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Amazing Accordions: Tribute to SJ on 25th death anniversary of Shankarsaab.
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Sunil Dandekar
Apr 27, 2012, 4:19:36 AM4/27/12
to
A person travels from Hyderabad to Pune to attend a 3 hour musical
program in Pune. Another one from Kolhapur does same thing and catches
the night bus back. Many others flock to the theatre preparing for a
late night with a full working day ahead. The hall is full. Many have
come not for entertainment but for offering figurative flowers to a
maestro having left us 25 years back.
I am writing this long article with the similar sentiments. It’s a
labour of love for me. It might be a long winding rambling of a bore
for some, but might be snippets of a vanishing era for few others.
The program was Amazing Accordions. Occasion was 25th death
anniversary of Shankarsaab. The artists are Enoch Daniel, Suhaschandra
Kulkarni and Anil Gode. Enoch Daniel (ED) probably needs no
introduction. He worked with Shankarsaab in the later part of SJ’s
musical journey. Suhaschandra Kulkarni (SK) pioneered orchestras in
Pune. He is a famed accordion player. Anil Gode is a self taught
accordion player, who heard ED playing accordion in 9th standard, was
hooked and borrowed money from his cousin to buy his first accordion
as he had no parental support for all that nonsense. And he rose
enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with likes of Enoch and
Suhaschandra.
All of them are seasoned sages of music. ED just completed 80, SK is
70+ and AG must be in his sixties.
Being a fan of SJ, accordion always had a special place in my heart.
If saxophone makes my soul soar to heights, accordion keeps me firmly
rooted to the ground bewildering me with the magic of life. I have
heard SK playing accordion in his stage shows in my school days. There
is some kind of magic in the visual appeal of accordion. The player
seems to be pushing the air on one side and then spinning out spools
of musical yarns on the other side, like varicoloured cotton candy.
The hall was sold out; testimony to the still lingering flame of love
for the masters. Grey or gleaming heads dominated the crowd.
Youngsters were few. Time is unforgiving.
Was the program perfect? No. The show started half an hour late. It
was quite apparent that the group had not had many rehearsals
together. Some songs did not flow. Interludes failed to start in time
for few songs. The brilliant pieces of accordion were not played to
the dot. That is the risk attempting very popular songs. The songs are
hard etched in the brain. Slightest mistake appears phenomenal. Enoch
Daniel sir made quite a few mistakes. His fingers were also not as
nimble as others. I say that and mentally chide myself for being such
a fastidious wise ass. The man is in eighties, standing ramrod
straight and carrying the heavy instrument around like its nothing,
when people of his age sit out in balconies, with decayed minds and
ravaged bodies. Nothing to occupy their minds but the petty complaints
about children and grandchildren.
Suhaschandra Kulkarni was brilliant. Anil Gode was more than adequate.
The program started with a small clip of Lata. She said that she and
SJ started their musical careers at the same time in 1947. Because of
that they enjoyed a special bond. There were misunderstandings and
petty squabbles but the inner warmth never died. She said that SJ
changed the face of Hindi film music as soon as they arrived on the
scene. Earlier the music was dominated by Punjabis and their style. SJ
created a style of their own.
If I were to write about all the songs played in the program and also
all the comments that the artists made, this write up would scale up
to a small book, so I have chosen to mix the comments and list of the
songs played.
AG: Baat Baat main rutho na..
AG : Aai ga Aai ga...
Arun Nulkar who took us through this journey, asked Anil Gode, what
were SJ to you as a person. The guy said, very simply and humbly, that
they made his life. I lived playing their songs. What can I say more?
He was asked whether he met his idols anytime in his life? Anil Gode
said, when they were at the top they had first Goody Sirwai and then
Sumit Mitra. I was a struggler in those days. No way I could scale
those heights.
ED : Mera Juta hai Jaapani
ED : Yaad kiya dil ne
ED : Aa ja Sanam
These songs were not delivered well. In Aa ja Sanam, the brilliant
pieces in the original were not executed to the kind of perfection
that is expected from a person of ED’s stature. Also could not keep
pace with the rhythm at quite a few places.
