Article on Laxmi-Pyare
Ket...@att.net
>
>http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/may/24lax.htm
>
>Their music, however, continues to be in demand. Nutan Fernandes,
>operations manager at Mumbai's popular music store Rhythm House,
>says, "Their music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s sells extremely well."
>
>I seriously doubt this claim.
>rk-
No it is possible. Especially if like Rajiv Vijaykar, a die-hard L-P lover, HMV
starts calling "Tumse Milke" from Parinda(RDB) as an L-P chartbuster.
Ketan
Surma Bhopali
> he he .
>
> To me LP represented mediocrity at its worst. I don't rate RDB as high
> as some others in rmim, but I readily admit that he was hundred times
> better than LP.
>
> What I never understood was, how the heck LP manage to beat RDB during 1970s-80s,
> with hits after hits. Now that is something which RDB struggled for a major part of his
> career (regardless of quality). For e.g in 1985 Saagar was outsold by Meri Jung (crap),
> Or in 1988 Izzzat sold no where near Tezaab (yuck).
jab paa.Nv thirake, to aap dukaan tak aur haath jeb tak yuu.n hii pahu.Nche
jab dil dha.Dake, to muft kii 'waah-waahii' ke bane mahal uu.Nche-uu.Nche
jisane paa.Nv thirakaayaa, use mubaarak ho dhan-daulat, naam-o-ijjat
apane dil dha.Dakaane waale.n miyaa ko pyaarii hai bas apanii muhabbat
:-)
Nazir Patel
"rkusenet" <rkus...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:baqbgr$2gfr7$1...@ID-75254.news.dfncis.de...
Ket...@att.net
>What I never understood was, how the heck LP manage to beat RDB during
>1970s->80s, with hits after hits. Now that is something which RDB struggled for
>a >major part of his career (regardless of quality). For e.g in 1985 Saagar was
>>outsold by Meri Jung (crap), Or in 1988 Izzzat sold no where near Tezaab
>(yuck). And I have not even started on their background music of a film.
>Was the taste of public at that time so bad??
At that time? In an earlier generation(Satishji's, Ashok's, Surjitji's to name
some members :)), Naushad was always more popular than Anil Biswas, SDB,
SalilC etc. And then in that same generation, we had the 60's S-J more popular
than the 60's Roshan! Maybe those members can tell us why the musical tastes of
their generation was so bad?
Ketan
Surjit Singh
> At that time? In an earlier generation(Satishji's, Ashok's, Surjitji's to name
> some members :)), Naushad was always more popular than Anil Biswas, SDB,
> SalilC etc. And then in that same generation, we had the 60's S-J more popular
> than the 60's Roshan! Maybe those members can tell us why the musical tastes of
> their generation was so bad?
I cannot speak for the other accuseds, and, not even for all of my
generation, but here is my story.
Executive Summary: Plead guilty as charged.
Details:
1947-1957:
Saw only one movie. Only one radio in whole village. Heard a few Saigal
and Noor Jehan songs, thanks to my dad's hand-cranked gramophone.
Otherwise mostly heard songs from Barsat, Badi Bahan, Awara, Taxi
Driver, Dag, Patita, Bhai Bhai, Aan, Nagin, Anarkali etc. during
weddings or while in the nearby city. Knew the names of the main
culprits (lata, rafi, mukesh etc.), but not much about anything else.
Heard my uncle and his friends discussing the merits of mainly Naushad,
SJ and OPN and acting styles of Dilip, Raj and Dev. Sometimes directors
were mentioned.
1958-1969:
Saw lots of movies. Liked most of them and their music, all of the
popular ones, you name it, I liked it. Avoided Rajendra Kumar, Jeetendra
and Dharmendra on purpose. Never heard of Anil Biswas and other pre-1950
people. Barely knew about Salil because of Madhumati, Roshan because of
Barsat Ki Raat, Madan Mohan because of Adalat, SDB because of Devanand's
movies. Saw some English movies, did not understand much. Started to
listen to Radio Ceylon, and started to like pre-1955 songs.
