Memorable Gujarati Songs: Report on a Cyber-Bull-Session
Ashok
It's my aspiration to gradually collect top-notch popular songs in all
languages of India. So, I am generally unhappy that there isn't enough
discussion of great songs in regional languages (well, other than Bengali
and Ilaiyaraja-Rahman :)). And generally pleased whenever a fleeting
discussion of music in other languages shows up. Recently, I had occasion
to be an unwitting victim of a barrage of e-mail crossfire in which
many RMIMers took part! One of the more fruitful territories that the
cyber-soldiers blundered into was "merorable Gujarati songs." Since the
take was pretty good, I thought it might be a good idea to post some
soundbytes from that rampage. No attempt is made to render the proceedings
coherent. Read at your peril!
The diversionary wave started with Vish Krishnan wondering about Dilip
Dholakia (aka D. Dilip). He was the assistant MD of Chitragupta and had
composed for a few Hindi films also (e.g., 'Private Secretary'). Lata,
in her first international concert (Albert Hall, 1974), ended up doing
short versions of several songs of CR, Naushad, and Madan Mohan, but
rendered the following gem, composed by Dilip Dholakia, in full:
roop le maDheechhe saari raat re sajan
Somewhere in the mid-'70s, Chitragupta started working with Prem
Dhawan's son as his assistant. So, what became of Dilip Dholakia and his
music? Gurjarati movies? Anything?
-------------------------------------
Han Solo:
Dilip Dholakia, did give music to some Gujju movies but in the 80's he
switched to gujrati folk music. I don't know if he gave music to nay
Hindi movies at all. From what I have heard from my parents he even taught
music somewhere.
Maybe if I mention just my last name, Lata might even sing for me. :)
Interjection by Naarada:
> And if you mention your nickname ......
Hmm, Lata sings for Han Solo. Has a nice ring to it. :)
-------------------------------------
Snehal:
And after 1970s there was not really much fun in Gujarati film industry.
And in any case it was dominated in 70s by Avinash Vyas's son (Gauraang Vyas).
He (DD) worked mainly in 1950s and 1960s. Who can forget his song
Tari Aankh No AfiNi Tara Bol No BandhaaNi,
Tara Roop Ni Poonam No Paagal Etlo' ?
BTW, can (Chetan/Ketan/Neha/?) tell me who composed the Lata classic:
Ek RajkaN Suraj Thavaane ShamaNe, UgamNe Jai Ude' ?
I like the song in its entirety:
Ek RajkaN Suraj Thavaane ShamaNe, UgamNe Jai Ude
Palak Ma DhhaLi Pade AathamNe... Ek RajkaN
JaL Ne Tapt Najar Thi Shoshhi, Chahi Rahe GHan RachavA
Jhankhe Koi Din BiMb Bani Ne Saagar Ne Man Vasavaa
VamaL Mahi Chakaraai Rahe, Koi AkaL MunzvaNe... Ek RajkaN
The sweetness that Lata pours, can be only experienced.
Also those beatiful Talat ghazals ? Remeber
'Sukaani Jaa Tun Maare Naav Karavi Paar Nathi' or
'Chadhhya ANmol Kashti Par' ?
Any information about other Gujarati composers -- Ajit Merchant, Vistashp
Balsara, Kishor Desai (Asst to SJ) ? Or even PraNsukh Nayak ?
Some of V Balsara composed ghazals (Gujarati) of Mukesh are just out of world.
If interested please listen to 'Mane Taari Yaad Satave' album of Mukesh's
ghair-filmi Gujarati songs/ghazals. It has songs composed by all these people
including Kishor Desai.
-----------------------------------
Chetan:
The last word is 'eklo' (= alone) methinks. I always thought this
was a song written-composed-sung by Avinash Vyas. Not DD.
Talking about AV reminds me - 'In Search of Lata' talks about a song
he composed for Lata when they went to see Khemchand Prakash.
'maajham raate nitarti nabh ni chaandni, ange ang dharaNi bhinjaay'.
What a lovely song !
