Shankar Jaikishan had probably done the greatest experiment in Jish Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai.

Shankar Jaikishan had probably done the greatest experiment in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai.

Legendary musical duo Shankar Jaikishan had probably done the greatest experiment in the film Jish Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai. The film was released in 1960, and became everlasting hit.

Raj Kapoor produced the film while Radhu Karmakar directed it. Raj Kapoor in fact received the second filmfare award as the best actor for the performance of the film, the earlier being Anari. Shankar Jaikishan had the freedom of the using their number of musical instruments as the film demanded all of them.

Lata Mangeshkar’s songs “kya hua, o mujhe kya hua kya pata” and “o maine pyar kiya” was complimented by excellent background music. Mukesh’s song “hoto pe sachai rehti hai” started with a big projection of different instruments where Shankar Jaikishan again showed their class. In the song “hum bhi hai tum bhi ho”, there was excellent chord change during the antara. The song also had the participation of all the giants of music industry including Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Mahendra Kapoor and others.

The other successful songs included “begane shaadi pe Abdulla diwana”, “o wasanti pavan paawan” and “pyar kar le naito phasi char jayega”. The last song in the film “a ab laut chale” was another grand experiment. There strong chorus appeal used in the song. While Mukesh song the solo, at every verse Lata sang her part in another tune and in another scale which merged together with the chorus.

If Shankar Jaikishan had remained sublime due to their western compositions and eastern classical creations in the other films, in Jish Desh Me Ganga Behti, their folk creations and chorus renditions had mesmerized the audience. The film and the music should be preserved for the immortal appeal and epic creation of the music by Shankar Jaikishan.

Mukesh is remembered on his birthday.

Mukesh is remembered on his birthday.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to legendary singer Mukesh on 22nd July, 2010 and remember his great works. Mukesh was probably the most popular singer of the 50s, 60s and 70s after Mohammad Rafi.

His nazal tune had huge amount of sensitiveness and he gave expression to brilliant composers of the golden age with the romantic voice. His combination with Showman Raj Kapoor was considered one of the golden combinations of the 40s, 50s, 60s.

His notable songs for Raj Kapoor included “awara hoon” from film Awara, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “aaja re” from film Aah, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “ramaiya vasta maiya” and “mera joota hai japani” from film Shree 420 composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “sab kuch sikha humne” and “kisiki muskurahaton pe ho nisar” from film Anari, composed by SJ, etc. The list can go on. Shankar Jaikishan stormed bollywood films with their everlasting tunes for more than 25 years, and wherever they were associated with Raj Kapoor, Mukesh sang the songs of his lifetime. The combination gave everlasting hits in films like Barsaat, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, Ek Dil Sau Afsana, Around the World, Diwana, Teesri Kasam, Mera Naam Joker, to name a few.

In non-Raj Kapoor films also Mukesh did a superlative job. His performance in Dilip Kumar’s Madhumati, composed by Salil Choudhury, Manoj Kumar’s Hariyali Aur Raasta composed by Shankar Jaikishan, Rajender Kumar’s Saathi composed by Naushad, Manoj Kumar’s Pathar Ke Sanam composed by LP, require special mention. Some of the notable songs of Mukesh which had remained immortal in those films included “dil tarap tarap ke kehrahahe aabhi ja”, “ifteda-e-ishq me”, “mera pyar bhi tuhe”, “tauba yeh matwali chal”, etc.

He died in 1976, and ended the era relating to soft romantic songs. His journay from the film Nirdosh in 1941 to Amar Akbar Anthony in 1977, remained unblemish. In 1974, he received national award for best singer for the song “kai baar yun hi dekha hai” from the film Rajnigandha, composed by Salil Choudhury. Besides he received filmfare awards for his best performance in films like Anari, Pehchan, Beimaan, Kabhi Kabhi. Even in the 70s, when slow music gradually lost its predominance, Mukesh’s songs in somber mood like “mai pal do pal ka shayar hoon” and “kabhi kabhi mere dil me” composed by Khayyam and written by Sahir Ludhiyanvi created a permanent place in the hearts of millions of musiclovers.

