DP Rangan set-off a tandem series on Roshan-Madan Mohan with their classical-based songs. I have since written on their songs for Rafi (Madan Mohan’s; Roshan-Rafi covered earlier); Qawwalis; Mukesh; and Asha Bhosle. Several readers requested that I write on their ghazals. Since I am covering them generally by singers, ghazal would have been an overlapping category. Fortunately, Talat Mahmood, widely regarded as a legend in ghazal singing, was an important singer for both Madan Mohan and Roshan, and he is yet to be covered. Therefore, a tandem post also gives us an opportunity to look at their prowess for ghazal composition for this singer gifted with a silky-smooth voice. I would be flexible in the definition of the genre, and would also include songs that may not be strictly ghazal as per the rules of structure and meter.
Madan Mohan and Talat Mahmood
Madan Mohan had a special bonding with Talat Mahmood – both representing a certain class and dignity. Their fascination for ghazal brought them closer, making Madan Mohan the most prolific composer for him next to C Ramchandra. As per N Venkaratman’s statistics, this combination accounts for 23 songs from 14 films. Considering that Talat Mahmood’s film songs are only one-tenth of Rafi’s, in relative terms he was the most preferred male singer for Madan Mohan. Remember, Madan Mohan’s Rafi songs are 168.
And quality? There could never be any doubt, but just recall that their great run started from 1951 itself, i.e. the year after Madan Mohan’s debut. Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana (Madhosh; 1951) is among the best ever songs of Talat Mahmood. Madan Mohan continued his great melodic journey with Main paagal mera manwa pagal, Mera qaraar le ja (Ashiyana; 1952); Kahta hai dil tum ho mere liye (duet with Asha Bhosle; Mem Sahib; 1956); Ye nai nai preet hai (duet with Lata Mangeshkar; Pocketmar; 1956); Teri chamakati ankhon ke aage ye sitaare kuchh bhi nahi (duet with Lata Mangeshkar), Do din ki mohabbat mein humne kuchh khoya hai kuchh paya hai (Chhote Babu; 1957); Yaad jab aye teri (Mohar; 1959); Teri nigaahon mein teri hi baahon mein rahne ko ji chaahta hai (duet with Asha Bhosle), Beraham aasmaon meri manzil bata hain kahan (Bahana; 1960), and so on.
In the 1960s, the film industry started forgetting that Talat Mahmood also existed. And then came Madan Mohan who brought him at the centre stage with Jahan Ara (1964) with unforgettable solos like Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhai hai, Teri aankh ke ansoo pi jaaun, Main teri nazar ka suroor hun, and an equally memorable duet with Lata Mangeshkar, Ae sanam aaj ye kasam khayein. In Haqeeqat, in the same year, Talat Mahmood was one of the voices in Ho ke majboor tumhein usne bhulaya hoga. And he capped it with Tumhin to meri puja ho (duet with Lata Mangehskar), from Suhagan, again from 1964.
Roshan and Talat Mahmood
Roshan started with Talat Mahmood about the same time with equally memorable songs in Anhonee (1952), like Main dil hun ek armaan bhara, and two duets with Lata Mangehskar, Samaan ke dil mein hamaare zara khayal rahe and Mere dil ki dhadkan kya bole. In the same year he composed another absolutely melodious duet with Lata Mangehskar, Mat chhed zindagi ke khamosh taar so ja, dil-e-beqaraar so ja in Raag Rang.
That is as great a beginning as any. But something inexplicable happened. Roshan gave some more songs in the next two years, but thereafter the tap just went dry. I couldn’t find any song of this combination after 1954. Being a protégé of Anil Biswas, one would have thought that Roshan would have gone an extra mile to continue with Talat Mahmood – remember this was the period when Talat Mahmood was a sensation. But many things were happening at the same time. Several of Roshan songs for Mukesh, including in some films produced by the singer himself, turned out to be enormously popular, even though the films bombed. In parallel, Rafi was establishing himself as the most versatile singer, leaving everyone far behind. Once Roshan took to Rafi like duck to water, in the 60s, there was no room for Talat Mahmood in his musical horizon. While this may explain the scarcity of Roshan-Talat Mahmood, this does not mitigate our craving. The two were superb artistes with similar elegance and class in their music, and had the potential to give us many more songs than they did. Their combination accounts for just 10 songs.