Who composed 'pa.nkhiDaa ne aa pinjaroo junoo junoo laage...' - a
(non-film ?) song of Mukesh ? Other singers too have sung Gujarati
songs - Asha (a whole lot of them - I like 'tara faLiyaa maa.n pag
nahi.n meloo.n'), Manna Dey (I know a Narsinha Mehta bhajan 'jaag ne
jaadvaa, krashNa govaaLiya' he sang), Mahendra Kapoor, Suman (these
two sang under AV for "Jesal Toral". Her 'jesal kari le vichaar' and
his 'dhooNi re dhakhaavi beli ame tara naam ni' are classics.) And of
course Ashok showed me a rare gem - an EP of Begum Akhtar's Gujarati
ghazals !
----------------------------------
Anonymous:
On an not so unrelated note, the opening Sarangi piece of "mohe panghat
pe nandalaal" has the SAME tune of a Marathi 'natyageet'. Has this been
discussed before ? Or this is a true "discovery" by me :-) ?
---------------------------------
Snehal:
On a related note, I read this somewhere, that even the lyrics are (note that
I don't use "were") not by Shaqeel. The entire song was "uthaav" from one
Gujarati/Bhojpuri poet (whose name I don't remember). He threaten to go to
court, and then K Asif settled by giving big bucks to this not-so-big poet and
credits remained with Shaqeel. I rate Shaqeel high, as a poet of Urdu, but can't
even imagine him writing such a lovely piece of poetry. I am convinced and
am positive it's not his work.
And about Naushad, it's better not to say any thing.
> Who composed 'pa.nkhiDaa ne aa pinjaroo junoo junoo laage...' - a
> (non-film ?) song of Mukesh ? Other singers too have sung Gujarati
I suppose, it's by Avinash Vyas. So is 'O Neel Gagan Na Pankheru TuN Shaane
Udi Jaaye, Mane Tari Yaad Sataave'
> songs - Asha (a whole lot of them - I like 'tara faLiyaa maa.n pag
I don't :) It's good folk based number, though. I like her bhajan
Dayaa Na Saagar Thai, Krupa Re Nidhaan Thai Ne
Game Tetlu Bhagwaan Kehavdaavo
PaN Raam Tame, Sitaaji Ni Tole Na Aavo, PaN Ram Tame Sitji Ni Tole Aavo
> nahi.n meloo.n'), Manna Dey (I know a Narsinha Mehta bhajan 'jaag ne
He also sung for AV, a great chorus (forgot the film name):
Ai Hu-tu-tu-tu... Rami Ramat Ni Rutu
Ekmek Nathain? Bheru Thai Ne ...
I think it's about game of kabaddi, which was called Hu-tu-tu in Gujarat,
before it assumed it's modern face. While going to other half player is supposed
to "chant" words "hu-tu-tu" till he returns or is caught! So, music and sports
are connected too :) Perhaps Hemant Kumar has also sung one Gujarati song.
> jaadvaa, krashNa govaaLiya' he sang), Mahendra Kapoor, Suman (these
MK, reminds me a Mohammad Rafi's rare rendition of gujarati Ghazal of
'Gani' Dahiwaala, who hailed from Surat.
Diwaso Judaai Na Jaay Chhe, E Lai Jashe Milan Sudhi
Maaro Haath Zaali Ne Lai Jashe, Mara Shatru-o J Sajan Sudhi
He sings it with his heart in it. Flawless pronunciations and each and every
feeling Gani wanted to express, Rafi has. Don't know any other Rafi song in
Gujarati.
AV, also seems to had very good relations with Geeta Roy. She has sung some
fabulous songs for AV in MangaL Fera and GuNsundri No Ghar Sansaar (aka
GuNSundri). My favourites are:
TaaLi O Na Taale Gori, Garbe Ghumi Jaay? Re
Poonam Ni Raat Aavi, Poonam Ni Raat
and an absolute beauty in
Aaj Mhaari NaNadi E MheNu Maaryu
Also, she sung for him in Rakh Na Ramakda (old)
Rakh Na Ramakda Ne, Maara Raame Ramtaa Rakhyaa Re
Mrutyulok Ni Maati Maathe Maanav Kahi Ne Bhaakhya Re, O~~ Rakh Na ...
Very melodious song. It's a duet and perhaps features DD's voice. In that
case, it may well be a Dilip DhoLakia composition as well!