Articles after articles can be devoted on the successful combination of Mukesh with Shankar Jaikishan, Salil Choudhury, Naushad, Roshan, and others. His films and songs should be preserved.

Rafi's immortal relationship with Khayyam.

Rafi’s immortal relationship with Khayyam.

Mohammad Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, better known as Khayyam, was generally an off-beat composer whose level of excellence could be very well compared with Naushad or Shankar Jaikishan or Roshan, inspite of composing music in less number of films.

Born in 1927, Khayyam, learnt music from Baba Chisti, a renowned composer of Pakistan. He learnt music from also Hunslal Bhagatram and Pandit Amar Nath. He assisted composer G.A. Chisti in Lahore for some time. He returned back to Ludhiana in 1943. He went to Bombay to be an actor. He got a role in the Yeh Hai Zindagi in 1947. After assisting a number of composers, who composed music independently for the first time in Zia Sarhadi’s film Footpath in 1953. His song “sham-e-gham ki kasam” sung by Talat Mehmood in Dilip Kumar’s successful film created a separate identity for Khayyam. His songs in Raj Kapoor’s film Phir Subah Hogi, became equally famous. Mukesh’s songs “wo subah kabhi to ayegi”, “chin-o-arab hamara”, “phir na kije gustaq nigah ka gila”, were very soft romantic numbers , while Rafi’s song “jo bore kare yaar ko” had comedy andaz picturised on Rehman. Rafi sang in Khayyam’s early contribution in the film Tattar Ka Chor in 1955 titled “dekho zara ulfat ka asar”. In the less known film Barood in 1960, Rafi sang a solo “chala chal chala chal ghar hai andhera”.

Rafi’s best songs composed by Khayyam were in the film Shola Aur Shabnam. All the songs were written by Kaifi Azmi, with great philosophy embedded in them. Rafi’s voice was probably at its best in the songs “jane kya dhoonti rehti hai yeh ankhe mujhme”, “jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum”, “pehle to aankh milna” in the film. Dharmender was blessed with the soft romantic songs in the early part of his career which took to a huge distance in his goal of being a successful romantic actor. Khayyam provided his hilly tunes in the film Shagun in 1964, where Rafi’s number “parbaton ke paron par sham ka basera hai” still haunts listeners. Rafi’s other songs in the same film composed by Khayyam titled “tum chali jayogi, parchaiyan reh jayegi” and “yeh raat bahut rangeen sahi” can make any listener intoxicated. The brilliant lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhianvi who probably had written some of his best shayeris for Khayyam. Due to the fact the main actor in that film being Kanwaljeet, having limited box-office presence, the songs did not get the publicity that they deserved.

The magic combination of Rafi with Khayyam continued in the film Muhabbat Is Ko Kehte Hai. Rafi’s songs for Shashi Kapoor namely “meri nigahen” and the duet song with Suman Kalyanpur namely “thehriye hosh me aaloon to chale jaiyega” had ghazal andaz and ended up being big hits.

In Rajesh Khanna’s Akhri Khat in 1966, Khayyam’s composition for Rafi titled “aur thori der theher” mesmerize the audience equally like Lata’s solo song “baharon mera jeevan bhi sawaron”. Khayyam’s songs always had very orthodox urdu poetry attached with them, so the classic words balanced the meaningful orchestration accompanied by the sweet voice of Rafi. Rafi sang a duet song “nain milake pyar jatake” along with Jagjit Kaur in the film Mera Bhai Mera Dushman in 1967.

