to give those details. Thanks a lot.
Ravindra Kelkar,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. I hope you are able to catch up with the old posts.
Many congrats AK on completing 5 years. Hope you carry on the tradition of path breaking discussions. Here is a hidden gem in Jaunpuri
https://youtu.be/5y0wePQyI8I
Karthik,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes. Maine ae jaan-e-wafa is a beautiful song. But for enjoying Jaunpuri I would turn to classical/semi-classical.
I can understand where you come from. Mast mayura nache from Dil ki rahein and kuhu kuhu bole koyaliya are two Ragmala that have Jaunpuri, and the former a superb one.
AKji,
As usual I am late to comment. Congratulations on completing five grand years of SoY. The journey has been interesting, informative and has revived the golden era of music.
Thanks to all the lovely people who add so much more by their comments.
Is it possible to create a section in every post which will list all the songs (or url’s) mentioned in that post? I am referring to comments section where lot of songs get mentioned. This will ensure most of (if not all) the songs for that theme at one place. Also, people can directly add url to that list. I am not sure of feasibility though, its just a thought.
Arunkumar deshmukh , Thanks . That was exactly the 45 rpm record which I was refering to. While Krishna kalle did sang some songs under KA but I am not sure about the others.
Congratulations on the 5th Anniversary. Quite an achievement. When you say, rather dolefully, that you have just scratched the surface – I would say, that is the beauty of it, isn’t it? We have lot more left to explore and am sure SOY for years to come would give us the pleasure of discussing and listening to the gems of the vintage era. For people like me, who are a misfit among the same generation in terms of music sensibilities, SOY is a great ‘go-to’ place. Thanks and wish SOY and the fans many more years of music!
Siddharth,
Thanks a lot for your compliments and your good wishes.
Most of the readers mention the URL of the songs they add. However, I find that some do not mention the song title. It would be impolite to put them under any discipline. In my main post, I embed the video, and dispense with the URL, mainly for aesthetics. My own preference for the time being is to let it be as it is.
Praveen,
Thanks a lot for your compliments and good wishes. It is great to have people from different generations here. I have some idea who is the oldest among us. But I propose to request the youngest follower of SoY to write a guest article here. Those below 35, raise your hands please.
AKji,
Thanks for your response.
I may qualify if you raise the bar to below 40 yrs. 🙂
Five years already! Seems like yesterday when you sent me a mail introducing SoY. But it sinks in when I look at the list of songs that I have discovered and added to my collection thanks to my association with it – over 200 and counting. It has been a pleasure to be part of the SoY family and it is gratifying to see that the family is growing with extremely knowledgeable members like Ms Latha and Mr Bhandarkar who joined us during this year.
I really like the way you have used this anniversary to present some more rare gems from diverse settings. A change from theme based posts. Mukhtar Begum, in particular, is a discovery for me.
Akji
I am sorry, I am horribly late to the party.
Please accept my congratulations on completion of another eventful year of SoY. By far this is the best article posted on the occasion of SoY’s anniversary. Thanks for the wonderful post and delightful songs. An excellent summarization of the past year. You have walked the extra step to say a few good words about every SoY member. The delineation of the discoveries you had made during the past year was indeed amazing and the related trivia/ tidbits made an enjoyable reading. I do appreciate the introduction of “Open House” link, responding to the request of the members. It won’t be an exaggeration if say that SoY, in itself, is a unique and top-notch blog on HFS of yesteryears and I think “Open House” is only one of its kinds among the blogs on this subject. With more and more new and knowledgeable members joining the blog, I am sure SoY will touch many more landmarks and milestones.
