Geeta Dutt Tribute from Hemant Parikh Must Read 20th July
par...@ibm.net
Geeta Dutt
She was the blithe spirit of our popular music. All the more so under
the baton of O.P . Nayyar who owed his "Aar Paar" breakthrough to her.
Here is a peep into GEETA DUTT’s solo repertoire for this composer. On
the occasion of her 22nd death anniversary falling on July 20,1994 a
study by RAJU BHARATAN. Complied by Hemant Parikh.
Who recommended O.P. Nayyar as a music director
to Guru Dutt for "Baaz"? Inimitable Geeta Roy of course, when she was
all set to become Geeta Dutt Which number arguably rates as the hottest
tune composed by O.P. Nayyar- yesterday, today or tomorrow? Mera naam
Chin-Chin-Choo, the Helen foot-tapper from "Howrah Bridge".
What a grim irony that Mera naam Chin-Chin-Choo
turned out to be Geeta’s swan song for Opee. I turn the spotlight here on
Geeta Dutt’s solos for O.P Nayyar, since it is not my style to halve the
anniversary credit by bringing in the singer’s duets too. At twelve
o’clock on July 20, we were into 22 years without Geeta Dutt. Yet this
blithe spirit of our popular music has been in the public ear all these
22 years Geeta’s vocal mystique, it is unique.
Especially under the seductive baton of O.P.
Nayyar. The story of their ear-riveting association be-gins with Dalsukh
Pancholi’s "Asmaan" in 1952, flopping like nobody’s show business in the
face of Geeta Roy’s vocals in it; for O.P.Nayyar, being vibrant as
vibrant could be. Vibrant in the shape of Pom pom pom baaja bole dholak
dhin dhin dhin (the GE28021 record I had to beg, borrow or steal for
Ameen Sayani to play during Binaca for birth play during anniversary),
Arre kya hoon main na bahaar hoon, Dekho jaadoo bhare more naina and that
stunner: Dil hai diwana jawaan hai zamana. "Asmaan" bombed so explosively
that O.P. Nayyar switched wholesale to Asha Bhonsle for all the 12 songs
of his next film, P.L. Santoshi’s "Chham Chhama Chham".
Characteristically, Geeta never held this against
Opee, commending his name to Guru Dutt to score the music for the 1953
Geeta Bali - Guru Dutt starrer, "Baaz". And Guru Dutt shot the movie
almost entirely on a ship. What memorable solos Opee composed for Geeta
to articulate while working for the first time with a creative director
like Guru Dutt and a super heroine like Geeta Bali. Remembar Geeta Roy’s
Zara saamne aa zara aankh mila on Geeta Bali?
And Geeta Roy rendering the very opposite style
of tune in the very opposite style of scene that Geeta Bali, alone could
take in her acting stride; Ai dil ai diwane aag laga li kyun daaman mein.
There were, in the same "Baaz", other numbers that the listener of taste
recalls to this day as Geeta-Opee at their brightest; Maanjhi albele
chalo re haule haule, Ai watan ke nauja waan jaag aur jaga ke chal, Taare
chaandni afsaane samaan bahaar hai suhane and Jaage panchchi savera hua.
What composing by Opee, what vocalising by Geeta!
Yet "Baaz" failed. But not the vocals of Geeta or
the tunes of Opee. In fact, the solo numbers scored by O.P. Nayyar for
Geeta Roy in "Asmaan" and "Baaz" have become collectors items in the 22
years Geeta has been off but never away. As for Geeta-Opee’s "Aar
Paar", its impact is still fresh in our ears. For "Aar Paar" (1954) was
the breakthrough film for Guru Dutt and O.P.Nayyar alike.
It is well to remember that Geeta Roy, in posing
an early threat to Lata, had broken through long before Guru Dutt and
O.P. Nayyar found public acceptance. Yes, if the Mangeshkar was already
number one by 1953, she was "first only among three equals". Lata, Geeta
and Shamshad Be-gum. Asha Bhonsle came into the reckoning only after
these three and was still struggling in 1953.