Now we see something interesting if we compare Roshan/Madan Mohan-Talat Mahmood combination with Roshan/Madan Mohan-Mukesh. One is the mirror image of the other in reverse – Roshan had great innings with Mukesh; Madan Mohan though starting very promisingly with him, turned lukewarm towards him. In case of Talat Mahmood, Madan Mohan gave great importance to him; Roshan composed some outstanding songs for him in the beginning, but soon left him altogether.
Continuing the tandem series on Roshan and Madan Mohan, let us enjoy their best songs for Talat Mahmood as a tribute the three masters of ghazal.
Madan Mohan-Talat Mahmood songs
1. Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana from Madhosh (1951), lyrics Raja Menhdi Ali Khan
I heard this song ages ago from the HMV LP ‘Talat Mahmood in a blue mood’ which carried it as the lead song, Ever since then, when I think of Talat Mahmood I think of Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana. It was not surprising that this song made Talat Mahmood the runaway winner of SoY Award for the Best Male Playback Singer of 1951. Pathos in Raga Jaunpuri is deeply moving.
2. Mera qaraar le ja, mujhe beqaraar kar ja from Ashiyana (1952), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
The velvet voice continues to create magic. Rajendra Krishna would now have a long association with Madan Mohan. Lata Mangeshkar sings the twin female version song. You can now test my theory of the male twin being a front-runner and the female, a laggard, though Lata Mangeshkar’s song by itself is absolutely melodious. I quite believe that she became reluctant to sing such twin songs if the male singer was Talat Mahmood. This link has both the versions.
3. Ye nai nai preet hai, tu hi to mera meet hai (duet with Lata Mangeshkar) from Pocketmar (1956), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Now Talat Mahmood lends his voice to Dev Anand who romanced with life, in this great romantic duet with Lata Mangeshkar singing for Geeta Bali. The couple by themselves on a sail boat, the setting could not have been better for such a delightful song. Talat Mahmood was already getting known as the voice of the Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. Now he was singing for all the three superstars of the time – Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand.
4. Yaad jab aye teri, apni guzri zindagi yaad kar leta hun main from Mohar (1959), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Talat Mahmood is now back in his soft, velvet voice to create a pensive mood. This film had a great song by Hemant Kumar, Kho gaya jaane kahan aarzuon ka jahan, and a Lata Mangeshkar song Tum ho saath raat bhi haseen hai, which became etched in the memory of lovers of old film songs as it was one of the two most famous signature tunes of radio programmes on old film songs.
5. Teri nigaahon mein teri hi baahon mein rahne ko ji chaahta hai (duet with Asha Bhosle) from Bahana (1960), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
Talat Mahmood transforms himself when he sings this fast-paced jovial duet with Asha Bhholse.
6. Beraham aasman meri manzil bata hai kahan from Bahana
In the same film, Madan Mohan composed a quintessential melancholic Talat Mahmood song. And remember, this film also had Lata Mangeshkar’s superb song based on Yaman Raga, Ja re badra bairi ja. Yet if Madan Mohan missed the popular awards, the fault lay with the bosses who controlled such things.
7. Phir wohi shaam wohi gham wohi tanhai hai from Jahan Ara (1964), lyrics Rajendra Krishna
When Talat Mahmood was all but forgotten by the film industry, Madan Mohan created this immortal ghazal. This film had two more superlative solos, Main teri nazar ka suroor hun, tujhe yaad ho ki na yaad ho and Teri aaankh ke ansoo pi jaaun aisi meri taqdeer kahan, and a duet with Lata Mangeshkar, Ae sanam aaj ye kasam khayein.
8. Tumhin to meri pooja ho from Suhagan (1964), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
Let me end Madan Mohan-Talat Mahmood combination with this joyous romantic duet.
Roshan-Talat Mahmood songs
9. Main dil hun ek armaan bhara from Anhonee (1952), lyrics Satyendra Atthaiya
Recently piano songs were at the centre of discussion on the Open House thanks to KS Bhatiaji’s fascination for the sound of this instrument. Here Raj Kapoor sings at a party, sitting at the grand piano. Piano represented class and an old-world charm, which has become extinct from our movies. The hero with his dreamy eyes could sweep any lady off her feet.
10. Sama ke dil mein hamare zara khayal rahe (duet with Lata Mangeshkar) from Anhonee
Only audio of this song is available, but we can guess it is a romantic duet between the lead pair, Raj Kapoor and Nargis. One of their best duets.