After the reminiscence and thanks giving, the true celebrations commenced with the Jaunpuri and Darbari section. I thoroughly enjoyed this section. But I accept your ‘misplaced adulation’ with a pinch of salt. As regards the translation of Taskeen ko hum na royen jo zauq-e-nazar mile, I regret that I did not save the link, and I tried my best to retrace it, but in vain. I enjoyed listening to this ghazal again and also the one by Mukhtar Begum. I do not think Jaunpuri is a light Raag. I have listened to Khayals in Jaunpuri by eminent artists, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty to name a few. I think the number rendered by Vidushi Deepali Nag too is a Dhrut Khayal. I guess Chhanan bichhua baaje is an Agra Gharana bandish. Vidushi Deepali Nag received training from eminent musicians like Ustad(s) Faiyaz Khan, Basheer Khan and Tassaduq Hussain Khan, all from Agra gharana. Vidushi Kishori Amonkar had trained under several tutors and Ustad Anwar Hussain Khan of Agra Gharana was one among them. I have not listened to the one hour+ Jaunpuri by Vidushi Kishori Amonkar and an hour with legendary Mukhtar Begum. I will listen to them at leisure.
Looking forward to many more years of fruitful association with SoY and its fraternity.
Thank you once again.
K S Bhatia ji,
Singer Anwar was a Rafi clone and has sung in some famous films of 70s. He has sung in about 40 Hindi films as a playback singer and cut several albums of Gazals etc. He went to USA for few years,did stage shows there,returned to India in 2004 and sings on stage nowadays.
Singer Pushpa Paghdahare was a very talented singer who has sung more than 500 songs in Hindi and Marathi films and NFS. She lives in poverty now, neglected.
Ambar kumar was a Chorus singer only.
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Siddharth,
I would keep you in the short list. Once we had a visitor who said he was below 30. I don’t know whether he is still around. But keep your article ready. I would make exception for youngsters. RD Burman, even Preetam (I hope I am getting his name correctly) would be permitted.
Subodh,
You were the first to join the caravan, on invitation. And look how it has grown by itself. Everyone else discovered it by himself or herself. It is clear your coming was auspicious. Thanks a lot.
Venkataramanji,
The number of greetings ahead of you might give that impression, but you are really not too late. Thanks a lot for your compliments and good wishes, and for the information on Dipali Nag. You have given me a great deal of relief. So I need not be embarrassed that Jaunpuri is one of my top favourite Ragas?
I stumbled upon that translation once, but I didn’t need to save the link. I think if one searches enough one should get it. But where are your broken-heart outpourings in Urdu?
I am coming very late to the party, because even though I read this post when there was not a single comment here, I told myself, “I will listen to the songs, and then I will comment.” That has not happened yet – and I don’t know when it will (possibly this weekend), but at least I should congratulate you. Bahut-bahut mubarak, AK. Your blog is exceptional. May it – and you – live long and prosper!
AK, Compliments to you for another most interesting article, with much valued new info of interest.
I am glad you invited me and I joined your website, for it has added so much to my knowledge and understanding of the old music, the songs of yore.
So here is another query. I find that now most songs cannot be converted and downloaded from U Tube unlike until a few months ago, the site citing copyright or length issues. What has changed, and, more pertinently, how to circumvent the problem? I am discovering so many new gems here, thanks to you and to many other knowledgeable friends around here, but not to be able to download them is quite disappointing.
AK ji,
I do not understand why and how Jaunpuri came to be considered a light Raag. Anyway what is a light raag? I would prefer to call Jaunpuri, Din Ki Darbari. A very sprighty raag indeed and one of my favourites too.
As regards the translation, you mean to say that I did not put enough effort to trace it! Well, if you say so I accept it. Responding to your last question, the post was on Mukesh, I believe. I must have blurted out on the spur of the moment. In my enthusiasm I overdo things, at times. Well now is the time for celebration, not the time for lamentation. May be I will overdo again, on a different occasion, on the spur of that moment.
Madhu,
Thanks a lot for your very generous words. Means a lot to me, coming from a very respected blogger herself. I am one of the many admirers of your blog.
Dinesh,
Thanks a lot for your compliments.
Earlier RealPlayer had this feature of downloading YT videos. It’s icon with “Download this video” got embedded in YT. There are still many video download softwares available free on the net. I don’t use them, nor I am very knowledgeable about them. You may like to ask your grandchildren. 🙂
Venkataramanji,
Please check the Note in parenthesis below the Devnagari script of the ghazal. I have given a link, probably you got the translation from that site.
