NAUSHAD: Composer Steeped in Classical Idiom
SAMIUDDIN MOHAMMED
Here's another noble deed I'm performing on behalf of Gopal, who is
currently on a vacation to India. Here's an article on my favourite music
director, NAUSHAD ALI. Although I am not knowledgeable to comment on Naushad
Sahab's classical prowess, I'd like to highlight a couple of his statements
concerning music in general.
I have at times mentioned on RMIM that complying with the public taste
doesn't necessarily imply that one has to dish out cacophonic trash. Naushad
says something similar when he insists that a "true composer is the master,
not the slave of public taste". Indeed a great MD ought to raise the public's
taste rather than lower it.
Regarding the blatant plagiarism from western tunes which is currently
rampant in the desi film industry, Naushad says, "If we must borrow, why must
it always be the worst, rather than the best?" This also ought to dispell the
misgivings of the fellow-RMIMer who recently questioned the great Salil
Chaudary's originality because the latter borrowed from a western symphony in
his film Chhaya.
Finally, it seems that a major reason for the success of the former
singing stars was their dedication to their art. This is unfortunately lacking
among the present day singers. Naushad says, "Saigal was born to sing, yet he
was prepared to give me as many rehearsals as I wanted.."
Without further ado, let's get to the article article by Girija Rajendran
on the musical wizard of the Hindi film industry.
Sami Mohammed (A Naushad fan).... who again thanks Gopal for typing out the
following article.
From: Gopal N Kondagunta <gkon...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Composer steeped in classical idiom
-Girija Rajendran
Naushad brought a remarkable finesse to the art of composing music. He firmly
believes that all tradition, all modernity is within the ambit and scope of the
Hindustani music tradition.
It was Naushad calling after 'Sankarabharanam' had been shown on the network
as the National Award winner for Best Music. " I have absorbed every note of
the film's music as scored by K.V. Mahadevan, " said Naushad. "My, what a them-
atic score,what fidelity to our classical tradition! Please give me Mahadevan's
address. I would like to send him a telegram straightaway, congratulating him
on an award most deservedly won."
What a spontaneous praise from the Hindustani to the Carnatic school! As
Naushad turned 70 in December 1988, I recall his telling me: "Our sic basic
raags are Deepak, Megh, Hindol, Shri, Bhairav and Malkauns. These, our six
citadels, were assailed at various times, in the last 50 years, by the foxtrot,
the waltz, the cha-cha-cha, the rumba-samba, the rock-n'-roll and disco. Please
note that such westernised song-modes have come and gone but Deepak, Megh,
Hindol, Shri, Bhairav and Malkauns still survive. They have survived through
my 70 years and they will still be there when I am gone. All tradition, all
modernity in our music is within the ambit of these six basic raags."
Naushad proves the point afresh with his score for "Awaaz De Kahaan Hai", a
youth film in which this vintage composer moves from Pahadi to Tilang to
Bhairavi to Pilu with aplomb and aptitude. The only change is that, in 1990,
Anuradha Paudwal has taken the place of Lata Mangeshkar in Naushad's recording
room. The switch comes at a time when yet another year has passed without
Naushad Ali's being bestowed with the Padma Bhushan. "When they have already
honoured those whom I have groomed(like Lata) with the Padma Bhushan, I take it
that in the process, they have honoured me also," says Naushad with typical
Lucknawi polish. Time and time again have they offered Naushad the Padma Shri.
Time and again he refused. And now, when Lata Mangeshkar logically wins the
Dada Saheb Phalke Award only after Naushad, the sad fact is that she no longer
sings for this trendsetter composer. For Naushad has always insisted that the
true composer is the master, not the slave of public taste.
It is a taste for the better class of music that Naushad has sedulously
cultivated in the public, through the 50 years he has scored for films starting
with 'Prem Nagar' (1940). Naushad lives for music. And his music live in our
mind and heart. Lata may no longer be singing for Naushad, but her numbers for
this ace composer will always echo in our ears. 'Tod diya dil mera' in Pahadi
("Andaz"), 'Jo main jaanti bisrat hai saiyyan' in Maand ("Shabab"), 'Jaane
waale se mulaaqaat na hone paayi' in Yaman ("Amar"), "More Saiyyanji uttarenge
paar ho' in Pilu ("Uran Khatola"), 'Tere Pyaar mein dildaar' in Bihag ("Mere
Mehboob"), 'Mohe Panghat pe nandal' in Gaara ("Mughal-e-Azam"), 'Dil Ki Kashti
Bhanwar mein aayee hai' in Narayani ("Palki"), 'Mere paas aao' in Bhairavi
("Sunghursh"), 'Mere jeevan saathi' in Tilang ("Saathi") - you name the raag
and Naushad has wrapped Lata in it.