Arun Nulkar asked ED, that you have played for SJ in movies like Raj
Kumar, Love in Tokyo. Can you tell us in short what made SJ what they
were? He replied with a wry smile ‘About SJ nothing can be said in
short’ The very fact that we are playing in front of a packed house 60
years after some of the songs were composed is perhaps the only short
summary of what SJ were.
SK : Dil Tera Diwana hai sanam.
SK : Kaha ja rahe the... (Love Marriage)
SK played even the opening sher of Dil Tera Deewana on the instrument.
The racing song brought demands for encore. But SK demurred saying
that the song is so forceful that it drains him. Can not repeat it
with the same vigour. He was asked why has he been a life long
disciple, fan or whatever you may call it of the duo. He said you
don’t listen to their songs, they carry you along. It was only because
of them that I was inspired to a career in music. And after the first
brush I could think of nothing but their music. It’s so vast and deep.
They unknowingly launched many music careers. Many revered them from
distance like Eklavya and made their lives. He also said that SJ music
was simple but there is a difference between simple and ordinary.
Their songs were simple and extraordinary.
He was asked why he chose the particular song from love marriage as
against ‘Kahe jhum jhum’ or other songs. He said many of SJ’s songs
even if sung by a single artist were actually duets. This Kahan ja
rahe the is actually duet between Rafisaab (saab mine) and the
accordion. There are no other composers like them, who delivered songs
like this. And during his performance he did give a feeling of that
song being a duet.
SK got to know Shankarsaab very closely in the waning part of his
career. He said after Jay’s death Shankar felt very lonely. They had a
very intense ongoing ‘khunnas’ among them. Jay ne ye gaana suna to woh
kya kahega was always at the back of Shankar’s mind when he composed
something. And Shankarji ne aisa banaya to main kyun nahin bana sakata
was at the back of Jaikishen’s mind.
‘Dil ke jharoke main’ sounds like a typical Shankar composition, but
it is actually Jay’s, with a khunnas to do what Shankar did best,
better than him. Shankar once commented to Suhaschandra that after
Jay’s death he felt lost. Not only because of having lost a friend,
but also because of missing the rivalry. Abhi kiske liye kaam karoon?
Sun ne wala kaun hai?
AG : Hum hai to chaand aur taare.
The accompaniment on rhythm and keyboards was awesome. Rhythm section
was managed by Vivk Bhat, Padmakar Gujar and Abhijit Bhade. Keyboards
were manned by Nikhil Mahamuni and Mihir Bhadkamkar. Did not catch the
names of acoustic guitarist and the bass guitarist. But accordions
were like bright red colour making all instruments recede in the
drabness.
ED,SK, AG : Jiya o jiya
ED,SK,AG : Har dil jo pyaar karega..
Then there were clips of Rishi Kapoor, Vaijayanthi Mala and Randhir
Kapoor. All of them said that SJ’s music made RK films what they were.
Rishi Kapoor said that the music machine of SJ was so organized that
SJ and Shailendra and/or Hasrat and the artists would assemble in the
studio for the take at around 9. They would wrap the song in flat 3
hours. By 12-12.30 they would have drinks and lunch at Gaylord and
then go home to sleep it off.
When Rajkapoor narrated the story of Jis Desh main, Shankar commented,
‘Are is main humko karne ko kya hai? Is main to sab daakoo aur Patthar
hai. RK told him “are ek tum hi to ho jo in daakoo aur pattharomain
ras bhar sakte ho..”
In “Har dil jo” , incredible as it may sound, the 3 artists played the
3 stanzas and the vocal expressions of the three singers were actually
mimicked by the playing styles. The little over the top singing style
of Mahendra Kapoor was beautifully rendered by AG.
AG : Manjhil wohi hai pyaar ki.
In this song the piano work was excellently rendered by Nikhil and
Mihir.
ED : Woh chaand khila
SK : Jab se balam ghar aaye
ED : Bol ri kathputali
Before SK presented his next song, Arun asked him, why is he choosing
this particular song to play on accordion, as he had never heard it
being played on accordion. SK replied that it is to express my
reverence and gratitude to the maestros. When something is around we
tend to forget what it means to us. For few things we appreciate them
when they are around, but miss them more intensely when they are gone.
It is with the same feeling of loss about that bygone era, I am
offering this song as a tribute. And then he played ‘Tera Jaana...”.