1970-1975: (In USA)
Lost to the Hindi movie world. Fell in love with Hollywood movies
(Grant, Hope, Marxes, A and C, Hitchcock, Capra, Stewart, Fonda, Allen,
the whole shebang) and realized that Hindi movies were quite ordinary,
primitive and needelessly music-laden. Could not explain satisfactorily
to my US friends why Indians like Indian movies. Still cannot.
1975-now:
Started collecting songs seriously. The first big ones were, 2-LP set
Hits of the 40's (KC Dey, Suraiya), Noor Jehan-Suraiya cassette, some
Saigal. Rediscovered Saigal nad Noor Jehan and everybody else from
pre-1947. Recessed more and more to pre-1947 stuff.
And here I remain as far as music is concerned.
--
Surjit Singh, a diehard movie fan(atic), period.
http://hindi-movies-songs.com/index.html
Satish Kalra
Nearly two months ago, Ketan had asked a question on RMIM and I had started
with the
intention of posting a reply to it, but it gradually developed into a long
post. I am trying to answer his question by a look back on the years gone
by and the music scene in those times.
<Ket...@att.net> wrote in message news:bb29...@drn.newsguy.com...
This is going to sound more like a look back on my young(er) years than a
musical review of the era gone by, interspersed with the socio-economic
background of the country.
I don't know whether all the three pesons named above belong to the same
generation (I am speaking for myself). :) However, I will reply to Ketan's
post above this time - he had raised similar issue one time earlier too, but
I had chosen to ignore replying that time, and no one else did either.
First of all, we all know that Dr. Surjit Singh likes the music of the 30's
and 40's most, followed by that of each succeeding decade, in that order.
Naushad wasn't around in the 30's, at least independently, and Anil Biswas
was not anywhere near such MDs like R.C. Boral, Pankaj Mullick, etc.
Even Madhulal Damodar Master, K.C. Dey and S.P. Rane were more
of household names, when Anil-da started in 1935.
{ Note: I started drafting my reply on 5/28/03, and Dr. Surjit Singh has
since already made his reply post, so I deleted a lot of stuff that I had
conjectured for his likings. BTW, I was not too far off. :) As far as
Ashok is concerned, I know his musical tastes transcend all generations and
genres. }
My love with the Hindi films began in 1949, in Calcutta, many months before
I started listening to the radio later that year. When I discovered Radio
Ceylon in late 1949 or there-abouts, the songs most frequemtly played on the
Radio were the Mahal number, Aayega Aanewaalaa, and songs from Barsaat,
Andaaz, Anmol Ghadi, etc.(in the time slot after 8 a.m., because radio time
before that was restricdted to my elders for bhajans and other such programs
before that). Had to turn the radio off before 9 a.m. to get ready for
school (in winters), and in the summers school began at 7 a.m., so no radio
from last week of March to late September/early October. Throw in periods
of radio breakdown - these were "tube" radios, and any wild fluctuations in
voltage would burn the tube/s off - necessitating a 26-mile trip from
Rishikesh to Dehradun to get it fixed.
Whatever one could catch in those precious few hours of radio listening was
what was retained, and appreciated. Old film songs were slotted forspecial
hours, and I hardly ever got to hear those. Yes, the elders always fumed
about the absence of voices like K.L. Saigal, K.C. Dey, etc., from the music
of the day, and I could barely figure out what they were compl;ainingabout,
unable to understand why and how they could not like songs like "jiyaa
bekaraar hai"; "hawaa mein udataa jaaye"; toote naa dil toote naa"; "mehfil
mein jal uthi shamaa"; "abhi shaam aayegii nikalenge taare"; "tara ri aaraa
rii aararii"; "man mein kisii kiipriit basaa le"; "ai jaane jigar"; "waapas
le le ye jawaanii"; "yuun chhup chhupke, chupake chupake meraa aanaa"; "dil
mein chhupake pyaar kaa tuufaan le chale"; "gaao taraane man ke ki aashaa
aayii dulhan banke"; "aa jaao tadapate hain aramaan"; "ik bewafaa se pyaar
kiyaa"; "main paagal meraa manawaa paagal"; "tum chaand ke saath chale aao";
the list goes on and on and on.