But Our theme song here is Geeta going solo in
the sultry custody of Opee. And the Geeta solos for Opee in "Aar Paar"
may, each, be pinpointed as an ever green; Yeh lo main haari piya, Babuji
dhire chalna pyaar mein, Hoon abhi main jawaan and that heart stopper on
the obverse of the N50848 Sun sun sun sun zaalima record: Jaa jaa jaa jaa
bewafaa. The Sun sun sun sun zaalima duet was a straight lift, but Jaa
jaa jaa jaa bewafaa was a mood creation by Opee - epitomised by Geeta in
that antithetic idiom that so set off her vim and vitality as a
joie-de-vivre performer.
We had a fresh insight into this "other" mood of
Geeta as, in "Mr & Mrs 55", without the slightest sense of inhibition,
she took on C.H. Atma, under the same Opee, and invested Preetam aan milo
with her own vocal persona. Saroj Mohini Nayyar, as the one who wrote the
Atma original, was shaky about this Geeta edition.
But Saroj Mohini could feel shaky only until Geeta’s voice came over
after that she knew she was listening to a live enactor, not a mere
singer. May be Madhubala’s visage was half the battle won. But can you
imagine Madhubala without Geeta in such "Mr & Mrs 55" solo as Thandi hawa
kaali ghata? Geeta had this gift of putting her vocal stamp even on
Madhubala! On Madhubala as on Cuckoo - Neele aasmaane.
O P. Nayyar’s composing, at this make-or-break
stage in this career, had a swinging rhythm that was best captured by
mood specialist Geeta Dutt. Look at the way Geeta put over for Opee, in
"Musafirkhana" that charming romantic solo on Shyama; Dil dee daala
nazrana. It was a simple tune equally simply put across, that is why it
was so lucidly picked up by the simple ear and the simple mind.
What was "Choomantar" but a Johny Walker - Shyama
- Karan
Dewan extension of "Musafirkhana". Before you could say "Chhoomantar",
Geeta had established her Opee sway on your heart with Jab baddal
lehraaya jiya jhoom jhoom
ke gaaya, Gori gori raat hai taaron ki baaraat hai and Raat nashili rang
rangili mast hawa. What a shame these carefree re-minders of our youth
are numbers so little heard today.
Oh, but I have missed out on a film that is
current soft-drink coin: "Miss Coca Cola". The Pepsi people could never
have found a vocal match for Geeta, had she been living to vivify the
fizz in Coca-Cola. Geeta Bali had yet to wed Shammi Kapoor when she was
his "Miss Coca Cola" in the film of that name! And how can we forget from
"Miss Coca Cola" such Geeta-Opee ear-catchers as Sach sach bol nahin
batiyaan bana, Teri kaafir nigah kar gayi dil ko tabaah and Ban dhadkan
kajra naina dole re. We rarely get to hear these numbers, will Vividh
Bharati and Doodarshan oblige, now that the Coca-Colonisation of India by
the USA is in full swing?
"C.I.D", of course, was the Raj Khosla directed
Guru Dutt film that brought O.P. Nayyar zooming on as a live challenger
to Shanker-Jaikishan in the year (1956) in which that swiftly advancing
duo bagged their maiden Filmfare Best music award for "Chori Chori". All
the film award entries, I remember, were counted in my editorial charge
in the Times Of India building and Lata-Manna Dey, at their best in
"Chori Chori", just about managed to edge out Geeta-Rafi at their best in
"C.I.D". Shanker-Jaikishan, too, needed to be at their most innovative to
snatch that 1956 filmfare award from O.P. Nayyar, who was to beat this
duo to it the following year with "Naya Daur" - without Geeta Dutt!