And how did he play it! Lata’s beautiful harkats in the song
particularly at ‘koi dekhe......” was (superlatives...superlatives...)
expressed with delicate feather touch finger movements. If there is
something akin to a Kodak moment for aural experiences, it was for me.
Fortunate to be around.
AG : Sub kuchh sikha... (mind blowing...Banal but true..)
AG, SK : Barsaat main hum se mile...
AG: Kahe jhum jhum...
AG:ED:SK : Ajeeb daastaa
AG:ED:SK : Aji aisa moka... (SK was matchless with his true to record
execution of the prelude.
The last song was the everlasting grim reminder to everybody, Jeena
yahan marna yahan’ .
It was sheer excess. The in your face interludes, the melancholy tune,
the countermelodies all conspired to make us feel sad but at the same
time elated by the beauty of the sadness.
Phew. Quite a long write up. But wanted to record all the raw emotions
and comments as faithfully as I could. As the witnesses to the magic
moments of hindi film music fade away, the puny attempts to capture
the pugmarks of the giants in the dust of time must have some value.
So drained after this that do not want to proof read and polish and
push in some learned words around.
Tail Piece:
I have always noticed, when we attend such music programs, that the
normally pushy, ‘me first’ Indians become paragons of politeness on
such occasions. In the interval, in the huge queues in washrooms, a
person actually motioned me to go ahead. Probably music pushes the
darkness of boorishness, that has come to haunt us transiently. And
essentially that is what music is all about.
regards,
Sunil Dandekar
program in Pune. Another one from Kolhapur does same thing and catches
the night bus back. Many others flock to the theatre preparing for a
late night with a full working day ahead. The hall is full. Many have
come not for entertainment but for offering figurative flowers to a
maestro having left us 25 years back.
I am writing this long article with the similar sentiments. It’s a
labour of love for me. It might be a long winding rambling of a bore
for some, but might be snippets of a vanishing era for few others.
The program was Amazing Accordions. Occasion was 25th death
anniversary of Shankarsaab. The artists are Enoch Daniel, Suhaschandra
Kulkarni and Anil Gode. Enoch Daniel (ED) probably needs no
introduction. He worked with Shankarsaab in the later part of SJ’s
musical journey. Suhaschandra Kulkarni (SK) pioneered orchestras in
Pune. He is a famed accordion player. Anil Gode is a self taught
accordion player, who heard ED playing accordion in 9th standard, was
hooked and borrowed money from his cousin to buy his first accordion
as he had no parental support for all that nonsense. And he rose
enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with likes of Enoch and
Suhaschandra.
All of them are seasoned sages of music. ED just completed 80, SK is
70+ and AG must be in his sixties.
Being a fan of SJ, accordion always had a special place in my heart.
If saxophone makes my soul soar to heights, accordion keeps me firmly
rooted to the ground bewildering me with the magic of life. I have
heard SK playing accordion in his stage shows in my school days. There
is some kind of magic in the visual appeal of accordion. The player
seems to be pushing the air on one side and then spinning out spools
of musical yarns on the other side, like varicoloured cotton candy.
The hall was sold out; testimony to the still lingering flame of love
for the masters. Grey or gleaming heads dominated the crowd.
Youngsters were few. Time is unforgiving.
Was the program perfect? No. The show started half an hour late. It
was quite apparent that the group had not had many rehearsals
together. Some songs did not flow. Interludes failed to start in time
for few songs. The brilliant pieces of accordion were not played to
the dot. That is the risk attempting very popular songs. The songs are
hard etched in the brain. Slightest mistake appears phenomenal. Enoch
Daniel sir made quite a few mistakes. His fingers were also not as
nimble as others. I say that and mentally chide myself for being such
a fastidious wise ass. The man is in eighties, standing ramrod
straight and carrying the heavy instrument around like its nothing,
when people of his age sit out in balconies, with decayed minds and
ravaged bodies. Nothing to occupy their minds but the petty complaints
about children and grandchildren.
Suhaschandra Kulkarni was brilliant. Anil Gode was more than adequate.