What I am trying to get at is that even in those days, Naushad, S-J, Anil
Biswas, C. Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, etc., were MDs whose music was
considered "cheap" by people from the earlier generation (the only Naushad
song that my folks liked and bought a record of was the "chhod babul kaa
ghar.."). Add to that the fact that owning a radio was still almost a
luxury; having a gramophone and some records to go with it a sure
indulgence, making movie going the most economical form of entertainment,
and perhaps the only form available to the masses. {Even I, with my two
years older brother, used to save up whatever we could in order to watch a
film whenever we could afford it, so that we could listen to all the songs
at one go. }
And a song in an audio-visual format has a more lasting impact than in only
audio. The emotional or other situations in the film make a song that much
more (or less) likeable. I remember having missed the film Poonam, while
all of my school friends never stopped talking about the climax situation in
the film and the song that accompanies it. I always liked that song,
immensely, but could never fully fathom what my friends were so mad about,
until I saw the film only about five or six years ago. I found their
ravings sort of anti-climactic, but that was probably because I was seeing
the film now - a full 45 years after its original release.
A couple more examples that I can cite here re the audio-visual Vs. just the
audio format are: "ye mehlon ye takhton ye taajon kii duniyaa..." from
Pyaasaa, with the hero standing in the silhouette in the crucifixion
posture; and Nutan singing the "teraa jaanaa..." just as Raj Kapoor is going
out from her home after she has just told him that for her all the 'action'
was just a passtime! Many more surely exist, especially from the 40's, 50's
and 60's, but in the years past that, they became rarer. Conversely, some
visual situations in the film can spell the doom for a song, and sometimes
for the film, just like the ones for "dekhaa baabuu
chhed kaa mazaa.." and "teraa tiir o be-piir..." in Shararat. That film's
poor performance at the box office was due to a combination of the above,
and also the delay in the film being able to get a censor clearance
certificate.
I started liking the voices of K.L. Saigal, Noorjehan, Pankaj
Mullick, Khan Mastana, Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, much later in the
mid-50's. Suraiya's songs were fabulous in films like Waaris, Shama
Parwana - again two films which I did not see until the early 80's on the
video. And the climax song "o parwaane" in Shama Parwana brings a lump in
one's throat if you have seen the film. I doubt very much if it would have
had the same impact on me if I had seen the film back in 1954 (when I was
young, and perhaps less emotional).
Why an MD like Salil Chowdhury was not that much liked by the masses when he
came on the Hindi film scene - films like Do Bigha Zamin and Naukri did not
click with the masses, though critically praised. Biraj Bahu was more
successful than the prior two, probably due to its conservative,
all-sacrificing-woman theme appealing to the families. But its songs could
not cope up with competitiors like "dekh tere sansaar kii haalat", a very
hummable, catchy song; or "jaayein to jaayein kahaan", or "na ye chaand
hogaa...", or "jogan ban jaaoongii saiyyan tore kaaran". Even a
song from a film released a full year earlier, "kaare badaraa tuu na jaa na
jaa" got more air time on Radio Ceylon than "teraa ghar aabaad rahe...ik
ghar ujade ek base duniyaa kaa dhang puraanaa kisakaa yahaan thikaana...",
even though Biraj Bahu won the Best Film award. 1954 was a year of
outstanding music, as diverse as it can be, in films like AarPaar, Boot
Polish, Taxi Driver, Shabaab, Naagin, Shama Parwaanaa, Amar, Pehli Jhalak,
Subah Ka Taaraa, Baadshaah, Chakradhaari, Tulsidaas, Mayurpankh, Chaandni
Chowk, Mangu, Gawaiyya, Pooja, Kavi, Mastana, Mirza Ghalib, and Naastik, to
name some whose songs were quite popular. Not all films clicked at the box
office, though. Naukri was one of them, even while its "chhotaa saa ghar
hogaa.." was immensely popular. C. Ramchandra's Kavi and Meenaar met the
same fate at the box office, though songs like :"tere raaste pe humne ik
ghar banaa liyaa hai.." (Kavi), and "mehndi lage the mere haath.." and
"zaraa mud ke todekho saajnaa.." (Meenaar) made the chartbusters. Such
beautiful songs as "mere pyaar mein tujhe kyaa milaa, mere devataa mujhe
bhuul jaa" and "keh do ke muhabbat se na takraaye zamaanaa" from Maan, MDed
by Anil-da, could not climb to the top since the film sank at the b-o, just
like Naaz and Mahatma Kabir. While Naaz's "jhilmil sitaaron ke tale aa
meraa daaman thaam le" and "kaTati hai ab tozindagi..." are personal
favorites of mine (like many other music lovers), I used to find(and still
do) "baabul moraa naiihar chhuuto hi jaaye" (Mahatma Kabiir) going straight
to the heart and giving me a lump in the throat. Munna was a song-less
film. Waaris was one of his films that made news on its music front as
well as the film's clicking at the b-o better than average.
