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Magazine| Jun 26, 2006
history of melody
It's Bombay, My Jaan
From classical strains in the heyday of the talkies, the music industry now encompasses all
song genres
CHANDAN MITRA
A
songless Hindi film? A contradiction in terms. How many Hindi films do you recall that had no
songs? And the reference is not to so-called art films of the jholawalas, by the jholawalas, for the
jholawalas, shown only at obscure film festivals or private auditoriums to an equally obscure
charas-smoking audience. Music is what distinguishes Indian cinema from the rest of the world. In
fact, music is the defining characteristic of Indian, particularly Hindi, cinema.
Music was probably integral to Indian cinema because of the strong folk theatre linkage. This
explains why films in the early years of the talkie had between 30 and 100 song sequences. In
fact, much of a film's narrative was communicated through songs. Before cinema arrived, itinerant
folk theatre companies roamed the countryside with musicians and bards in tow. Religious
preachers, too, were expert singers who communicated their message more through songs than
direct speech. Consequently, film music in the early years of Indian cinema largely comprised
bhajans based on classical tunes. The most popular example of this is K.L. Saigal's immortal
Babul mora naihar chooto hi jaye.
It was, however, the launch of RK Films in 1948 that heralded a musical revolution. Impressed
with two young musicians, Shankar and Jaikishen, and songwriters Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra,
Raj Kapoor decided to hire them for his film company. Shankar and Jaikishen became RK Films'
employees with a then princely pay packet of Rs 500 per month. Kapoor himself had a keen sense
of music; it is said that many compositions in his films were actually his rather than the music
directors'.
With Barsaat and Awara, Hindi film music was revolutionised. RK Films changed the grammar of
film music decisively and forever. Tune structures were altered beyond recognition, western
instruments such as the piano, violin, saxophone, piano accordion, drums, cymbals and
subsequently, the bongo and guitar, came to dominate instrumentation. Raj Kapoor and
Shankar-Jaikishen transformed singers too. Mukesh, till then a Saigal clone (Dil jalta hai to jalne
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de), was successfully made to sing catchy numbers like Mera joota hai Japani. Manna Dey,
moulded in the classical tradition by uncle K.C. Dey, was made to render lilting numbers such as
Mud mud ke na dekh with new discovery Asha Bhonsle, and Pyar hua iqraar hua with a new,
refined Lata.
Mohammed Rafi, already well established as the music world's numero uno, was, interestingly, not
a great RK favourite as his voice didn't match Raj Kapoor's. But Rafi's versatility was used by
Shankar-Jaikishen to great effect for Raj's brother Shammi in signature films like Junglee (the
flamboyant Chahe koyi mujhe junglee kahe and the soulful Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par) and An
Evening in Paris (Aasmaan se aaya farishta and Akele akele kahan jaa rahe ho). Later, numbers
from Tumse Achchha Kaun Hai and Brahmachari (Aaj-kal tere mere pyar ke charche, Dil ke
jharokhe mein) went on to become chartbusters as big as Raj Kapoor's Jis Desh Mein Ganga
Behti Hai, Sangam and Mera Naam Joker.
Shankar-Jaikishen were the pioneers of Hindi cinema's musical makeover. They set an example
before countless aspiring composers that you had to dare to win. They proved that India's first
post-Independence generation was waiting to break free of traditional, strictly classical-based
compositions. But they were equally steeped in the classical tradition, if you consider numbers
such as Sur na saje kya gaaoon main (Basant Bahar), Tu pyar ka sagar hai (Seema) from the '50s
to Rimjhim sajan, barse nayan (Gaban) and Re man sur mein gaa (Lal Patthar) in the early
'70s.Shankar-Jaikishen's avant-garde music, initially patronised by Raj Kapoor and then by the
entire film industry, led to a sharp division of genres, between the purists and the experimentalists.
In the first category were composers like Naushad, Roshan and Madan Mohan, while C.
Ramachandra and O.P. Nayyar led the "brat pack".
Naushad, with superhits like Baiju Bawra under his belt, emerged as the first choice of Raj
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Kapoor's ratings rival, Dilip Kumar. He gave some great music for Dilip Kumar's films such as
Ganga-Jamuna, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Sunghursh and Aadmi. In between came
Mughal-e-Azam and Mother India, two films that set real benchmarks for the Bombay film industry.