The program started with a small clip of Lata. She said that she and
SJ started their musical careers at the same time in 1947. Because of
that they enjoyed a special bond. There were misunderstandings and
petty squabbles but the inner warmth never died. She said that SJ
changed the face of Hindi film music as soon as they arrived on the
scene. Earlier the music was dominated by Punjabis and their style. SJ
created a style of their own.
If I were to write about all the songs played in the program and also
all the comments that the artists made, this write up would scale up
to a small book, so I have chosen to mix the comments and list of the
songs played.
AG: Baat Baat main rutho na..
AG : Aai ga Aai ga...
Arun Nulkar who took us through this journey, asked Anil Gode, what
were SJ to you as a person. The guy said, very simply and humbly, that
they made his life. I lived playing their songs. What can I say more?
He was asked whether he met his idols anytime in his life? Anil Gode
said, when they were at the top they had first Goody Sirwai and then
Sumit Mitra. I was a struggler in those days. No way I could scale
those heights.
ED : Mera Juta hai Jaapani
ED : Yaad kiya dil ne
ED : Aa ja Sanam
These songs were not delivered well. In Aa ja Sanam, the brilliant
pieces in the original were not executed to the kind of perfection
that is expected from a person of ED’s stature. Also could not keep
pace with the rhythm at quite a few places.
Arun Nulkar asked ED, that you have played for SJ in movies like Raj
Kumar, Love in Tokyo. Can you tell us in short what made SJ what they
were? He replied with a wry smile ‘About SJ nothing can be said in
short’ The very fact that we are playing in front of a packed house 60
years after some of the songs were composed is perhaps the only short
summary of what SJ were.
SK : Dil Tera Diwana hai sanam.
SK : Kaha ja rahe the... (Love Marriage)
SK played even the opening sher of Dil Tera Deewana on the instrument.
The racing song brought demands for encore. But SK demurred saying
that the song is so forceful that it drains him. Can not repeat it
with the same vigour. He was asked why has he been a life long
disciple, fan or whatever you may call it of the duo. He said you
don’t listen to their songs, they carry you along. It was only because
of them that I was inspired to a career in music. And after the first
brush I could think of nothing but their music. It’s so vast and deep.
They unknowingly launched many music careers. Many revered them from
distance like Eklavya and made their lives. He also said that SJ music
was simple but there is a difference between simple and ordinary.
Their songs were simple and extraordinary.
He was asked why he chose the particular song from love marriage as
against ‘Kahe jhum jhum’ or other songs. He said many of SJ’s songs
even if sung by a single artist were actually duets. This Kahan ja
rahe the is actually duet between Rafisaab (saab mine) and the
accordion. There are no other composers like them, who delivered songs
like this. And during his performance he did give a feeling of that
song being a duet.
SK got to know Shankarsaab very closely in the waning part of his
career. He said after Jay’s death Shankar felt very lonely. They had a
very intense ongoing ‘khunnas’ among them. Jay ne ye gaana suna to woh
kya kahega was always at the back of Shankar’s mind when he composed
something. And Shankarji ne aisa banaya to main kyun nahin bana sakata
was at the back of Jaikishen’s mind.
‘Dil ke jharoke main’ sounds like a typical Shankar composition, but
it is actually Jay’s, with a khunnas to do what Shankar did best,
better than him. Shankar once commented to Suhaschandra that after
Jay’s death he felt lost. Not only because of having lost a friend,
but also because of missing the rivalry. Abhi kiske liye kaam karoon?
Sun ne wala kaun hai?
AG : Hum hai to chaand aur taare.
The accompaniment on rhythm and keyboards was awesome. Rhythm section
was managed by Vivk Bhat, Padmakar Gujar and Abhijit Bhade. Keyboards
were manned by Nikhil Mahamuni and Mihir Bhadkamkar. Did not catch the
names of acoustic guitarist and the bass guitarist. But accordions
were like bright red colour making all instruments recede in the
drabness.
ED,SK, AG : Jiya o jiya
ED,SK,AG : Har dil jo pyaar karega..
Then there were clips of Rishi Kapoor, Vaijayanthi Mala and Randhir
Kapoor. All of them said that SJ’s music made RK films what they were.