With Geeta Dutt, in "C.I.D", Opee had but one
solo - but what a solo! The spell of Jaata kahaan hai diwane abides. Its
Kuchch tere dil mein fifi kuchch mere dil mein fifi punchline by Geeta
represented O.P. Nayyar’s trendy counter to S.D. Burman’s
Tip-tip-tip-tip-tip--tip-tip effect given by the same Geeta Roy on Geeta
Bali in the Dekh ke akeli mohe beguiler of "Baazi". There was a raging in
controversy in the letters’ section of Screen about why Geeta’s Jaata
kahaan hai diwane was deleted from "C.I.D." Which is the Geeta number you
would choose from between Opee’s Jaata kahaan hai diwane and S.D.'s Dekh
ke akeli mohe? The choice lies between Geeta Roy and Geeta Dutt!
When he bagged "Mr. Lambu", for O.P. Nayyar it
was a dream come true, for the film gave him his first opportunity to
compose for Suraiya. At the time, I remember expressing my disappointment
to Opee for the way he had scored Suraiya’s two solos in "Mr..Lambu" as
Yaad karun tori batiyaan and Soyi hai kahaan jaakar taqdeer mohabbat ki.
But today these Suraiya numbers sound pleasant enough. As pleasant as
Geeta’s lone solo in "Mr. Lambu", Aaj jo hum tum mil gaye pyaar mein?
Well, for Geeta, Suraiya was no competition. Even Lata was not, for the
word "competition" did not exist in Geeta’s vocal lexicon.
That is why Geeta could pack her all even into a
below-grade crimusical like "Shrimati 420". There were no fewer than
three Geeta-Opee solos in "Shrimati 420" and each was part of a Nayyar
wave that then swept our cinema:
Meri zindagi ke humsafar phenkna yahaan bhi ek nazar, Hum ko chhod ke
kahaan jaaoge saiyyan and Badi rangili zindagi hai ha seen hai dillagi
hai. What a great idea it would be if HMV issued a Cassette made up
exclusively of Geeta’s OP solos in the 1952-60 phase. For come 1961 and
Geeta sadly, is out of O.P. Nayyar’s recording room.
Which then is the timeless number with which
Geeta Dutt came closest to matching her own Mera naam Chin-Chin-Choo? We
are talking of O.P. Nayyar. so I say it is Chor lootere daaku in "Ustad".
I know Asha successfully grappled with every sironise twist and turn in
an Opee tune in later years, but Chor lootere daaku came at a time when
Geeta alone could do that for O.P. Nayyar. And whether the number be Chor
lootere daaku or Mera naam Chin-Chin-Choo, Geeta had the God given gift
of sounding sensuous without sounding salacious. Geeta alone had this
knack of never making even an Opee tune sound voluptuous. I concede Asha
took over from Geeta in style, yet the fact remains that there is not one
Opee tune you can recall that Geeta coarsened .
"It is sad therefore that a sizzler like Chor
lootere daaku represents the phase (1957) in which O.P. Nayyar began the
business of banishing Geeta by having ears only for Asha. The solos and
duets alike of Geeta, I find, are severely rationed by Opee, starting
with "Ustad". In Opee chartbusters like "Tumsa Nahin Dekha" and "Naya
Daur", even in Nayyar quickies of this period like "Hum Sub Chor Hain"
and "Qaidi", it is Asha almost all the way, barring that almost mandatory
interpolation by Shamshad Begum.
With "Phagun", the Madhubala-Bharat Bhooshan
all-Pilu musical coming at the fag-end of 1957, Opee’s obsession with
Asha is complete - all 11 songs in the film carry her vocals. This I
emphasise not as a criticism of Asha, who came up the hard way, but
merely as OP not being any longer pre-pared to entertain the idea of
resummoning his one time chief artiste, Geeta Dutt. This was when Geeta
made that famous phone call to Opee to ask: "What have I done to you that
you now don’t send for me at all?" How does Opee feel about such Asha
concentration and Geeta inattention today? "Very guilty" says Opee. "But
love knows no reason, only a season!"