11. Har nai raat naya dard liye aati hai…Mat chhed zindagi ke khamosh taar so ja, dil-e-beqaraar so ja (duet with Lata Mangeshkar) from Raag Rang (1952), lyrics Kaif Irfani
This duet starts with a slow recital – Har nai raat naya dard liye aati hai, neend aankhon se bahut door hui jaati hai in Talat Mahmood’s honey-coated voice. And then another matchless Talat Mahmood-Lata Mangeshkar duet starts.
12. Aji humko hai tumse pyar (duet with Lata Mangeshkar) from Mehbooba (1954), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri
We saw how Madan Mohan alternated between soft, melancholic to peppy, jovial songs, especially in duets. Here Roshan does the same and creates this fabulous joyous duet picturised on Shammi Kapoor and Nalini Jaywant. The readers would remember, Shammi Kapoor was a sedate, thin-moustached hero, pre-1957 transformation with Tumsa Nahi Dekha (OP Nayyar). The readers would also remember that Mehbooba was the film in which Roshan was mid-way replaced by OP Nayyar after his super success in Aar Paar. This created serious schism in the film music world, with top music directors and singers divided in camps. But by then Roshan had created this superb duet. It is surprising that after such great beginning with Talat Mahmood, Roshan lost all interest in him.
Here is the playlist of Talat Mahmood-Madan Mohan-Roshan songs.
Disclaimer: The song links have been taken from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the readers. The copyright over these songs rests with the respective owners.
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely. With the music maestros, Madan Mohan and Roshan both known for their intense music creation and when the voice is Talat Mehmood then the surroundings are absolutely serene .Closing this with a verse from Talat song composed y Roshan “Unko aata hai pyar pe gussa, humein aata hain gussa pe pyar”
Anil,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
A good article on Talat’s association with MM and Roshan. I also checked his songs with Roshan after 1952-53, couldn’t find one.
Anup,
Thanks a lot.
How could you have left Talat’s “Humse ayaa na gaya” composed by Madan Mohan for 1957 movie Dekh Kabira Roya?
Ravindra Sharma,
Yes, how could I miss it! It was complete oversight. Thanks for mentioning it.
Wonderful! Every song mentioned is a gem and how wish Talat saab had more songs with these two musical geniuses. I’m particularly pleased to see “aji humko hai tumse pyaar” included in the list; the witty repartee style lyrics set to music make it an absolute delight.
Apart from the movies mentioned in the post, there was more collaboration between Roshan and Talat Mahmood in 1953 for the movie Gunah. Although, Snehal Bhatkar provided the music for the film, one song, a Talat solo, was composed by Roshan:
Mere khayalon mein aake gale laga jaa – Gunah (1953)/Kidar Sharma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pwod4A_Bv0
Shalini,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. I do wish Roshan had more songs for him. Thanks for adding the song from Gunah.
AK,
Roshan’s last song for Talat was probably from Malkin in 1953, seems he sang himself.
https://youtu.be/JGvZFWlztjs
AYE MERE HUMSAFAR …. MAALKIN
Wonder went wrong after that, Roshan’s fondness for Rafi started only in 1960.
Madan Mohan Talat Mahmood association is far more impressive.
Like all listed songs except Suhagan’s duet, (like Jahan Ara’s
Ai sana) like the other Lata Manna Dey duet Bheegi Chandni chhayi bekhudi better.
Mumbaikar8,
Are you doubting that the song from Mehbooba (1954) was Roshan’s creation?
AK ji,
Nice post and some of the most melodious songs. I think along with Roshan, SDB also abandoned him after Devdas, Aarman, Taxi Driver, etc and then after a long gap gave the immortal ‘Jalte Hain Jis Ke Live’ in Sujata, probably the last song Talat sang for SDB. Same thing happened with Naushad also, hardly any song after Babul. By the way, how many songs are sung by Talat in total for Hindi Films? Any idea? Less than 1000 most probably.
I recall one more excellent solo “Do Din Ki Mohabbat Mein Hum Ne” from Chhote Babu composed by MM.
Thanks. The total film songs of Talat Mahmood, which probably may surprise you, are about 450. Since he was so typed, I think most music directors gave him up after his high in the 50s.
What a wonderful collection of songs! I wish you would make a playlist that I could listen to in the background. 🙂
Though I do cavil at your statement that Talat was Madan Mohan’s preferred male singer. I doubt that very much, though the two of them were very good friends in real life. I don’t think that using the total number of songs Rafi and Talat sang (in their career) as a metric gives any proof of a music director’s preference.