Rishi Kapoor said that the music machine of SJ was so organized that
SJ and Shailendra and/or Hasrat and the artists would assemble in the
studio for the take at around 9. They would wrap the song in flat 3
hours. By 12-12.30 they would have drinks and lunch at Gaylord and
then go home to sleep it off.
When Rajkapoor narrated the story of Jis Desh main, Shankar commented,
‘Are is main humko karne ko kya hai? Is main to sab daakoo aur Patthar
hai. RK told him “are ek tum hi to ho jo in daakoo aur pattharomain
ras bhar sakte ho..”
In “Har dil jo” , incredible as it may sound, the 3 artists played the
3 stanzas and the vocal expressions of the three singers were actually
mimicked by the playing styles. The little over the top singing style
of Mahendra Kapoor was beautifully rendered by AG.
AG : Manjhil wohi hai pyaar ki.
In this song the piano work was excellently rendered by Nikhil and
Mihir.
ED : Woh chaand khila
SK : Jab se balam ghar aaye
ED : Bol ri kathputali
Before SK presented his next song, Arun asked him, why is he choosing
this particular song to play on accordion, as he had never heard it
being played on accordion. SK replied that it is to express my
reverence and gratitude to the maestros. When something is around we
tend to forget what it means to us. For few things we appreciate them
when they are around, but miss them more intensely when they are gone.
It is with the same feeling of loss about that bygone era, I am
offering this song as a tribute. And then he played ‘Tera Jaana...”.
And how did he play it! Lata’s beautiful harkats in the song
particularly at ‘koi dekhe......” was (superlatives...superlatives...)
expressed with delicate feather touch finger movements. If there is
something akin to a Kodak moment for aural experiences, it was for me.
Fortunate to be around.
AG : Sub kuchh sikha... (mind blowing...Banal but true..)
AG, SK : Barsaat main hum se mile...
AG: Kahe jhum jhum...
AG:ED:SK : Ajeeb daastaa
AG:ED:SK : Aji aisa moka... (SK was matchless with his true to record
execution of the prelude.
The last song was the everlasting grim reminder to everybody, Jeena
yahan marna yahan’ .
It was sheer excess. The in your face interludes, the melancholy tune,
the countermelodies all conspired to make us feel sad but at the same
time elated by the beauty of the sadness.
Phew. Quite a long write up. But wanted to record all the raw emotions
and comments as faithfully as I could. As the witnesses to the magic
moments of hindi film music fade away, the puny attempts to capture
the pugmarks of the giants in the dust of time must have some value.
So drained after this that do not want to proof read and polish and
push in some learned words around.
Tail Piece:
I have always noticed, when we attend such music programs, that the
normally pushy, ‘me first’ Indians become paragons of politeness on
such occasions. In the interval, in the huge queues in washrooms, a
person actually motioned me to go ahead. Probably music pushes the
darkness of boorishness, that has come to haunt us transiently. And
essentially that is what music is all about.
regards,
Sunil Dandekar
Balaji Murthy
Apr 27, 2012, 5:48:57 PM4/27/12
to
Thanks, this was a very enjoyable read!! I have been to such
gatherings where sentiment and occasion more than make up for the
"lack" of quality!!
- Balaji
Sukesh
Apr 27, 2012, 11:29:21 PM4/27/12
to
>
> read more »
Applause.
Vijay
Apr 28, 2012, 4:22:30 AM4/28/12
to
On Apr 27, 9:19 am, Sunil Dandekar <sunnydande...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> A person travels from Hyderabad to Pune to attend a 3 hour musical
> program in Pune. Another one from Kolhapur does same thing and catches
> the night bus back. Many others flock to the theatre preparing for a
> late night with a full working day ahead. The hall is full. Many have
> come not for entertainment but for offering figurative flowers to a
> maestro having left us 25 years back.
Very moving! Thanks for sharing.
> A person travels from Hyderabad to Pune to attend a 3 hour musical
> program in Pune. Another one from Kolhapur does same thing and catches
> the night bus back. Many others flock to the theatre preparing for a
> late night with a full working day ahead. The hall is full. Many have
> come not for entertainment but for offering figurative flowers to a
> maestro having left us 25 years back.
Vijay
sdy...@gmail.com
May 13, 2015, 4:21:42 PM5/13/15
to
Just like listening to a heartfelt SJ piece by AG (I have witnessed only AG's accordion - not SK or ED).