Virtuostic articulation
Only, with Lata, there came an interruption in the mellifluous presentation.
But never with Mohammed Rafi. To the end, Rafi remained the hub of Naushad's
music, articulating its nuances with a virtuosity there is no matching. To wit,
'Suhaani raat dhal chuki' in Pahadi ("Dulari"), 'Meri kahani bhoolne waali' in
Tilang ("Deedar"), 'Insaan bano insaan bano' in Gujari Todi ("Baiju Bawra"),
'Mehlon mein rahne waale' in Sahana ("Shabab"), 'Zindagi aaj mere naam se' in
Jaijaiwanti ("Son of India"), 'Koi Saagar dil ko behlaata nahin' in Kalavati
("Dil Diya Dard Liya") and, of course, 'Madhuban mein radhika naachi re' in
Hamir ("Kohinoor")
By the Kohinoor stage, Naushad, audio-visually was so indelibly identified
with Dilip Kumar that it was suggested that this superstar had become a mental
crutch for him. Just to prove his detractors wrong, Naushad did 'Mere Mehboob'
with the newest superstar Rajendra Kumar, and was as effective on the piano
on this actor, through Rafi's 'Ae ishq zara jaag', as he had been on Dilip
Kumar on the piano through Mukesh's 'Tu kahe agar' in "Andaz".
Naushad has upheld his Dilip Kumar connection in valid creative terms. "My
association with Dilip Kumar sprang essentially from the fact that this
thespian brought the same dedication to his craft as I did to my art. To ensure
that this dedication never got diluted, I have always worked on only one film
at a time - exactly as Dilip Kumar had done. That some of Dilip Kumar's import-
ant films with me failed in the 1964-68 phase was no fault of his or mine. Both
of us, in keeping with our temperament, had given nothing less than our very
best to these films too.
Yet, having reaped the windfall of being associated with this megastar,
Naushad did find himself swept by the backlash, when the big slide came in
the career of Dilip Kumar with "Dil Diya Dard Liya", "Aadmi" and "Sunghursh".
This was when, in a moment of uncertainty, Naushad made the mistake of yielding
to the parrot cry that 'he should change his style.' He went western in his
orchestration of "Saathi" (Hindi version of "Paalum Pazhamum") even while
preserving his Indian foundation in the film's tunes. The outcome was that
Naushad fell between two stools as "Saathi" failed in the star custody of
Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar. This saw Naushad hurriedly 'return to base',
arguing that his best composition in "Saathi", 'Main to pyaar se tere piya' was
in his pet Bhairavi and this was the tune with which the film's viewers had
instinctually tuned.
The truth, of course, was that Naushad, after nearly three decades in films,
had (by 1968) become too steeped in our classical idiom to look upon modes
western as anything but hollow. Naushad is not against Western music as such,
having been inspired by the best of Beethoven and Mozart in his formative years
But his point is, "If we must borrow, why must it always be the worst, rather
than the best, of the West?"
Naushad's strident insistence on the 'Hindustani parampara', in a field in
which the yardstick of a composer's utility is his flexibility, led to the
conclusion that he had lost ground precisely because he shed his resilience.
But Naushad counters this with the argument:
"From 'Baiju Bawra' onwards you will find my music rooted in the soil. I have
been pilloried for thus going classical. But what my critics overlook is that
if Lata's 'Mohe bhool gaye sanwariya' is in Bhairav and Rafi's 'Insaaf ka
Mandir hai' is in Bhairavi, it is in the people's Bhairav, the people's
Bhairavi. When no fewer than 25 of my films have attained silver jubilee status
when nine of them celebrated golden jubilees and two of them diamond jubilees,
it is idle to suggest that i do not know the pulse of the people.
"It is always easier to lower the public taste than to raise it. GIve the
people only hybrid music, as you are doing today, and you leave them with no
choice. On the other hand, base your music on our raags and raaginis and see
how the very same people warm to it. This where the art of crafting a tune
comes in, for what is it new we are giving? Everything is there already, it is
merely the style of presentation, that I have always prided myself."
Shamshad Begum, this composer's main female artiste before Lata took over,
once revealingly told me thatm in case of Naushad, she never came to know what
the interlude piece or the orchestral arrangement was, until she went into
the recording room, "Naushad Saab merely repeatedly rehearsed the tune with
me. But finally, when we went in to record, everything was not only ready, but
it was already superbly harmonised. It was almost as if I had merely to sing
into the gaps!"