The first five year economic plan had been set in motion in 1952; and it had
started to make some effects on the economy. More and more radios were
being sold, and small, roadside restaurants found it a big plus to bring in
customers. Every time our radio wouldn't work, I remember some friends and
I would gather at a tea-shop so we wouldn't miss the eagerly awaited
Wednesday program of Binaca Geet mala.
Besides the films, music was, and remained an integral form of
entertainment. Drama theater was still limited to the so-called more
elite; theater operators like Prithvi theaters were operating almost
perpetually in the red. Their December1954-January 1955 tour in New Delhi
at the Delite cinema found practically half-empty halls, while even a
fantasy film like Bahut Din Huye ran to nearly full house in its first week
there. O.P. Nayyar had arrived with a bang in Aar Paar, and in the years
to come by would influence the popularity charts and maybe even the musical
tastes of some mebers of the public. Even though he remained an MD of the
second/third tier for the music connoisseurs, his music sold in the record
shops and was requested on the air waves (Radio Ceylon was the only station
to air a half-hour daily request program "Aap Hi Ke Geet; Delhi radio
station 'A' broadcast no more than one hour of film music per week,
principally on Sundays, and they almost never played any songs of OPN),
until Naya Daur came along in 1957, about a year after the advent of Vividh
Bharati. Even then, thesong played mostly on the Vividh Bharati channel was
the 'nationalistic' "saathii haath baDhaanaa.....". Vividh Bharati was
started principally to compete against Radio Ceylon and its immensely
growing popularity because of its main emphasis on playing film music. Not
that Radio Ceylon did not play non-film music at all! There was an Ek Hi
Gaayak Ke Geet from 8.30 to 8.45 a.m. immediately following the Aap Hi Ke
Geet from 8 to 8.30 a.m., and a 15-minute slot devoted to non-film geet and
ghazals every weekday morning at 8.45 a.m.. (Later, the Aap Hi Ke Geet
program was extended to 8.45 a.m., eliminating the Ek Hi Gaayak Ke Geet.)
The main advantage, or edge if you will, that Radio Ceylon had was in its
broadcast frequency - Short Wave with the capability of reaching most of
India, while Vividh Bharati's was a medium wave broadcast from only the
major cities like Delhi, Bombay, etc., and its range quite limited. The
noted poet/lyricist Pt. Narendra Sharma, I believe, was the person who set
up and directed Vividh Bahrati in its initial years.
Just around this time (1956-1957), portable, battery operated transistor
radios began appearing in the country, and soon became a craze. In a
pilgrimage town like Rishikesh (my home town), where people from all over
the country and from all walks of life came, especially during the summer,
it was a common sight of (mostly younger) men walking with transistor
radios, just like the boom-boxes in cities across the US in the 80's.
1955 continued the reign of MDs like Naushad, S-J, O.P. Nayyar, C.
Ramchandra, and S.D. Burman, even though the first two of them had fewer
films than the previous year. Naushad had only one film in 1955 - Udan
Khatola; S-J had two - Shri 420, and Seema coming at the fag end of the
year. Shri 420's music had been released many months before the film hit
the theaters, and "meraa juuta hai jaapaani.." and "mud mud ke na dekh..",
"dil ka haal sune dilwaala...", "iichak daanaa biichak daanaa...", "ramaiyya
vastawaiyya...", "pyaar hua ikraar huaa hai..." were all literally on
"bachche bachche ki zubaan par". The film, with its somewhat socialistic
theme, hit the bull's eye and went on toc elebrate silver jubilees across
the nation in many cneters.