Akji,
I overlooked the note. Yes you are right. All the more I accept my lapse.
Dinesh,
Here is a software that converts and downloads not only you tube but most of the videos, though you have to be aware of the garbage they try to throw in. Try it, is very good.
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_downloader/
Though this is an occasion to celebrate and congratulate, but to congratulate AK alone would be inappropriate, because he has always followed the all inclusive approach. So I congratulate all SOY family members. And in my mind I have no doubt that it will continue to become better and better. This year AK has put forward his discoveries in a fluid style which we all like. Actually I rarely end with only one reading of each new post.
In his filmi discoveries, I was surprised by Ashraf Khan’s song. This song is quite in contrast to his 3 songs in Roti, which were the life and soul of the film after removal of Begum Akhtar songs. The Jadoo Nagri song was known to me like Sharmaji and it is perhaps the only great song in that film. This song seems to be inspired from Lajawab (1950) Mukesh-Lata duet ‘zamane ka dastoor’ by Anil Biswas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z33QTl-erU
You have said in the write-up that ‘saari khushiyan saath layi’ from Jeevan Jyoti was discovered by Venkatramanji. But, I remember it as being posted by Mumbaikar8 (comment 56 in the post Rafi Duets by SDB). Maybe Venkatramanji might have mentioned it independently somewhere else of which I am not aware.
Your confusing Ravi with Hemant in the Vachan song is a mystery to me since you are such a fan of Hemant. I never confused that song with Hemant. I saw this film long ago and was thinking who was the singer and became aware only in the internet era. HFGK was also not with me then.
Hans Ji,
There was at least one more melodious song in Jadoonagri, the Mahendra Kapoor Asha duet,
Jadoo bhare tore naina kateele,
Jadoo Bhare Tore Naina Katile- Asha, Mahendra (Ja…: https://youtu.be/cRfoWyMp2ks
I think I will find support from Bhatia Ji.
Sharmaji,
I am not saying that other songs are not melodious or not good. I was talking about great song.
Replace ‘jadoo bhare tore naina kateele’ with ‘do naina matware tihare’ and see what you get.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_URwqxX5lE
Hans,
Thanks a lot for your good wishes. About Saari khushiyan saath layi, I also credited Mumbaikar8 for this discovery, but later discovered that Venkataramanji had posted it earlier in a post on SDB, which had gone unnoticed. I don’t remember whether I put the record correct or not on the site, but wrote mails to them. But I am impressed by your sharp observation. As I am travelling I am not able to locate and link the reference here. Now that you have pointed it out, I would give the link on return. I should also thank you because I had rested with private amends; now the right person gets credit publicly.
About mistaking Hemant Kumar, I was doing a number of things at a time, when I heard this song on the radio. The closest name that came to my mind was Hemant Kumar.
AK ji,
Best wishes on the completion of 5 years of SOY.
A great article on the occasion and also various informative comments which followed.
Although I contributed to the blog in my small way initially, of late I am a silent follower. Hoping to be active again.
I appreciate the great work you are doing relentlessly and wish the same goes on for years to come.
Anil Kane
Anil Kane,
Welcome back. Thanks a lot for your generous words and good wishes.
Arvinder Sharmaji,
FYI, a low quality video clip of the Jadoo Nagri Asha-Mahendra Kapoor duet “Jadoo bhare tore naina kateele” is also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/6tBwJhiLGBQ.
AKji,
Thanks for the consideration (#65).
Btw, i am no fan of RDB , but I like him because of Gulzar.
Please do not make exception for Preetam or Pritam :-).
For now, I would like to keep enjoying the blog, as Hans ji said.. one reading is not enough.
AKji,
Please correct the link for the year 2014 under Archives section. It opens 2013 posts.
AK congrats on getting to be 5 years. In my pursuit of youth and trees I forgot to extend felicitations.
Why have issues with RD as a composer.? He may not have been everybody’s cup of tea , in my opinion he could hold his own with any of the composers featured here.