This is a touching post. Talat’s voice was surely unique, as well as his Urdu rendering.. No one else could render the songs he has sung. While not every composer could utilise his voice, it is sad that those who could also did not persist with him despite hits. Roshan’s dropping Talat is ununderstandable. Main dil hun ek arman bhara is one of Talat’s top solos with excellent lyrics. The same thing happened with Naushad and SDB too. Naushad and SDB had also summarily dispensed with Mukesh after a time, despite hits. If Talat was made to sing songs of a type, that was perhaps more the fault of the MD. Vasant Desai made him sing a happy duet in School Master (1959) – O Dildar Bolo Ek Bar; SJ gave Talat songs in happy moods, as late as 1961 in Roop Ki Rani, Chorn Ka Raja. But they too forgot him after that.
I have read many stories about why Talat fell. It is said that he smoked in the presence of Naushad, so Naushad dropped him. SDB had only taken him reluctantly, so he told Talat before recording Jalte Hain Jiske Liye , something like “please don’t spoil the song”. Sometimes the actor or director or producer preferred some one else . It is said DilipKumar wanted Talat to sing Ye Mera Diwanapan Hai in Yahudi, but the song went to Mukesh at the instance of the MD or on the spin of the coin. [I had also heard that Talat himself suggested Mukesh, as Mukesh was his friend and was having a lean time. He had also given the song Suhana Safar in Madhumati to Mukesh in like manner] Then we are told that Talat went on an extended concert tour abroad and the MDs could not wait and roped in other singers. But above all, the mood of the industry seems to have changed with the 60s The refined and decorous style of Talat could not hold sway. It is the passing of an era, not just neglect of a voice! It is so sad that such a fine voice was not fully utilised by an industry where music still counted, but we console ourselves that almost every song that Talat sang is a gem, which is more than what can be claimed for anyone else.
Anu,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. I have added a playlist of 19 songs of Talat Mahmood-Madan Mohan-Roshan combination at the end of the post.
I agree I misapplied the maths. But the point remains Madan Mohan liked Talat Mahmood and composed several outstanding songs for him.
Mr Nanjappa,
Thanks a lot for your very perceptive observations. Since all MDs have the same pattern with Talat Mahmood, I think the answer lies in the singer himself. His style was so niche that the film world could take only so many songs of his. Rafi was the man for all seasons. Mukesh too was more varied. Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar provided some more variety.
AKji:
A wonderful post. The accompanying playlist is an added bonus. While Talat did sing a variety of songs, his forte seems to have been the ‘blues’. Here is ‘Mohabbat mein kashish hogi’ from Khoobsoorat (1952; MD: MM):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV38Sqg962w
AK@ 10
No, not at all, my observation was just instinctive.
Canasya,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation. Mohabbat mein kashish hogi is a nice song.
Nice post, AK!
Here’s something which has intrigued me for years – the similarity between the tunes of ‘Jaaye to jaaye kahaan’ and ‘Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahaana’, esp. when it comes to their antaraas. Was SD inspired by the MM creation?
Ashwin,
Thanks a lot. Now that you say it, there is indeed a similarity between the antaras. If you go by which came first, then the answer is obvious. But there is also something to be said for what a music director said when questioned about plagiarism/inspiration: We are all creating hundreds of songs based on the same limited number of notes. Somewhere you are bound to see some similarity.
wooow….Yaad jab aaye teri, apni guzri zindagi, yaad kar leta hun main, aah bhar leta hun main….kya song hain !!! heard first time ! real gem. Great going articles on MM and Roshan..
Jignesh,
I am happy to know that you got a new song which is absolutely mesmerising. Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
Ashwin ji @20;
Some times two or more songs meet at a crossing and without any stop signal , they pause for a moment and fade away in different directions on getting green signal . Whenever I hear Talat song….Hum se aaya na gaya…..from Dekh Kabira Roya , my mind gets diverted to one of the punjabi folk song made popular by Surinder kaur…….Lang ajaa pattan jhana da . One has to listen to slow version of this song for similarity . The fast version is available on YT . Madan Mohan being Punjabi could be a factor prompting him for this appreciation of punjabi folk song . Yes …we have been hearing many punjabi based songs from MM movies …..the last one …Veer Zara…had two or three typical punjabi songs.