Even in such a season, in "Duniya Rang Rangeeli"
in which there were six songs by Asha tuned by Opee, Geeta Dutt left a
vocal mark, all her own in the sole solo she got in the film: Kya yeh tu
ne kiya ishara. From such an occasional Geeta crumb, I conclude that
Opee at times suffered from pricks of conscience. It was the call of such
a conscience that presumably made Opee offer Geeta such solo sops in 1958
as Bach bach bach kahun sach sach sach in "Farishta" and Channda chaandni
mein jab chamke kya ho aa mile jo koyi chham se in "Mujrim".
Yet there was one film in 1958 in which O.P.
Nayyar had to settle for Geeta Dutt as his main singer afresh. This,
traumatically for Geeta, was the Waheeda Rehnnan Guru Dutt starrer:
"Twelve O’Clock". We had here, hoon the still super-supple throat of
Geeta three such Opee lilters as Kaisa jaadu balam tum ne daara, Aji o
suno to nahin tum ne humen pehchana and Arre tauba taurba yeh teri ada.
Thus was the "Clock" chimingly turned back to "Twelve" before Geeta Dutt
disappeared from O.P. Nayyar’s recording room.
Asha Bhonsle went on to sing for O.P. Nayyar as
many as 81 solo plus chorus-backed numbers, but the digits get reversed
in the solo case of Geeta to 18. Yet what a watershed these 18 Geeta
solos mark in Opee’s career: O. P.Nayyar might have created some sort of
a recording by getting Asha to figure in all songs of "Phagun", all 14
songs of "Basant", all 9 songs of "Hongkong", all 7 songs of "Mitti
Mein Sona", all 6 songs in the case of each of three films: "C.I.D.
909", "The Killers" and "Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye".
The Chain se hum ko kabhi aap ane jeene na diya
collaboration of Asha-Opee may have a pang and a tang all its own. Yet
Asha Bhonsle, as a human being first and a imputative being after, will
be the first, I know, to spare a Thandi thandi hawa poochche unka pata
thought for a Geeta who hid her light under a bushel so that her
husband’s might shine the brighter . A husband who, when he went back to
O.P. Nayyar for "Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi", knew it had to be Asha it
could not be his wife even for a tune right up Geeta’s, alley like Koyi
keh de keh de kehde zamane se jaa ke ki hum ghabra ke mohabbat kar
baithe....
An Asha shraddhanjali to Geeta, is it not
overdue, now that Ms. Bhonsle has sung like a champion for 22 years
without any competition from Ms.Dutt?
From the Record GEETA DUTT IN MEMORIAM
This marvel of a musical montage will bring you
bitter-sweet memories of bygone years. Bitter, because the voice that
presents it is the voice of Geeta Dutt who is no more with us. And sweet,
because sweetness was the keynote of her music.
Geeta’s was the voice that lent a rare
sensitivity and poise, an uncanny grace and dignity, to every song she
warbled, It had also in it a subtle blend of talent and imagination of
originality and virtuosity - the kind of blend we find so beautifully
reflected in the rich legacy of recorded repertoire she has left behind
Indeed, her sudden death at 41 has left a void in the melody world that
is hard to fill, . Born in a well-known family of Zamindars from East
Bengal, now Bangla Desh, Geeta Dutt migrated to Bombay soon after
partition in 1947, Timbre and tone were in her blood and before long did
she blaze a new trail as a singer par excellence,
Maestros of the eminence of S, D, Burman and O,
P, Nayyar found her silken voice ideally suited for films and harnessed
it to best advantage, From then on, for almost two decades, Geeta had her
sway over millions of her fans, singing as many as 5,000 songs in a
variety of languages-from Bengali and Hindi to Punjabi, Marathi and even
Gujarati Songs like Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya and Tadbeer se bigdi hui,
with their perennial appeal, are the finest examples of her eloquent
musical expression Geeta Dutt s marriage in 1 953 with Guru Dutt, the
versatile producer - director - -actor, was an event to remember in the
world of film music. She lent her voice to almost all the films produced
by her husband - like "Pyaasa", "Mr. and Mrs. 55", "Baazi", "Aar Paar",
"C.I.D" , "Kagaz- ke- Phool" and "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam".