OPN remained prolific with Miss Coca Cola, Musafirkhana, Sabse Bada
Rupaiyya, and Mr. & Mrs. '55. Sabse Bada Rupaiyya was the only one whose
songs did not gain much popularity that year; the flm also bombed at the box
office. The feather in his cap for the year belonged for Mr. & Mrs. '55,
which was a super hit film with very popular music. And who can forget
films like Yasmin and Azad. C. Ramchandra is reported to have composed all
the songs for Azad in a very short period of time, pocketing a cool Rs. One
Lakh which had been offered to Naushad but who declined citing his inability
to deliver in the few weeks being given him. Azad was a silver jubilee hit
with popular music going with it; but Yasmin remains a great soundtrack,
with almost every song a gem. A pity it does not get the credit it should.
The later years of 1956 to 1960 saw the same trend continue on. Naushad
came up with just two films- Mother India and Sohni Mahiwal, before
Mughal-e-Azam in 1960. Call him choosy, or whatever, but he was one who
devoted his full attention to the project in hand, and to do that he did not
take on many. However, in an industry where visibility, or in this case,
"audibility" is of paramount importance, people like Naushad can only be
reverred. O.P. nayyar, on the other hand, continued his onslaught on the
film music scene with hit music in C.I.D., Chhoo Mantar, Hum Sab Chor Hain,
Naya Andaz, Johny Walker, Naya Daur, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Howrah Bridge,
Phagun, and Sone Ki Chidiya, from 1956 to 1958, though he too had only one
release in 1959 - Do Ustad, which hit the bottoms on the box office, and its
songs were also nothing to write anywhere about. S-J continued their
onslaught on the msuic world with such films as Basant bahar, Chori Chori,
Halaku, New Delhi, Patrani, Rajhath, Begunaah, Kathputli, Yahudi, Anari,
Chhoti Bahem Love Marraiage, Kanhaiyya, Main Nashe Mein Huun, Shararat,
Ujala, Kismet Ka Khel, and many more. Not all the films were successful at
the box office, like Kismet Ka Khel and Baaghi Sipaahi which sank without a
trace, but S-J's songs were liked, and ruled the charts.
S. D. Burman only had a Funtoosh in 1956, but Nau Do Gyarah, Paying Guest,
Pyaasa, and Miss India in 1957 restored his unfailing grip on music aptly
suited for the mood of the film. He followed it up in 1958 with Kala Pani,
Chalti Ka naam Gaadi, Lajwanti, Sitaaron Se Aagey, and Solva Saal, whose
"hai apanaa dil toaawaaraa" topped the Binaca charts in 1958, and "haal
kaisaa hai janaab ka..", released in 1958 went on to continue ruling the
charts and was the number one on Binaca annual in 1959. This was even while
on the whole, the year belonged to S-J as far as popularity was concerned,
what with twelve out of sixteen songs in a weekly Binaca belonging to their
films, around the time when Chhoti Bahen, Ujala, Kanhaiyya, Main Nashe Mein
Huun, and Love Marriage were released between April and August, and some
Anari songs still on the charts.
C. Ramchandra had only few really good hit films during this period, viz.,
Asha and Sharada in 1957 and Navrang and Paighaam in 1959. Amardeep and
Baarish songs became quite popular, but Baarish itself did not do better
than average, and Devataa, Luteraa, Shatranj, Talash, etc., did not do much
better though individually, each film had some numbers that remain evergreen
to-ddate. Anil-da had two films in 1956 - Heer and Paisa Hi Paisa; Jalti
Nishani, Pardesi and Abhimaan in 1957; Sanskar in 1958; and Chaar Dil Chaar
Rahein in 1959. Of these, only Pardesi and Chaar Dil Chaar Rahein could
bring some songs on the people's lips. But none of the films themselves
created any stirs on the commercial front, and this led to a further decline
in work for Anil-da, who himself had begun to shrink more and more from the
prevalent commercial-dom that had begun to invade the film, and especially
the film music industry.