Here is the faster version of Surinder Kaur song….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7esYpwLKRVs
AK ji ;
Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara…….song is a longer version carrying the two stanzas and extra interlude which otherwise is not included in the CD and cassette versions . This makes it more interesting to enjoy over a longer period.
KS Bhatiaji,
Also, you see the different reactions to Raj Kapoor’s singing. Nargis, Aga and everyone is engrossed, but Om Prakash for some apparently malicious reason ridicules it, and tells Rani Sahiba to keep him as her private secretary. He also mocks Raj Kapoor to give up vakalat and pick up a dholak for tak dhina dhin.
Quite an expected dimension of MM – Roshan’s career is taken care so well.
Herein we have MM’s most known Talat Songs. That would easily prompt the Talat fans to list up other MM songs !
MM- Roshan series has got on so well, that we would expect that we will have the benefit of revising their careers in this year with all major singers like Manna Dey, Mahemdra Kapoor, Shamshad Begum etc.
Even revisiting her Lata Mangeshkar songs – not covered on Soy till now, should be a gold mine……
Anu Warrier 13 AK@15
Nice conversation and interesting theme of exploring of this multi musicians and one singer idea.
Question about all liking Talat and Talat getting depressed towards the end for not getting work is a bit superfluous statement from the composers when they had the right to choose the singers.
In fact they did not know how to use his voice when it was settled in certain direction for which the composers themselves were responsible to settle it that way. Then they thought his voice was not suitable for the kind of music they were composing.
Even though for many of his songs his voice was more responsible to allure the audience than the art of the composers.
I think almost all the composers who used his voice they did not do more art to explore the various kinds of singings through his voice and that made it limited and they found excuse to abandon him
A sad story of Talat how the cookie crumbled in the end of the golden era!
Shalan Lal
Ashokji,
Since it is a series, a few more would be on way. Without revealing much, I have already covered Roshan-Lata Mangeshkar early in my blogging, so that would not be repeated.
Shalan Lal,
Thanks a lot for the appreciation. I don’t think it would be fair to blame anyone for Talat fade-out. He had only that much to give, but our songs exploded in many directions. If you just think of varieties, Rafi-Johnny Walker-Mehmood comic, Rafi-wild Shammi Kapoor, Rafi-Pradeep Kumar-Bharat Bhushan romantic, Rafi-Ravi-Madan Mohan-Roshan ghazal, Rafi-SJ-Rajendra Kumar everything, one can’t think of Talat Mahmood as an alternative. Mukesh, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar occupied their own niche and a fairly large space. Mahendra Kapoor with BR-Ravi was also succeeding. What has to happen has to happen.
But the point remains Madan Mohan liked Talat Mahmood and composed several outstanding songs for him.
No arguments about that! 🙂
AK Ji #30,
You are quite right. We must also remember that the “Male Playback Singing” was open field among the male singers. There was no threat that singer A will not sing for composer A if composer A gives songs to singer B. Talat, Mukesh and Hemant Kumar were sailing in the similar boat in the sense that for certain types of songs they were matchless. Though Mukesh was lucky that Raj Kapoor selected him as his voice. Rafi and Kishore were truly versatile singers. I personally feel Manna Dey also had versatility but somehow always remained on the fringe.
Only 450 songs by Talat? I was expecting around 700!!!
He sang s large number of non-film songs. Taking that his total songs would be about 700.
AK @ 30
A Very good explanation!
But the MDs should not have depended on the versatile abilities of the voice-art of the individual singers because this means the singers becomes in charge and the composer a secondary person. So often the MDs allowed Kishore to go wild and Rafi to carry on his antics.
I think the composers must work hard to bring out various aspects of the voices of the singers else they themselves become dated and victims of their own styles of Music as we see in Madan Mohan, Naushad at the end of sixties, and many more who dried up in the middle of the seventies thus ending the golden era to early demise.
Shalan La
AK ji,# 32 and 33
With the kind of poor recording history in India, it is always difficult to arrive at a definite number of films or songs of any artiste.
As per what Manek Premchand states, with his exhaustive list of songs of Talat, his total number is 777 songs. He has listed all of them with proper details in his book “Talat Mahmood, The Velvet Voice”.
Sites like downmelodylane gives the number as 293 films 481 songs and NFS 266, Total 747.
There are varying numbers at every point, but I feel the above mentioned book may be close to reality as it gives all 777 song details with all relevant information.
-AD
Book by manek premchand s really gud nd a must read for all talat fans
Arunji,
Thanks a lot for the detailed information. So instead of 450, Talat’s Hindi film songs could be about 500.