> two sang under AV for "Jesal Toral". Her 'jesal kari le vichaar' and
> his 'dhooNi re dhakhaavi beli ame tara naam ni' are classics.) And of
I can recall this MK song. It's a great song. AV, infact worked with almost all
bigtime singers. More importantly in Hindi cinema too. His compositions for
Ekaadashi, Riyaasat, Mahapuja etc. are very good. His MAHAPOOJA song of Talat
was a hit song of it's time:
Kaahe Ko Bisaara Hari Naam, O Baba Tune Kaahe Ko Bisaara Hari Naam
Let me list people who contributed to Hindi film music, and were origianally
from Gujarat (or were Gujarati):
PraNsukh Nayak, Avinash Vyas, Indravadan Bhatt, Dilip DhoLakia, Ajit Merchant,
KalyaNji-ANandji, Kaumudi Munshi, Kamal Barot? (not sure if she is Gujarati),
Pramodini Desai (or was she from Maharashtra?), V Balsara.
In fact, there was Oza too! :) But I suppose that was Ojha. A R Ojha.
Would you believe this guy (Indravadan Bhatt) has a duet with Surraiya ?! And
a nice one. [ For Dak Bangalaa (1947) ]. Also some interesting info. for you.
Remeber I had a sub-series of singing MDs under ATMJH ? Here is some more MDs
who have sung and I didnot mention then: Pt. Shivram (Krishna), Pt. Shyamsundar,
Dilip DhoLakia. There must be more. Wondering if Roshan ever sung ? Initially
I was thrilled to find a duet credited to person called Roshan and Usha? Bhatia.
Then I found that it's Roshan Bhaita.
At this stage, two interjections by Naarada and one by Han Solo:
Naarada:
> Snehal, wasn't there a Dayabhai Panchal? Or you don't consider his work
> a "contribution" to Hindi film music? :))
>
:-) You caught me.
Naarada:
> Let me add two important names, though: Shyamji Ghanshyamji and Lata Mangeshkar.
>
Han Solo:
> Her Mom was I believe Jayvanti Laad, a Gujju, so Lata's
> "Mother's tongue" was atleast Gujju.
>
Snehal continues:
I feel good to find Lata's name there. And then logically all Mangeshkars should
be added, but I feel that they legitimately remain first Marathi and then
Gujarati. BTW, Bhupendra has also sung Gujrati songs. One of my favourite is
from a film KASHI NO DIKRO under AV/GV
Maari Ankhen Kanku Na Suraj Aathmyaa
Lastly let me add for sake of completeness, that there are (atleast) three more
people who hailed from Gujarat and sung for Hindi films: Udhas brothers (Manhar
and Pankaj -- they are from Rajkot) and Kamlesh Avasthi. Also Shabbir Kumar who
is from Vadodara.
Just wondering if Saroj GundaaNi ever sung for Hindi films.
Chetan wrote:
> There is another one from GuNsundari -
>
> tame thoDa thoDa thaaO varNaagi
> o bhabhi tame thoDa thoDa thaaO varNaagi
>
>
> Is this sung by Geeta too ?
If I remember correctly it's sung by Krishna Kalle. Isn't it a duet involving
two female singers ?
There is another one from GuNsundari -
tame thoDa thoDa thaaO varNaagi
o bhabhi tame thoDa thoDa thaaO varNaagi
Han Solo:
Is it really a DD composition? I ask since Geeta D has sung a song with
an exact similar tune in Jogan, "Raamji ke dwaar se". This is not even an
adaptation, it is that similar.
Chetan:
This is not from Jogan. AFAIR it is a N.Dutta movie. The words are
tora manvaa kyooN ghabraaye re
laakho.n deen-dukhiyaare praaNi
??? mukti paaye re
raamji ke dwaar se(?)
Anybody remember it ?
Preetham:
Film: Sadhana
Lyrics: Sahir
Music: N. Dutta
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Feel free to contribute parallelly, obliquely, orthogonally, or
on other planes.
Ashok
Kamlesh Nanavati
Well, RAVINDRA DAVEs name can be added in list of Gujarati People in
Hindi Films. Wasn't he producer/director of RKs DulhaDulhan? So many
films has a name Dahyabhai Patel(editor?). How about Vasant Desai? Gunj
Uthi Shehnai has some Gujarati financer/producer in it, I think it was
produced by Vijay Bhatt, a gujarati, also Amita was Gujarati, Asha
Parekh, Dimple, Simple, Tina Munim, Bindu Zaveri, Vanubhai Purohit,
contributed more or less to Hindi Cinema. Zubin Mehta can be called a
Gujarati(?)There was another name comes to my mind, he was very actively
associated with the making of several hindi films was dalsukh or Jaysukh
PANCHOLI.( iF DPancholi is a columnist in Gujarati news Paper then it
must be Jaysukh).