For the next four five years, Khayyam did not compose music prominently. In the mid-70s, Khayyam got recognition for his touchy numbers in the film Kabhi Kabhi in 1975, and landmark mujras in Umrao Jaan in 1981, for which he received filmfare awards for best composer. Mukesh’s songs “kabhi kabhi mere dil me”, “mai pal do pal ka shayar hoon” and Asha Bhosle’s songs “in ankhon ki masti”, “ dil cheez kya hai” had become musical classics over a period of time. Even Bhupinder Singh’s song “karoge yaad to” can be considered to a legendary ghazal of Khayyam.

The combination of Rafi and Khayyam in film music faded away from mid-70s. But at the same time Khayyam composed landmark bhajans for Rafi which again had great musical value. It is a pity that composers like Khayyam had composed songs in less number of films, otherwise Rafi and Khayyam combination could have featured more. The films, the songs and the non-film albums should be preserved.

Happy birthday to Raj Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Raj Kapoor.

Raj Kapoor is remembered by the nation on his birthday on 14th December, 2009. He was probably the most popular actor of bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s other than Dilip Kumar.

Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor still remain the most popular actors of bollywood cinema in the last 70 years. One of the reasons of their immense success includes the superlative class of music being given to the giant actors by Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan.

Naushad gave classic tunes to Dilip Kumar in the films Uran Khatola, Kohinoor, Mughal-I-Azam, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi, to name a few. Rafi and Shakeel Badayani were the other players in the deadly combination. Rafi’s songs for Dilip Kumar like “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “woh dur ke musafir”, “tere husn ki kya taarif karun”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “aaj purani rahon se koi mujhe awaaz na den”, “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”, etc., remain one of the greatest creations of all times. If Naushad was unparallel as a composer, Shakeel Badayani was unparallel as a lyricist, Rafi was matchless as singer and Dilip Kumar matchless as an actor.

Producer director Raj Kapoor was the closest competitor of Dilip Kumar during the 40s, 50s and 60s. In fact both the giants had acted together in the film Andaz in 1949. Raj Kapoor’s deadly combination with Shankar Jaikishan had produced super hit films like Barsaat, Aah, Awara, Shree 40, Chori Chori, Anari, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, to name a few. The music of those films were equally popular and successful. Songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey like “ramaiya vasta maiya”, “mur murk e na dekh”, “sab kuch seekha humne”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “o mehbooba”, “dost dost na raha” “aa aab laut chalen”, had not lost their flavor even after 50 years of their creation. As Raj Kapoor had other qualities besides acting including production, direction, editing, etc., he is considered the greatest showman of all times even today.

As far as the compositions of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan are considered, both the composers had very strong classical orientation. Naushad gave folk tunes to Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jumna sung by Rafi including “nain lad jaiy he” and Lata in “dhoondo dhoondo resaajna”, etc. Shankar Jaikishan gave folk tunes to Raj Kapoor in Teesri Kasam in songs like “chalet musafir” sung by Manna Dey, to name a few.

If Naushad displayed the muslim culture of Lucknow, Aligarh with his classical tunes in films like Leader, Kohinoor, Mughal-i-azam, Shankar Jaikishan displayed the European tunes in Raj Kapoor’s films Sangam, Around the World, etc., where the westernized orchestrations complimented the colourful scenary of the foreign countries. In fact, SJ’s tunes “chale jana zara theheron” showed the brilliance of Lake Erie and Niagra Falls stretching from Canada to USA, and mesmerizing the audience. Even in Sangam, the creation of SJ picturised in the snow-clad Switzerland titled “ishq the ishq, I love you” showed SJ’s capability of adapting to European tunes. The musical fountain in Around the World, showed the brilliance of SJ in the film Around the World.

The lyrics written by Shakeel Badayani in Dilip Kumar’s films where music was composed by Naushad were as innovative as the lyrics written by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’ films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The lyrics contained urdu shairy, bhopuri language, ultramodern lyrics, rural language, etc. and appealed to the masses.

Naushad had composed music in more than 15 films of Dilip Kumar and the same is the case of Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’s films. The music of each of those films can be analysed and revisited.