And it is sheer delight to hear these songs even
today, This disc offers you the very epitome of her emotional world in
all its varied facets of the little joys and sorrows that shaped her
musical being.
Addition By Hemant Parikh. ( Source Raju Bharatan & Vandana Majudar
Articles)
Geeta Roy / Geeta Dutt
Died July 20, 1972 she was only 41. ( Born 1931)
· 1952 "Asmaan" First O.P. Nayyar -Geeta Dutt combination film flpped.
· 1953 Geeta Roy suggested Music Director O.P. Nayyar’s name to Guru
Dutt for
the film "Baaz" * ing Guru Dutt & Geeta Bali.
· 1953 She was among the first three equal famous singers 1) Lata
Mangeshkar, 2)
Geeta Dutt, 3) Samshad Begum.
· 1957 O.P. Nayaar never asked Geeta Dutt to sing for Bharat Bhusahan &
Madhubala starrer "Phagoon".
· 1958 O.P. Nayyar called her for the film " Twelve ‘O’ Clock" *ing Guru
Dutt
Waheeda Rahman.
· During the film "Pyaasa" Guru Dutt fell in love with Waheeda Rahman.
Geeta could not face her Husband linked with other woman, She stayed up
all night her friends suggested her to take alcohol.
· Guru Dutt stopped Geeta Dutt and Waheeda Rahman signing films out side
his banner. Soon Geeta Dutt lived separately.
· Guru Dutt passed away in the year 1964 ( 10th October). It had been
said that Geeta Dutt sold her Jewellery to pay Guru Dutt’s artistes. Her
house was auctioned. She started doing stage shows to support her kids.
· Like the doomed love story of the choti bahu in "Sahib Bibi Aur
Ghulam", both Meena Kumari and Geeta Dutt who had infused into the role
with the haunting Na jaon saiya shoodake baiya became alcoholics
themselves. Ironically like the legendery Meena Kumari Geeeta Dutt too
finally sccumbed to the deadly cirrhosis of the liver in 1972.. Jo dusro
ko khush kar gaye who khud khun ke aansoo pee gaye.
· Geeta Dutt sang 18 solo’s for O.P. Nayyar
· Asha Bhonsle sang 81 solo’s for O.P. Nayyar
· 1971 - Geeta Dutt sang her last song for the film "Anubhav" for the
Music director Kanu Roy.
· Born in Zamindar Family East Bengal ( Now the new Bangaladesh)
· She migrated to Bombay ( Now Mumbai) in the year 1947.
· 1953 - She married Guru Dutt Padkukone.
· She too tried comiting suicide…
· Dev Anand introduced Geeta Roy to Guru Dutt at a party. They met again,
when Geeta was recording Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le. Soon,
Guru Dutt was madly in love with her. He wrote her long, love letters and
they would go for quiet drives together.
· Geeta Dutt till today remains one of the most Beautiful female singers
in the Indian Music Industry.
· Geeta Dutt sang most of her best songs for S.D.Burman and O.P. Nayyar.
But she also sang for Madan Mohan, Shanker Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, C.
Ramchandra, Vasant Desai, Ravi, Chitragupa, Naushad & Kanu Roy.
· Geeta Dutt sang her most famous-duets with Mohammad Rafi. But she also
sang with Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mahmod and
Mukesh.
I hope this will paint picures in your mind about the legendry singer
Geeta Dutt. If there is any corrections to be made please e-mail me.
Happy reading.
Hemant Parikh ( Music Fan)
par...@ibm.net
Address: 15 - Sheppard Ave,
Mount Roskill,
Auckland - 4
New Zealand.