Ms. Shalan Lal , AK ji , Deshmukh ji, Kelkar ji ;
Whenever Legends act together , it has to be a classic. That is what we have seen in Golden period / era . Rafi, Talat, Manna dey ……, Naushad Madan Mohan, Shankar Jaikishan, C Ramchandra ….and all other Big ones gave us rich class of music to live with for rest of our time . Yes, when there was a gap or a pause , they equally got engaged to the second bench strength of waiting MDs . There too we were not disappointed at all . Further , in their lean period , they were entertaining audience [ local and foreign ] by making outings with their harmonium….. leading the groups .
We are calling Talat a King and at the same time counting his songs …..not for me atleast . When the Legend dies ….Music remains …..so also the respect . The mood tells the story and this is why I switch to Talat, MM , SDB’s Ghazal and Songs for my in house relaxation . Music is my refuge . Talat’s silky voice comes best after silence and thus is most expressive ……some time more expressive than the words itself. And where words fails Music takes over …..leaving MD’s to give their very best .
Certain classic oriented MDs really struggled to give their best when India was entering the Modern Age . Music was changing and the younger ones took over the reigns and producers were on rapid fire engaging the young guns to match the scenerio . The other day I was hearing one Piano song from the movie …..Dil Diya Dard Liya . This movie was good only for us to watch Dilip and Waheeda’s performance and of course Naushad’s music . The Title and the story of the movie was sort of misfit in modern era . As for the party song …..Kya range mehfil hai dildarm …..it was really difficult for the audience to swallow its style and composition for which Naushad is known for. Movies like this was really a wake up call ……but Legends are Legends …..their music will live for ever in our heart . All the Great Legends are the Templates for Classic Composers and Singers . Who knows who are in line up in Talat , Jagjit Singh ..series ?
AK ji ;
In continuation from above…..I missed posting one of my fav. Talat / MM song …..
Do din ki mohabbat mein humne…..Chhote Babu [1957]….lyrics Kaif Irfani….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz6eZJF6b1s
KS Bhatiaji,
Thanks a lot for adding this song.
The article was as expected. There is this confusion about the overall numbers for Talat. Most probably the overall numbers are as mentioned by Arunji, and may be they will increase and may go upto 800. I have a complete list of his songs and for Hindi films the figure may be around 450 (including songs from films not released) as mentioned by AK. Actually there may be many songs which were recorded for films but were not used for picturisation or song of some other singer was picturised. This is true for all singers.
So far as the numbers about MM and Roshan are concerned, Roshan has 10 as mentioned, but MM has 24. There is one duet with Geeta Dutt in Shabistan which was composed by MM. In this film both CR and MM composed 4 songs each. Venkataramanji may have missed this film. In fact in this film the extremely popular Talat-Geeta song ‘kaho ek baar mujhe tumse pyar’ has two versions, but since it was composed by CR, it does not add up for MM. I am giving the link of this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npEGOnv74qQ
There has been an interesting discussion about MDs not using Talat more. Shalanji is quite correct to say that MDs first typed singers and then gave this reason for excusing themselves for not using a particular singer more. But, what AK said in reply seems true. Talat was himself responsible for the similar songs. Though he did not refuse lighter songs, but his heart was in the songs for which he became famous and as such the result in other songs was not encouraging. Who can forget his duet with Asha ‘humen hale dil tumse kahna hai’ which he sang for so lesser known MDs as Bipin-Babul in the film Chaubees Ghante. If other MDs had given him fast paced songs like Salil Choudhary did, his portfolio would not have been one-sided. Roshan who has been stated by AK to be protege of Biswas was not the only one. His stated Guru himself gave him only 14 songs out of which 5 in Waris and one in Aaram he could not give to another singer, being picturised on Talat himself. So an MD who in the beginning of his career posed himself as his well wisher, in fact gave him just 8 songs and none after 1954. In fact it was he who was responsible for Talat’s rift with Naushad.
But, one thing has been missed in the discussion. Talat Mehmood had a tremolo which was in fact the result of some throat problem. This problem at times took serious turn and recordings had to be cancelled. Lata also had sinus problem which also occasioned cancellation of dates. But her problem was not related to throat. The irony is that Talat always tried to hide it and he also aggravated it by rehearsals in the films where he was acting and which was more demanding. So when this tremolo started to take its toll MDs started to desert him.