This perfection in presentation is what sets apart Naushad's tunes for
Shamshad like 'Baadal aaya jhoom ke' ("Shahjahan"), 'Yeh afsana nahin zaalim'
("Dard"), 'Taqdeer bani ban kar bigdi' ("Mela) and 'Chod babul ka ghar' (Babul)
When Shamshad Begum held her first nite as late as 1970, Naushad made it a
point to go on to the stage and acknowledge: "In such success as this humble
one attained, Shamshad Begum has had a big hand."
"Yet the same Naushad turned from me to Lata!" points out Shamshad, who
rendered with Lata , 'Dar na mohabbat kar le' for this composer in "Andaz".
Naushad's own explantion for this changeover: "It happens in a fast-changing
field like films. If Lata now came to replace Shamshad, once Shamshad had come
to displace Zohra in my composing esteem. This at a time when, in the film
'Mela' in which Shamshad was my main singer, Zohra too had left her own
impress with 'Phir aah dil se nikli'. "
The vital point to note in Naushad's repertoire is, not who supplanted whom,
but that he is the only composer for whom both the legendary K.L.Saigal and
Noorjehan have sung. It was a touching momentm an 'Anmol Ghadi', when 'Malka-e
-Taranum' Noorjehan returned to India in 1981 after a gap of 33 yearsm and
Naushad wielded the baton to her Pahadi strains of 'Awaaz de kahaan hai'. As
Noorjehan's vibrance filled the Shanmukhananda auditorium, her co-singer in
this "Anmol Ghadi" duet , the no less legendary Surendra, found himself seated
in front of her in the audience.
It is a memory of Noorjehan's "extraordinarily bright voice" that sees
Naushad's latest film named "Awaaz De Kahaan Hai". The film's music proves
that Dada Burman was not the only one to retain his composing impetus at 70-
plus. "It is my final wish", says Naushad "to see that I have some role to play
in restoring Indian music to Indian films."
This gentle giant's musicianship is still intact and he is undettered by the
charge that classical music has become something of a hang-up with him. "How
can i buy the line that our own tradition is no longer suited to our own
films?" Naushad asks. "Tell me, why do the songs that I and composers of my era
created still live in teh public imagination? It is because those songs have
their grounding in the Hindustani tradition. For "Andaz" numbers like 'Hum aaj
kahin', 'Toote na dil toote na', and 'Jhoom jhoom ke naacho aaj', Mukesh must
have come 25-30 times to my house to rehearse each song. And Rafi, how can I
forget the fact that he was never so busy as not to be able to come and
rehearse my song again and again?
"There was then a deep commitment to music on the part of the singer and the
composer alike. And that is why the music then made lingers in your mind to
this day. Tell me how many songs heard lately in our films can you recall? No,
the soul is missing from the music we get today. I had, don't forget to
compress, into the three minutes of a 78 rpm recordm the Bageshri I got Saigal
to render as 'Chaahe barbaad karegi' in "Shahjehan". Saigal was born to sing,
yet he was prepared to give me as many rehearsals as I wanted before the final
recording.
"A song is not just composed, it is moulsed. And never in my life have i
composed a song without the film's screenplay in hand. Unless you thus get a
feel of the theme in its total interplay, how can the song blend into the
fabric of the narrative? Today, we have the technology, but somewhere we have
forgotten the technique! The entire music of 'Mughal-e-Azam', believe it or
not, was recorded in a tin shed at Rooptara Studios, employing coarse blankets
to shut off the 'tinny' echo! Yet what technical perfection we achieved in
numbers ranging from 'Mohabbat ki jhooti kahani pe roye' in Darbari Kaanada,to
'Bekas pe karam kijiye' in Kedar to 'Jab raat hai aesi matwaali' in Jaijaiwanti
to 'Khuda nigehbaan ho tumhara' in Yaman. These tunes, they preserve the purity
of our raags, yet are they less appealing for that?"
His conviction is almost an obsession with Naushad. And who can blame him,
looking to the classical heights he scaled in a popular medium like films in
his heyday. He may have lost his vital spark later. His classicism, at some
point, may even have cramped his style as a freewheeler composer. But while he
held sway, Naushad Ali brought a remarkable finesse to the art of composition.
That is why his impact is identifiably his own to this day. After half a
century in cinema during which his singers have varied from Zohra to Anuradha,
Naushad is a symbol of the best in film music.
"I owe everything I am to music." says Naushad. And to his music we owe some
of our own cherished moments, moments frozen in our minds as representatives of
an era when melody was queen because the composer was king.
_______________________________________________________________________________
|
Sami Mohammed |
Emulsion Polymers Institute | I polymerize,
Dept. of Chemical Engineering | Therefore, I AM
Lehigh University |
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