All this while, Madan Mohan was still the unluckiest of the MDs, what with
his 1956 films Fifty-Fifty, Pocketmaar, and Memsahib not faring well
commercially. Even Bhai Bhai was withdrawn from the theaters after 23
weeks - just two weeks shy of a silver jubilee, due to a dispute between the
producer-partners. {He had to wait another seven years before finally
achieving a silver jubilee score in Woh Kaun Thi.} In 1957, Dekh Kabira
Royaa failed to achieve the heights of its producer's earlier Seemaa; and
Kathputli saw the return of S-J to the Amiya Chkravarty camp. Some songs
fromn that year's Sheroo, Samundar, Chhote Babu and Gateway Of India are
still etched in music lovers' memories. Of Madan Mohan's eight films
released in 1958, only Jailor had some impact on the ticket windows, and
none of the seven in 1959 did any better. Of these rather unsuccessful
films, Adalat is still remembered for such beauties as "yuun hasraton ke
daag...", "jaanaa thaa ham se duur...", "unko ye shikaayat hai...", and the
romantic, velvet-soft, "zamiin se hamein aasmaan par....". Contrary to
popular belief that Lata was indispensable to Madan Mohan, Khazanchi, Khota
Paisa and Night Club of 1959 had not a single Lata song.
And now we come back to Salil Choudhury. Despite the competition from
all the established, and the not so-established MDs, Salil-da gave us
evewrgreen songs in films such as Jagte Raho (1956); Ek Gaon Ki Kahani, and
Musafir in 1957; the award winning Madhumati (1958); Usne Kaha Thaa and
Parakh in 1960. Not to forget the only time he worked with Mehboob Films,
whose films ussualaly had Naushad scoring the music. This was for the film
Aawaaz, which was a downright depressing film and died at the box almost on
the day of its release. {For me personally, it had more serious effects - I
saw it in the middle of my final exams in the third tier ofApril, and I got
a severe headache after watching the film; it turned into a 103-104 fever
the next morning, and I almost missed the next exam.} Yet, its "jhun jhun
jhunaa..."; "dil diwaanaa dil mastaanaa maane naa..."; and baba terii son
chiraiyya..." remain among my favorites. But the Lata/Talat duet and the
Kishore number "aaraa ram taaraa ram...." were the only ones which got some
air play on radio - the others were almost forgotten by the public
immediately. The film was as much a failure as its director Zia Sarhadi's
earlier flop Hum Log. While songs from some other MDs may have been more
popular on the air waves, it did not take away the inherent lasting quality
of his compositions. I will take a ''mere man ke diye..." any time against
a "muhabbat kii jhuutii kahaanii pe roye..." - not that the latter is not a
good composition. But, back in 1960, I would have preferred, and probably
did, "ajiib daastaan hai ye..." over the Mughal-e-Azam ditty.
The question raised by Ketan still remains partly, but only partly
unanswered. Just like Dr.Surjit Singh mentioned, one begins with whatever
is bneing played on the radio currently and shown in the cinemas.
Gradually, one begins to understand the nuiances of various film situations,
and the repetitions as they occur in Hindi films draws the viewer/listener
to also explore the films of the past, and this leads to the discovery of
the gems from the era/s gone by. However, one cannot still ignnore the fact
that the compositions by MDs whose music they have been listening while
growing up still retains a special corner in their hearts. I may perhaps be
stating this in too simple terms, but one reason why R. D. Burman is
considered "The Best Thing to Have Happened to Hindi Film Music" by many
music lovers born in the 60's and later could be that his music and
compositions stood way above the competition of L-P, S-J, Bappi Lahiri, and
others in that era. Naushad had almost retired; S-J (rather Shankar only)
had lost their touch since long; Madan Mohan was considered unlucky by film
producers; S. D. Burman was perhaps the only one who retained his creativity
and ability to compose good music right till his death. During all this,
one MD who has not been mentioned above is Roshan, one of the old timers who
remained qualitatively very productive until his swan song in Anokhi Raat.