Hans,
I use the ballpark figure of 450 film songs, and 250 non-film songs for Talat Mahmood. That is good enough for the larger picture.
About his tremolo, my understanding was that it was natural and seen as his asset, and his medical condition about his throat was something else which happened after mid-60s.
Hans @41, ksbhatia @ 38 and others who love Talat and other singers
The type casting of the singers occurred because of the need of the composer-directors to react to the needs of the supply and demand.
The Hindi film making Industry by the time of the golden fifties became a huge moneymaking industry and also brought in the foreign exchange as the Middle East and East Africa demanded the Hindi films just the same number of films as the internal market of India during this period.
So rather than a highly rich art creative media it had to respond like the other products of necessities.
As Music became surmounting part of the film the producers had to spend huge budgets on the production of the songs and their filming.
The singers like the actors depended on their livelihood and luxuries on the earning from their singing. There is a story that Lata M spent huge amount of her earnings on the jewelleries and saris and perfumes etc.
That made them asking for more money for their work.
So they too started thinking about their songs as cash crops and also became responsible for creating their types and lazily accepted the situation by the composers who would rather boast that they had a huge number of films contract as a status symbol.
In this kind of atmosphere like the stock exchange market the ups and downs become horrific and some had defeats, some had wins and others became borderline or totally disgusted. This became the state of mighty Anil Biswas and had to leave Bombay and go to Delhi to conduct an orchestra.
But in this flood some good creativity and also finding the virtuosity in the singers occurred.
Credit goes to O.P. Naiyyar for finding the new vocal quality in Asha and she to responded it very well and we had a rich kind of vocal wealth added to the golden age. But O.P. too became jaded and possessive of his own creation like the story of the Pygmalion statue and suffocated his own creation.
With the glamour attached to the singers either in public or on the screen it is very difficult for the composers and music directors to create something different all the time.
But Asha survived and is most interesting from the point of view of the development of an artist. Her work is richer than Lata’s huge body of work.
When the situation is like that we have to satisfy what we got and stop shedding the tears for the “Gujara Hua Zamana”!
Shalan Lal
Ms. Shalan Lal, Hans ji ;
Thanks both of you for your comprehensive review for which I full endorse them .
For Indian Cinema ….50s and 60s were full of thrills and laughter supplementing romance and music . Melody was queen and lyrics romantic. Even sad films too had a great impact . Dilip Kumar movies were craze in our next neighbours. But what lead the chain were RK’s and Mehboob Khan’s productions which hit many international boundaries across globes ……awakening interests even in international co productions . The popular among those were….Awara, Shree 420, Aan, Mother India…..and so on .
This created interests even in political scenes too. I remember during one of the meets of NAM in late50s/early60s president Naseer of Egypt was very curious about Indian Cinema and sort of had an understanding of importing popular cinema to their country . Good feelings brought him to one of filmfare award function too where he was chief guest.
Quite some time later , in 70s ..Sippy and Firoz Khan again brought laurals to india striking chords with their counterparts in middle east shooting films abroad thus earning foreign exchange in addition to their own box office collections . Lately it was Yash Chopra who excelled in bringing romance to the forefront thru his international shoots abroad bringing name and fame .
Time to go for some songs of Talat …..less heard but well crafted by both Roshan and Madan Mohan .
Kisi soorat lagi dil ko…….Nau Bahar….Roshan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP-pagJ6BEg
Now a song from old movie Nirmohi [1952] which is not sung by Talat but very close to Talat/ C H Atma mix and that is by Lalit Mohan. And now who this singer is I am unable to trace . is that he is MM himself or the one related to him ? Only expert can tell . But listen to this beautiful composition by MM . Incidently Lalit Mohan has sung one duet with Kavita [ again a mystery for me ] in this very film .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSjlIzje0EU
Talat indeed did very well for C Ramachandra and also Hansraj Behl and many composers of that era including Vasant Desai. But he never got through with the major composers of the time such as SJ and OPN who always depended on Rafi. At that point of time , even Mukesh and Mannadey were preferred by all so that his talent never got its due.
Comment # 45
Lalit Mohan is not Madan Mohan. There is a vast difference in voice. Lalit Mohan’s name is found in the cast of film Lahore-1949.
His name also comes as a co producer of film Zindgi aur Toofan-75
Kavita has sung one more song in film Rishta- an unreleased film of 1948.
My guess is they may be singers from Punjabi films of the late 40s to early 50s.