Some of the Gujarati songs I like and comes to my mind at the Instant,
and (not) mentioned in the above discussion are:
1. Tari Ankhno afini, tara bolno bandhani(Venubhai Purohit as
Lyricist?)
2. Morli te chaali rang Rusane re..(Asha)
3. Paan Khaye saiyan Hamaro(Asha/ RajendraKumar-Asha Parekh Film)
4. Ek Rajkan Suraj thavane( Lata song: Gazalist(?) Barin Mehta)
5. Maari Aankhe Kankuna Suraj(Singer Bhupinder, Lyrics by Ravaji Patel)
regards,
krn.
Ajay P Nerurkar
Ashok (ADhar...@WorldBank.Org) wrote:
: Anonymous:
: On an not so unrelated note, the opening Sarangi piece of "mohe panghat
: pe nandalaal" has the SAME tune of a Marathi 'natyageet'. Has this been
: discussed before ? Or this is a true "discovery" by me :-) ?
Which one ? The best shot I can take at this moment is "kiti kiti saangoo
tula" but this isn't the SAME tune.
: ---------------------------------
: Snehal:
:I rate Shaqeel high, as a poet of Urdu, but can't
:even imagine him writing such a lovely piece of poetry. I am convinced and
:am positive it's not his work.
: And about Naushad, it's better not to say any thing.
Why ? Do you contend that the tune in question is not his ?
Ajay
Unknown
In article <57vmmu$q...@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, a...@cs.buffalo.edu says...
>: Anonymous:
>
>: On an not so unrelated note, the opening Sarangi piece of "mohe panghat
>: pe nandalaal" has the SAME tune of a Marathi 'natyageet'. Has this been
>: discussed before ? Or this is a true "discovery" by me :-) ?
>
>
>tula" but this isn't the SAME tune.
Well, this "anonymous" was me :-) so let me answer this. Yes, it's "kiti
kiti sangoo tula". The tune many not be 100% SAME, but it's 99 % SAME :-)
The point is, it may not be note-to-note similar, but it's too damn close.
The reason could be a common original bandish or ... .
BTW, these Gujarati chauvinists have really started an informed discussion.
So Ajay, how about we Maharashtrians showing the world that we are no less
than our neighbours ? :-) :-)
We can start with Natysangeet and continue thro' Keshavrao, Sudhir Phadke,
Jeetendra Abhisheki and stop at Hridaynath. Sounds good ?
- Abhay.
No more an "anonymous" :-)
Ajay P Nerurkar
ab...@infogain.com (AbhayAvachat) wrote:
: So Ajay, how about we Maharashtrians showing the world that we are no less
: than our neighbours ? :-) :-)
Yes, that should be easy. :-)
If we can get a Goenkaar or two to join the discussion we can have a riot!
I hear there *are* some on the net.
: We can start with Natysangeet and continue thro' Keshavrao, Sudhir Phadke,
: Jeetendra Abhisheki and stop at Hridaynath. Sounds good ?
Please go ahead. And don't forget Bal Gandharva.
Ajay
Ashok
In article <582ak2$t...@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, a...@cs.buffalo.edu says...
>
>ab...@infogain.com (AbhayAvachat) wrote:
>
>
>: So Ajay, how about we Maharashtrians showing the world that we are no less
>: than our neighbours ? :-) :-)
>
>
>Yes, that should be easy. :-)
>
>If we can get a Goenkaar or two to join the discussion we can have a riot!
>I hear there *are* some on the net.
>
Of course it would be easy, if you steal Bhimsen Joshi from one neighbour
and co-opt Goa, another neighbour, all this to take on Gujarati challenge!
(Maybe you can use help from Marathi Israelis? :))
>
>: We can start with Natysangeet and continue thro' Keshavrao, Sudhir Phadke,
>: Jeetendra Abhisheki and stop at Hridaynath. Sounds good ?
>
>
>Please go ahead. And don't forget Bal Gandharva.
>
or Tembe and Master Krishnarao.
>
>
>Ajay