Arvindersharma, Hans[ji’s] , @77,78;
The duet song of Jadoonagri is def. a good song but is a typical style of S N Tripathi / chitragupt MDs which one can relate to other fantasy and mythalogical movies of their times. Hans ji had triple ACES up his sleeve as a counter to that song by offering the great K L Saigal sahibs masterpiece ” Do naina matware tihare ” . It will be a zulm to offer any comments / comparison to that . I will however adopt a midway path and offer ” Naino mein badra chhaye’ by Lataji
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqEAzTcVVlg
Shekhar Ji,
Many thanks for your upload. It seems that this is the best available video for the forgotten film. Nice of you to have discovered it.
SSW,
Thanks a lot for your greetings.
I don’t have any issues with RD Burman. I am not much excited by the music of post-70s. I have no musical literacy, so my comments reflect purely my likes or disinterest.
Congratulations on completing five years of online existence. The scholarly well researched articles are valuable reference materials for serious music lovers. One can spend hours and hours browsing the contents of this blog without feeling saturated. The contents of this blog are pure gold.
At the same time, I find that at least one site is shamelessly plagiarising the contents of this blog. Here are two such links that I have come across:
http://pz10.com/forgotten-composers-unforgettable_12/ ( a verbatim copy of https://www.songsofyore.com/forgotten-composers-unforgettable-melodies-7-jamal-sen/) and http://pz10.com/geeta-dutts-best-songs-by-sd-burman/ (a verbatim copy of https://www.songsofyore.com/geeta-dutts-best-songs-by-sd-burman/). Such shameless copying of your copyright content is unacceptable. Please look into it.
Atul,
Thanks a lot for your compliments. Your own blog has become the major source of information on old film music. With HFGK, your site is the first point of stop for me. So I have to thank you for that, too.
Thanks a lot for letting me know of the plagiarism. I guess one has to live with such rogues.
Siddharth at # 83
I hope, AK will not my trespassing;
why not something like Gulzar’s RDB or RDB’s Gulzar, we can get some of the best of RDB. No need to say I am a big Gulzar fan.
SOY is truly a treasure trove that I have been lucky to stumble upon! May it go from strength to strength in the years to come! In the meanwhile, here’s a ‘daasarapada’ made famous by Bhimsenji. The raga is Jaunpuri:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR1eruBMhwk
The 8 lines starting from ‘Naashai rog harai saba peera’ in M.S.’s rendition of Sant Tulsidas’s Hanuman Chaalisa are in Jaunpuri:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ifQJv22G90
The ragas, in order, are Des, Bahar,Maand, Jaunpuri and Shankara.
Meerabai’s ‘Hari tuma haro’ rendered by MS, the raga being Darbari:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuRp3OmnoMo
A link to a Wikipedia article on the song and its Gandhiji connection:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Tuma_Haro.
The ‘Ayodhyakaanda’ piece of MS’s rendition of the ‘Naama Ramayanam’ is in Darbari:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPwG5kYfLgI
The ragas, in order, are Yaman Kalyan, Darbari, Kalavati and Shuddha Sarang.
Here is the 2nd part of the rendition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jkvYc-BlJ8
The ragas, in order, are Tilak Kamod, Dhani and Pilu.
Ashwin Bhandarkar,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. Subodh has already complimented you on your expertise in classical music. In a short while you have become an important member of SoY. I have heard the links you have given Bhimsen Joshi’s Jaunpuri and MS’s Hari tum haro are outstanding. Thanks a lot.
What a way to wrap up five years of SoY! Life has been incredibly hectic and I have not had the time to visit this site regularly. But whenever I did it was a joy. Kudos to you, AK, and all your regular contributors for making SoY an oasis in the grind of our daily lives. May SoY celebrate many such anniversaries in future.
Soumya,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. I hope you are able to visit more often.
Subodhji & AKji,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. What I love about SoY is how everyone shares so freely of his/her knowledge and respects others’ views and opinions. Most of all, the passion that every contributor has for sharing what they have/know and for learning from others is so palpable …. and infectious!