It is impossible to say whether Dilip Kumar’s combination with Naushad was greater than Raj Kapoor’s combination with Shankar Jaikishan, but it is true that the two giants had left assets for generations to cherish which had ended up being masterpieces. New actors, composers, singers, directors learn from the success of the Showman and Tragedy King and the works should be revisited.

Remembering Salil Choudhury.

Remembering Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury, noted scholar, poet, composer and literary giant was remembered on his birthday on 19th November, 2009. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years.

His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers.

On the other hand his strength in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Chouhdury huge experiment with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment.

Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular.

Bimal Roy’s film Do Bigha Zameen was based on Salil Choudhury’s literature. His music in the films Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati, Musafir, Parakh, Jagte Raho, Anand, Maya, Rajnigandha, etc., stand out as landmarks in Indian film history. He received filmfare award for brilliant performance in the film Madhumati. All the songs in the film including Lata’s “aja re”, “ghari ghari”, Rafi’s “tute hue khwabonme”, “jangal me mor nacha”, Mukesh’s “dil tarap tarap ke”, “suhana safar aur mausam hasin” touched the souls of numerous Indians in the late 50s.

Other notable songs of Salil Choudhury in bollywood films include “tasveer teri dil me” from Maya, “zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai”, “kahin dur jab din dhal jaye” from Anand, “rajnigandha” from Rajnigandha, “jago mohan pyare” from Jagte Raho, to name a few.

Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. One article is not enough to reiterate the immortal works of the giant creator. The creations should be preserved and restored.

Mukesh is remembered on his birthday.

Mukesh is remembered on his birthday.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to legendary singer Mukesh on 22nd July, 2009 and remember his great works. Mukesh was probably the most popular singer of the 50s, 60s an 70s after Mohammad Rafi.

His nazal tune had huge amount of sensitiveness and he gave expression to brilliant composers of the golden age with the romantic voice. His combination with Showman Raj Kapoor was considered one of the golden combinations of the 40s, 50s, 60s.

His notable songs for Raj Kapoor included “awara hoon” from film Awara, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “aaja re” from film Aah, composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “ramaiya vasta maiya” from film Shree 420 composed by Shankar Jaikishan, “sab kuch sikha humne” from film Anari, composed by SJ, etc. The list can go on. Shankar Jaikishan stormed bollywood films with their everlasting tunes for more than 25 years, and wherever they were associated with Raj Kapoor, Mukesh sang the songs of his lifetime. The combination gave everlasting hits in films like Barsaat, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, Ek Dil Sau Afsana, Around the World, Diwana, Teesri Kasam, Mera Naam Joker, to name a few.

In non-Raj Kapoor films also Mukesh did a superlative job. His performance in Dilip Kumar’s Madhumati, composed by Salil Choudhury, Manoj Kumar’s Hariyali Aur Raasta composed by Shankar Jaikishan, Rajender Kumar’s Saathi composed by Naushad, Manoj Kumar’s Pathar Ke Sanam composed by LP, require special mention.

He died in 1976, and ended the era relating to soft romantic songs. His journay from the film Nirdosh in 1941 to Amar Akbar Anthony in 1977, remained unblemish. In 1974, he received national award for best singer for the song “kai baar yun hi dekha hai” from the film Rajnigandha, composed by Salil Choudhury. Besides he received filmfare awards for his best performance in films like Anari, Pehchan, Beimaan, Kabhi Kabhi.

Articles after articles can be devoted on the successful combination of Mukesh with Shankar Jaikishan, Salil Choudhury, Naushad, Roshan, and others. His films and songs should be preserved.

Salil Choudhury and Bengali modern songs.

Salil Choudhury and Bengali modern songs.

Salil Choudhury was one of the most gifted creators of Bengali modern songs during the golden age. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years.

His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers.

On the other hand his base in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Chouhdury huge experiment with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment.

Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury.

Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular.

Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. The creations should be preserved and restored.