Roshan was a MD who, like SDB, remained qualitatively productive
throughout his career. His creations in such diverse sountracks as Baawre
Nain, Raag Rang, Malhaar, Barsaat Ki Raat, Chitralekha, Mamta, Taj Mahal,
Babar, to name a few, and sweet melodies like "dil-e-beqaraar sojaa";
"kiskii nazar kaa mast ishaaraa hai zindagii"; "yahii bahaar hai....";
"maayuus to huun waade pe tere"; "mujhe mil gayaa bahaanaa terii diid
kaa..."; "man re tuu kaahe naa dhiir dhare..."; payaam-e-ishq muhabbat
...."; "main ne shaayad tumhen pehle bhii kahiin dekhaa hai..." begin
playing on the conscious and the subconscious turn-tables.
I do not know if I have answered the question to any one's satisfaction.
The only logical answer is that music is so subjective; one person likes
classical music; another likes ghazals; and yet soemone else likes nothing
but film songs. Same way, one may like a particular voice and not the
other. That is what keeps it going.
Music is dynamic. And the only constant factor in it is that it is ever
changing. With a slight twist, we can say that if new creations and
compositions do not keep coming, even the best of songs would lose their
grip. Perhaps that is why, every few weeks, as new songs are released, some
of them appeal our likings and are added in our mental data bases. It does
not mean that the songs already in that data base lose their likeability.
They only take a back seat for some time. That is why I keep lsitening to
the new music too. Occasionally, I find a song or two that are sweet,
melodic and worth a second listen or two, though I admit that I was hard
pressed to make a one CD compilation of newer songs for myself sometime
back. It took me a lot of time and after I was done, I could not give the
CD many listens. Sort of agreeing with Naushad and the late Anil-da on
the "pair thirakanaa aur dil kaa nahiin dhadakanaa...".
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
naniwadekar
"Satish Kalra" <Satish...@verizon.net> wrote -
>
> Call him choosy, or whatever, but he was one who
> devoted his full attention to the project in hand, and to do that he did
not
> take on many. However, in an industry where visibility, or in this case,
> "audibility" is of paramount importance, people like Naushad can only be
> reverred.
>
Naushad should be reverred for many a thing; but not taking too many
assignments is not one of them. I suspect he would have been
happy to take more assignments if Ghulam Mohd was still in his camp.
Can you honestly say that it had become a trend to take on too many
assignments and thus dilute concentration? And if not, what should
we give Naushad extra credit for? Naushad's inability to
compose prolifically with speed counts as his limitation. Composing
without Ghulam Mohd's help must have become a heavy burden.
Naushad has shrewdly passed off his limitation as his strength by
having suckers believe how choosy and sincere he was.
> And now we come back to Salil Choudhury ...
> .... for the film > Aawaaz, which was a downright
> depressing film and died at the box almost on
> the day of its release. {For me personally, it had more serious effects -
I
> saw it in the middle of my final exams in the third tier ofApril, and I
got
> a severe headache after watching the film; it turned into a 103-104 fever
> the next morning, and I almost missed the next exam.}
>
How cruel of Salil to do that to you.
- dn
Satish Kalra
news:bfmnm5$g38n4$1...@ID-75735.news.uni-berlin.de...
...snipped....
> Naushad should be reverred for many a thing; but not taking too many
> assignments is not one of them. I suspect he would have been
> happy to take more assignments if Ghulam Mohd was still in his camp.
> Can you honestly say that it had become a trend to take on too many
> assignments and thus dilute concentration? And if not, what should
> we give Naushad extra credit for? Naushad's inability to
> compose prolifically with speed counts as his limitation. Composing
> without Ghulam Mohd's help must have become a heavy burden.
> Naushad has shrewdly passed off his limitation as his strength by
> having suckers believe how choosy and sincere he was.