Praise all the way for AK for creating the rapturous Blog SoY and successfully completing first five years with great achievements of kindling a thirst for listening to the bygone songs filmy or otherwise, praise for creating a “stately pleasure dome decree” in the air at a fingertip, at a click or two and there comes the re-visitations of the time of our time and the time of our fore-parents their parents, notes and airs, jingles and refrains, heard and unheard or those hidden deep in the subconscious of the social psyche, just a ripple, an upsurge showing the wealth beneath the ocean surfing and disappearing, a kaleidoscope of musical facets of the melody, tune, harmony, choruses, composition and song-the song of heart! Wow and wow again! Not just for AK but wow for all the readers who wittingly and unwittingly enrich the understanding after every post and otherwise in the “Gup-Sup Adda. And all the good wishes for the next five years!
Shalan Lal
Shalan Lal,
Thanks a lot for your very generous praise and good wishes.
Jaunpuri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUGjgk29cp4
Karthik,
Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana has to be one of the best film songs, if we take it as Jaunpuri.
Agree agree, fully agree! 🙂
Dear AKji,
I read your comment no 13 about OPN. I understand your view that since OP excluded Lata, your interest in his music is a bit limited. However, there are some very interesting aspects to OP’s music which can be explored by a blog like yours. Some suggestions from my side are 1) OP-Shamshad association 2) OP-Geeta Dutt association. In my opinion OP-Geeta combination was unbeatable 3) OP-Duets. In my view, OP had a special talent in composing duets & in this he definitely outscores Naushad.
Ravindra Kelkar,
On OPN my views are purely personal, and that does not take away from his greatness. All the combinations you have mentioned are OPN’s special forte. I am sure you would have seen my post on his songs for Rafi. More posts should come on him in time. Thanks for your comments.
I was surprised that a reader expressed his intense view about Onkar Prakash Naiyyar as if his view was the only view. There is a bad quality of argumentativeness associated with the people from the Indian sub-continent.
It is certain that OP contributed a unique kind of music to the existing genre of the Indian film music and thus enriched it. I was told by a Punjabi that Naiyyar means a Bright Star in the sky. He certainly was in the Hindi film music of the fifties and the following decades.
It would be silly to argue about the richness of the quality of the voice of Lata. She stands beyond all praises.
With reference to the comment number 105 I think OP missed the bus due to his hubris. Lata did not miss him as she had the exciting melodic compositions from all India Music Directors and she grew and developed well, while OP though exceedingly good trapped himself in his selfie “that I do better without Lata”
It is his loss more than the loss of Lata. With Lata he could have achieved Everest.
What happened between Lata and OP is now a legend and could not be turned back. However if it would not have happened then OP could have benefited as from Anil Bishwas to new comers music composers directors benefited towards the end of last century by the voice of Lata. It was more to the hubris of OP to be blamed than that of Lata.
Towards the end of his life he made some hurtful gaffes about Asha that made her silent when he was found dead in the bathroom of his friend with whom he was lodged. Asha was in England then and Lata in Bombay offered generous tribute about his musicality.
One must learn something from this.
Shalan Lal
Congrats. The one music site that I am never tired of. Keep on coming back to this site every so often but have rarely commented. I especially liked the “filmy songs in classical raga ‘ series. Enlightening and shows the treasure of Indian classical music
Ganapati,
Welcome to SoY and thanks for your appreciation. Hope we hear more from you in future.
Superlative Jaunpuri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXLLhfyaWs
Karthik,
It is indeed superlative. Heard for the first time. Thanks for introducing this song. SNT has broadly kept the traditional bandish; I felt he should have resisted the temptation to make changes in the traditional tune.
Hi Ak
I think is review is very slick and comprehensive. I am re-reading it and discovering new jewels for example following:
With reference to the Vacahn song:
“Yun hi chupke chupke bahane bahane nigahon se dil mein by Ravi and Asha Bhosle from Vachan (1955), lyrics Prem Dhavan, music Ravi
I wonder if Ravi assisted Hemant Kumar long enough to sing the song in the imitative voice of Hemant Kumar? I think Hemant Kumar established himself more as a singer from the end of forties and early fifties. His voice was a resounding solid than the voices of his contemporary singers and quickly dominated the filmy music all through the fifties.