Ph: 0064 9 629 3598
Mobile: 0064 9 629 359
Fax: 0064 9 376 2223
Prince Kohli
This is being posted for Neeraj Malhotra, whose server
is vacationing on a desert island. All personal replies
may be addressed to malh...@bedford.progress.com.
-Prince
---begin post----
On Sat, 20 Jul 1996 par...@ibm.net wrote:
> Geeta Dutt
THANKS for a great article on Geeta Dutt. Perhaps we don't hear much
about her on RMIM because of lack of written material available on
her.
-------- CUT ------ A WONDERFUL ARTICLE ----
It would be GREAT if HMV came out with her wonderful songs under OPN;
they have however released a 2 cassette set 'Rare Gems of Geeta Dutt'.
Some of the songs you mention in your article :
> recalls to this day as Geeta-Opee at their brightest; Maanjhi albele
> chalo re haule haule,
ja ja ja ja, bewafa - from Aar Paar,
Dil de daala nazrana - Musafirkhana,
Jab baddal lehraaya jiya jhoom jhoom ke gaaya
Ban dhaDkan kajrare naina dole re - Miss Coca Cola
( Reminds you of the later song - Reshami salwar kurta jaali ka
from Naya Daur )
Hum ko chhod ke kahaan jaaoge, saiyyan baDa dukh paaoge - Smt. 420
Channda chaandni mein jab chamke kya ho aa mile jo koyi chham se in
"Mujrim".
and many wonderful songs are part of this set.
I will post a complete list for RMIM.
Some of her other gems from Baaz can be heard in a Video - Tribute
to Geeta Dutt.
Zara saamne aa zara aankh mila on Geeta Bali is part of the video.
Both Geetas shine through - The beautiful Geeta Bali is as watchable as
you hear the wonderful Geeta Dutt providing the voice.
However, the video people have made the mistake of
including 'Bhanwara baDa naadan haye' as Geeta Dutt's instead of Asha's.
Says something about Asha singing in Geeta Dutt's style.
I would love to get hold of 'Chor lutere daaku..' Have not heard this
in a long time. Is this available in a pre-recorded cassette or CD ?
- Neeraj Malhotra.
Ikram Ahmed Khan
par...@ibm.net wrote:
: Geeta Dutt
: That is why Geeta could pack her all even into a
: below-grade crimusical like "Shrimati 420". There were no fewer than
: three Geeta-Opee solos in "Shrimati 420" and each was part of a Nayyar
: wave that then swept our cinema:
: Meri zindagi ke humsafar phenkna yahaan bhi ek nazar,
: Hum ko chhod ke kahaan jaaoge saiyyan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perhaps this song should not be listed as a Geeta solo. Rafi provides the
monosyllables of "achha" and "o-ho" and such like in this composition.
Later,
Ikram.
Ashok
In article <4t0m89$1...@fido.asd.sgi.com>, pri...@viman.engr.sgi.com says...
>
>This is being posted for Neeraj Malhotra, whose server
>is vacationing on a desert island. All personal replies
>may be addressed to malh...@bedford.progress.com.
>
>-Prince
>
>---begin post----
>
For once HMV has anticipated an RMIM wish-list! There is a cassette of
1992, called "Geeta Dutt sings for OP Nayyar." Does have some songs
not easily avaialble:
. zaraa saamne aa and aye dil aye diwaane (Baaz)
. teri kafir nigahen (Miss Coca Cola)
. ae mere dildaar (Mr. Lumbu; with Rafi)
. yahaa.n ham, wahaa.n tum (Shrimati 420; with Rafi)
. jhuki jhuki pyar ki nazar (Johny Walker; with Asha)
. kiya ye kya tu ne ishaara (Duniya Rang Rangili)
. chanda chandni me.n jab chamake (Mujrim)
and, yes!,
. chor luTere Daaku (Ustad)
> - Neeraj Malhotra.
>
>
>
Ashok