You have aptly expressed the feelings of all fellow gray haired 50/60s music lovers.
And the observation in the last paragraph was truly priceless...
- Sunil (Detroit, USA)
Afzal A. Khan
May 14, 2015, 3:15:06 PM5/14/15
to
Dandekar-ji,
I don't participate in this Group these days. But, despite
my old age, I do visit the group off and on. Your write-up
was brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I had an occasion to attend an hour-long programme by Mr. Enoch
Daniels more than fifty years back. He was of course quite
young at the time. SJ too were in their prime. I think "Chori
Chori" had been released just a few months earlier, and its
songs were all the rage. When ED played the exquisite accordion
piece from the song "Aa ja sanam...", the assembled crowd broke
into rapturous applause each time. Your post brought back fond
memories of those days.
Permit me a little bit of digression......
Around the same time (as the ED concert), I was fortunate to
attend a music concert by Talat Mahmood. Till today I treasure
those memories. He still had about 6-7 years of active
playback singing in the future. Some of his immortal melodies
from films like "Ek Gaon Ki Kahani", "Roop Ki Rani, ChoroN Ka
Raja" (stg. Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman) "Chhaya" and
"Jahan Ara" still lay in the future.
Some time around 1987 or so, Doordarshan announced a TV
interview with Talat Saheb that was to take place around 3.00
p.m. on a Saturday. I recall that most offices --- whether of
Government, public sector or private companies --- emptied long
before that time slot and everyone made a bee-line for his home,
to be there well before the programme started. I don't remember
exactly, but the interviewer was a Doordarshan presenter Sarita
Sethi.
Some years later --- around the early or mid-nineties ---
Doordarshan aired another interview with Talat Saheb. By that
time, he was in poor health and suffering from Parkinson's
disease. In the interview, he spoke in a quick tempo, slurring
over his words, with words sort of getting mixed with each
other. Occasionally, he was gasping for breath too. At the
interviewer's request, he sang a few lines from some of his
well-known songs; one of which was the famous SDB number from
"Sujata" --- "Jalte haiN jis ke liye". And, surprisingly, he
managed to sing it so well, without the slurring of words that
had characterised his normal conversation.
I had an occasion to meet him personally once. He was such a
thorough gentleman. As Mark Antony said about Caesar --->
"When comes such another ?".
Talat Saheb had been a regular smoker early in his life. I do
not quite know whether, if at all, he gave it up later. This
habit was, in fact, responsible for his rift with Naushad, for
whom he had sung some memorable songs from films like "Mela",
"Babul" etc. The story goes that, at a recording, once, Talat
Saheb had been smoking as usual and, as smokers are sometimes
wont to do, blew or exhaled the smoke without regard for others
who might be non-smokers. Naushad felt quite offended and that
sort of marked an end to their musical relationship. In exte -
nuation, I can say only this that both were contemporaries,
age-wise, and Talat in fact was senior to Naushad in the music
field, having been a well-known voice in Bengal. As a singer
par excellence, he had already created a niche for himself.
I hope to be excused for this rambling post.
Afzal
sunil.d...@gmail.com
May 27, 2015, 6:30:24 AM5/27/15
to
AfzalKhan ji,
Your post brought back memories of the golden days of RMIM, when reading and writing posts on RMIM used to be an integral part of my day.
I too don't visit this site too frequently, but I wish somehow the clock would be turned back and we could go back to those glory days. No doubt we had lots of arguments and fights and flaming on the group , but it was a rewarding experience, as there were many knowledgeable and passionate people.
I enjoyed reading your 'rambling post' with lot of nostalgia. Thanks.
Your post brought back memories of the golden days of RMIM, when reading and writing posts on RMIM used to be an integral part of my day.
I too don't visit this site too frequently, but I wish somehow the clock would be turned back and we could go back to those glory days. No doubt we had lots of arguments and fights and flaming on the group , but it was a rewarding experience, as there were many knowledgeable and passionate people.
I enjoyed reading your 'rambling post' with lot of nostalgia. Thanks.
vebhuti
Jun 24, 2015, 12:04:34 AM6/24/15
to
What a wonderful piece! Beautifully written and very evocative :)
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