There was a comic film called “Albeli” in 1955. The music was by Ravi and HK sang one solo song like “Tuze Aanaa Padega” and a duet with Ravi “Hum To Piike Chale” and third was a “threesome” of HK, Lata and Ravi called “Muskarati Hui Chandani”. This song is more in the style of the composition of HK. So in that period Ravi and HK seemed to be very close. The lead actor was Pradeep Kumar who proved that HK’s voice was bespoke for him as the films like “Nagin” and other films showed it.
The film “Albeli” was inspired from a Hollywood film.
Shalan Lal
But Muskurati Hui Chandni, a splendid romantic song, is a duet of Lata-Hemant; there is no third voice!?
Sharan Lal,
You are absolutely right Muskurati hui chandni sounds like a HK composition. This could be because of Ravi’s association with HK. Ravi’s voice might have some natural similarity to HK, and the association might also have some bearing – it did not have to be very long to be influenced sub-consciously. However, you might have noted Hans does not feel there is any similarity.
But I share Dinesh’s doubt – where is the third voice. It seems to be only HK-Lata duet.
Hello again AK , Dinesh Jain, Hans and others
With reference to the Albeli song “Muskarati Hui Chandani” I used the word “threesome”. Most of the readers agreed that the song is sweet but it is a “Duet”. On the screen the film showed Pradeep and Gitabali sang them. So it has to be a duet. Now I present a most ridiculous, gooneyn and Looney theory about the “threesome”.
This theory has two foundations stones. One is “Sometime back I heard on the radio a wonderful ‘Hemant Kumar’-Asha Bhosle duet – Yun hi chupke chupke bahaane bahaane” which AK later discovered that it was not HK in the duet but Ravi himself. The second is- Ravi visited England sometime in eighties and had private singings concerts in which he presented many of his compositions. Those exclusive sung songs of HK’s he sang as close as in the voice of HK and he got generous applauses.
The recording of the songs in those old days were very laborious process. Sometimes the songs were half recorded after six hours studio time. The song recording was done only at the fourplaces in Bombay, Tardev studio, Rajkamal, Mehboob and then RK studio etc.. All these were busy making roaring business. The booking of the studio could be got after six months. New artists often could not put enough pressure on those studios to get the booking if some top ranking artists dropped their booking. They had to depend on their luck.
Now the stupid theory is that the song “Muskarati Hui Chandani” was not recorded in one go. It was left half recorded. When the second time the studio booking done HK was in Calcutta with his family situation and was unable to come to Bombay. Those days’ artists did not travel much by Indian Airlines. And the producer had no big money to squander on a cheaply produced film like “Albeli”. So the second part of the song was sung in refined HK voice by Ravi.
It is noted that singers like “Surender” and many other would not leave their homes in case singing or acting opportunity would be missed. They would stay with their telephones Having a base in Bombay was very important for all those who were in the filmy business.
Can you outstrip my outlandish and ludicrous theory?
Shalan Lal
Shalan Lal,
As I read I took everything you said at face value. Your last sentence left me puzzled. So you were taking us for a ride?
Dear Ak
I am sorry that you felt I played a joke on you.
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I am used to the above technic and using it makes serious statements. You will find in all my previous articles I had used the above technics that makes the articles full proof.
The comic words I used because the film “Albeli” took the audience by cheating them in the character that Gitabali played. I do not mean to take you for a ride. But wanted to show what might have happened in those situations. After all filmy art is more deceptive than the theatrical Art.
Shalan Lal
Shalan Lal,
It is good we are still coming up with new theories after 60-70 years have passed after the event and all persons concerned have died to preclude any enquiry or rebuttal. We Indians are very good in this art and have been doing it for centuries, so much so that it is hard to segregate history from mythology. We have this freedom of creation from ancient times and internet has actually empowered us in this regard.
But, this theory of ‘muskuraati hui chandani’ does not sound plausible unless we get the video clip of the song uploaded. Because, the audio clips available on youtube are all based on the record of the song cut by the record company in which there is no chance of them booking any studio, because they had their own studio.