Here's Naushad's filmography:
1940 - Prem Nagar
1941 - Kanchan, Darshan, Mala
1942 - Nai Duniya, Sharada
1943 - Kanoon, Namaste
1944 - Geet, Jeevan, Pehle Aap, Rattan
1945 - Sanyasi
1946 - Anmol Ghadi, Keermat, Shahjehan
1947 - Dard, Elaan
1948 - Anokhi Ada, Mela
1949 - Andaz, Chandni Raat, Dillagi, Dulari
1950 - Babul, Daastaan
1951 - Deedar, Jadu
1952 - Aan, Baiju Baawra, Diwana
1954 - Amar, Shabab
1955 - Udan Khatola
1957 - Mother India
1958 - Sohni Mahiwal
1960 - Kohinoor, Mughal-e-Azam
1961 - Ganga Jumna
1962 - Son Of India
1963 - Mere Mehboob
1964 - Leader
1966 - Dil Diyaa Dard Liyaa, Saaz Aur Aawaaz
1967 - Ram Aur Shyam, Palki
1968 - Aadmi, Saathi, Sangharsh
1970 - Ganwaar
1971 - Pakeezah
1972 - Taangewaalaa
1974 - My Friend, Aaina
1975 - Sunehra Sansaar
1979 - Chambal Ki Rani
1982 - Dharam Kanta
1986 - Love And God
1988 - Dhwani
1990- Aawaaz De Kahaan Hai
1993 - Teri Payal Mere Geet
1995 - Guddu
That is a total of 62 films in a total 'career' span of over 55 years. Post
Leader, the total is just 20 films. I don't remember which year Ghulam
Mohd. died in the late 60's. Naushad's ability might have become
restricted after Ghulam Mohd's death. One can see that post-Ganwaar and
later there are only 13 films spread over 25 years. But even prior to that,
there are just about 25 films from 1951 to 1970. So his dependence solely
on his assistant (to do more films) can not be a valid argument. Compare
Naushad's total output to his contemporary music composers and one can see
that they did far too many more films than he did, even when he had Ghulam
Mohd to help him. On an aside, Anand-Milind seem to have achieved over a
hundred films in just about 6 or 7 years.
>
> > And now we come back to Salil Choudhury ...
> > .... for the film > Aawaaz, which was a downright
> > depressing film and died at the box almost on
> > the day of its release. {For me personally, it had more serious
effects -
> I
> > saw it in the middle of my final exams in the third tier ofApril, and I
> got
> > a severe headache after watching the film; it turned into a 103-104
fever
> > the next morning, and I almost missed the next exam.}
> >
>
> How cruel of Salil to do that to you.
Why do you think it was Salil-da and not the producer/director of the film
that did it! :-) It was for Salil-da's music that last year I requested an
RMIM friend to make a copy of the Aawaaz video for me.
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
naniwadekar
> composers and one can see > that they did far too many more films
> than he did, even when he had Ghulam
> Mohd to help him.
>
The benefit which accrued to Naushad through having Ghulam
Mohammed as his assistant is a separate topic. I was trying
to kill two birds with one stone. Let us keep Ghulam Mohammed
aside now.
It is true that Naushad's is a name to treasure. I also grant that
he can be generous on occasion in praising his peers. But more
often than not, he is seen making an unconvincing effort to
sell himself for more than what he was.
Naushad was a slow composer. This is a limitation. He would
now have us believe that he didn't take many assignments so that
he could concentrate on tasks in hand. The implication is that
others didn't concentrate as much, Naushad is more sincere than
others, others might have taken assignments as they were probably
after money (this is yet another insinuation cleverly left unsaid)
and for Naushad (and Naushad alone), music
was a route to Allah where earthly matters like money
and number of assignments simply did not matter.
In short : See how slow I am, ain't I a great composer?
It is a con-job and we shouldn't fall for it.
- dn
PS : Thanks for Naushad's filmography.
PPS : Ghulam Mohammed's association with Naushad ended
after Aan, I think. Naushad first turned to GM's brother Mohammed
Ibrahim as his assistant after Aan and Mohammed Shafi played
a large role in Naushad's films from the mid-50s onwards.
MLKAPUR
. mlk
aanand
gay chala ja)
" The naushad's assistanst contrbutions are always reflected in his
music. His music with ghulam mohammed and with shafi sounds very
different. Dhundo dhundo re sajana was shafi's tune "
rgds
Anand.
"naniwadekar" <nani3...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<bfn0pv$frkbi$1...@ID-75735.news.uni-berlin.de>...