AKji @ 42; Hans ji @ 41:
According to this article Talat was suffering from Parkinson’s disease:
http://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/may/16tal.htm
By the way, this article mentions that he had sung one song (I believe it was ‘Kal raat zindagi se’) for Palki that was later re-recorded in Rafi’s voice. Is that song available on YouTube?
Arun Deshmukh ji @47 ;
Thanks for the input and additional information . Lalit Mohan should have given more chances . He had a good voice .
One more of talat MM song….. stated to be unreleased .
Tum juda ho kar…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6NSlgEXAac
Ravindra Kelkar ji @11 ;
I found the song …..Do din ki mohabbat …..from Chhote Babu is fav. of yours too . Since there was no link there , I posted the song @39 . The credit goes to you for bringing back the Gem of Talat song to the forefront.
ksbhatiya Ji,
Thanks for posting the link.
There have been a lot of observations about why Talat didn’t get more songs. One reason could be that due to the way Talat sang, it put restrictions on actors in performing the song on the screen. I mean when you are lisping a Talat song, you can’t jump about (like Shammi Kapoor). You are forced to restrain yourself. You have to look dignified on the screen. Generally speaking the singer sings the song in the style which suits the actor performing the song on the screen. Rafi & Kishore excelled in this, especially Rafi. This possibly resulted in the “Stars” of those time looking beyond Talat. I personally feel his voice suited the best to Dilip Kumar.
Ravindra Kelkar ji @51;
I entirely agree with your observations and comments . One can’t imagine Shammi Kapoor songs without Rafi , though in his earlier films Talat , Mukesh and Manna Dey have given playbacks ….&……manna dey excelled in Ujaala and Dil Tera Deewana . I think Kishore did only one song for Shammi Kapoor.
Dilip Kumar had variety of excellent songs composed by Big Wigs like Naushad, SJ, Anil Biswas, S D Burman etc. and Talat becoming a fore front runner in both Sad and Romantic solos and duet songs as well. Nadi kinare saath hamare , Nain mile nain huye baware , Milte hi aankhen dil hua …..and …..Mitwa lagi yeh kaisi lagan , Chhod babul ka ghar, Koi nahin hai mera is duniya mein……are just a few of best of Talat songs for Dilip Saheb . Not only that they are the best of the composers as well . There was a transition period there after when Rafi dominated in modern era [ with some punctuations by Mukesh ]. Not to forget that Rafi gave very good songs for Dilip Sahib ….specially by Naushad in Aan, Kohinoor, Amar, Leader etc.
My reasoning for Talat doing less songs than others would be….
1. Dilip Kumar doing less movies . Not more than one movie per year was his rule .
2. The serious or sad movies were least produced and alternatively comedy movies were ruling …..where C Ramchander ruled the graph.
3. Other Big actors like Raj Kapoor , Dev Anand ….had their own way of making movies…..mostly romantic comedies where Mukesh , Manna dey and Kishore got a good audience support.
Canasya@48
I read the article which appears to me to be a joke. This appears to me to be some interview of Naushad and is signed as ‘as told to Sharmila Taliculam’. I dont know whether it is actually an interview of Naushad or not but if it is so than it is hilarious. One line written in the article sums up all “Naushad remembers Talat the legend and recalls how that rich voice was silenced.” Naushad who did not use him in another film after Babul and could not even defend his recordings of the two songs in Palki and Aadmi saying that is hilarious to say the least.
I knew of some throat problem long ago when I read an article in some newspaper (most probably TOI) where the writer quoted somebody close to Talat as saying that Talat had always some throat problem, but he always concealed it lest it could hit his career as a singer. But no Parkinson’s disease was mentioned.
Regarding the Palki song, I have not found it anywhere on youtube. My own opinion is that if Talat’s voice was as used to be in the 50s then it would have suited him and the song would have been a gem. But the Aadmi song is available and Talat’s voice in that looks jaded. There are many ifs and buts, but once that was recorded it was the duty of Naushad to keep it in the film. It is true that after the success of Do Badan and Upkar Manoj had acquired a status, but it is a point to ponder if Manoj had demanded that for him Rafi would sing would that have been acceptable. Moral of the story is that Talat was a scapegoat for whom nobody shed tears. This aspect of Naushad has always lessened my respect for him as a good human being. To subject such a great singer to such humiliation was inexplicable. Naushad was always a successful MD and on the other hand MM was always short of success, yet he tried to resurrect Talat’s career in 1964 when everybody else had written him off.