Otherwise also it will be very difficult to prove the theory despite your forensic and circumstantial evidence. In 1955 there was no problem of the booking of the studios which started in about mid 60s and even then it was possible to get recording done in ordinary recording studios with ease if one did not want any sophisticated equipments which were available with these so-called monopolised and pre-booked studios. Also in 1955 there was no procedure to record part songs.
Secondly, Albeli was not a cheaply produced film. Its producer was Devendra Goel of the Goel Cine Corporation fame which has always been considered a big banner. This film had stars like Geeta Bali (one of the top female actresses of the time), Pradeep Kumar ( a star after the stupendous success of Anarkali and Nagin) and Johny Walker. Albeli name was given from inspiration of Albela, in which Geeta Bali was heroine, and the character was written for her which proves her clout.
Also, after the success of Nagin Hemant Kumar was the most sought after MD among the new MDs and was awfully busy in the 3 years of 1955-57 giving music to about half of his films in the career. He also sang more than two-thirds of his songs in the period between 1953-57. So it was not possible for him to be absent from Bombay for a prolonged period of time.
Dear Mr Hans
Thanks for your arguments. You have made many points that stimulate the understanding of the Hindi Film and SoY.
Your opening statement, “It is good we are still coming up with new theories after 60-70 years have passed after the event and all persons concerned have died to preclude any enquiry or rebuttal. We Indians are very good in this art and have been doing it for centuries, so much so that it is hard to segregate history from mythology” is very interesting. But I feel sad that your attributions to this way of increasing knowledge due to the “Indians” making it exclusive. My experience tells me that British, American, Continental, Japanese and many other cultures do similar things and increase their understanding this way. This is a gift of humanity and all human beings to indulge in them.
In your second paragraph you seemed to argue that if you get the video copy of the song you will be surer that the song will tell you the true voices used in the song. To me this kind of measure to find the truth is very unsound. The films are shot in small pieces and in the cutting room the editor joins them and the director of the film and the editor decide how the film to be seen by the public.
The pre-recorded song is also acted out recoded in the pieces on the shot films. So in this process there are a lot of skilful manipulations done. The end result is seen by the audience but this end result not necessarily will tell you the information you wanted to find out. Many times half shot half recorded film songs stay in the tins for a lengthy period.
A very good example is RK’s “Aah”. This film was made with two ends of the film. One end with sad “Devads” type and the other end happy that the TB patient RK recovers and marries to Nargis. RK as director producer of the film decided the sad end will create more effect on the audience. So the happy end remained in the tin for six decades. Then Randhir Kapoor decided that “Aah” should be re-released with the “Happy Ending” to continue the public image of the eternal romance of the “Bollywood” couple. And we have seen the film “Aah” happy ever after.
In my argument I mentioned that the “Film making Art “is more deceptive than the Theatrical Art. So what you see on the screen may not be the measure of the truth.
Then in the following paragraph you made a statement “In 1955 there was no problem of the booking of the studios….” You have not given support to this argument.
The evidence is the Indian films became popular after the Independence of India as the “Independence movement” evaporated and people felt free to watch films without being told by the “Gandhian leaders” not to watch the devil films. The Indian films got governmental approval as an Industry made popular all over the world by RK’s “Awara” a vast foreign currency earner. The demand for the Indian films from the audiences from Middle East, East Africa, and Soviet Russia grew up in geometrical proportions. Bombay film Industry started producing about seven hundred films per year.
Indian film music inside India, neighbouring countries, Middle East, East Africa etc became extremely popular. The sound recording studio of Tardev was busy as a beehive. Rest is in my argument.
Then again you made a statement that “HK” was available in Bombay all the time. What is the basis? All we know “HK” spent his childhood in Kashi but he was rooted in Calcutta. He had his family home in Calcutta. So naturally he is expected to visit his family regularly. If he would have not visited his mind would not have paid full attention to his musical art that depends on a very sensitive creative process.
There are many other statements in your argument also need sound reasoning.
But I would like to finish this dialogue here because it will become argumentative and boring and too much space for one issue will get out of proportion.
I appreciate your writing and right to have your “say” right or wrong!
Shalan Lal