Naushad's music, especially for Mughal-e-Azam, blazed a trail, as did some of his later
compositions for films like Kohinoor (Madhuban mein Radhika nache re). But being a
one-film-at-a-time music director, he was never quite a part of the market share race.
Naushad's contemporary, Roshan, was not exactly in the same mould. In fact, he was quite an
experimentalist, although his experiments did not break the parameters of classicism. His
successful use of the qawwali spawned many imitations but none quite as memorable as his Na
toh karvan ki talaash hai (Barsaat ki Raat). With Bheegi Raat (Dil jo na keh sakaa), Dil Hi To Hai
(Laaga chunri mein daag) and Aarti (Ab kya misaal doon main tumhare shabaab ki), Roshan
reached a new high. Then came Mamta with numbers like Rahen na rahen hum and Chhupa lo
yun dil mein pyar mera, probably the high watermark of his career.
Compared to Naushad and Roshan, Madan Mohan was a later entry and not quite a hardline
puritan, evident from compositions like Zaroorat hai zaroorat hai or Maine rakkha hai mohabbat.
Madan Mohan's finest hour was probably Chetan Anand's Haqeeqat, based on India's tragic
defeat in the 1962 war with China. Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan sathiyon still brings tears to
people's eyes and was put to devastating electoral effect by the Congress following Rajiv Gandhi's
1991 assassination.
Among the experimentalists, C. Ramachandra should take pride of place for his immortal
hip-swingers like Shaam dhale khidki taley and, of course, Aana meri jaan, meri jaan, Sunday ke
Sunday. Ramchandra was a talented classical composer too; Lata Mangeshkar rendered some of
her best for his Anarkali (Yeh zindagi usiki hai).
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But no one had a bigger impact on film music's evolution in the '60s than Omkar Prakash Nayyar,
who meandered his way into Mumbai, and with some difficulty. But after CID (Yeh hai Bombay
meri jaan and Ishaaron ishaaron mein), he never looked back and progressively attained a
creative peak that gave jitters to the reigning overlords, Shankar-Jaikishen. O.P. Nayyar combined
melody with beat and that gave him a phenomenal edge over his competitors. Although his tunes
had a strong classical content, the beats were incredibly catchy, like the songs from his first mega
hit, Kashmir ki Kali. If Deewana hua badal had a soulful lilt, Tareef karoon kya uski led people to
break into a jig inside movie halls. O.P. Nayyar gave some superb music for Joy Mukherjee
starrers like Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon and Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (Aap yunhi agar). For the
Dharmendra-Tanuja starrer Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi, he composed Tu mere saamne hai teri
zulfein hain khuli, a Rafi classic. His music for Tumsa Nahi Dekha with its infectious hoof-beat
background, Saawan ki Ghata (Haule haule chalo mere saajna) and Mere Sanam was equally
memorable.The temperamental music director, however, failed to hold on to most banners and
even singers. But it was his creative genius, laced with a stormy romance, that transformed Asha
Bhonsle from a fledgling shadow of elder sister Lata to India's most engaging and long-lasting
voice. O.P. Nayyar ended his career with relatively small-time films like Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi
(Yehi woh jagaah hai), Kismat and Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye. For Kismat, he was forced to
use Mahendra Kapoor, as even the usually affable Rafi was no longer willing to sing for him. Still,
he produced superhits like Laakhon hain yahan dilwale and the sensuous Asha number Aao
huzoor tumko... Irony piled upon irony by the time Pran Jaye... was released. Chain se humko
kabhi, perhaps O.P. Nayyar's most melodious composition, rendered by Asha with abundant
pathos, got the singer her first Filmfare award. But Asha had broken up with him just then and
since the lyrics could well be related to their relationship, she refused to attend the function to
collect the trophy.
The narrative of the '60s would be incomplete without reference to the extraordinarily talented Salil
Choudhury who hit big time with Bimal Roy's Madhumati. Blending Bengali folk, German Weimar
music and Mozart (Itna na mujhse tu pyar badha) with hill tunes, Salil Choudhury was a rare
original composer who carved a niche for himself without entering the rat race, as his numbers for
Anand testify.
I
n the also-ran category of the time were music directors like Jaidev (Hum Dono and later
Reshma aur Shera) and Khayyam (Phir Subah Hogi, Shola aur Shabnam, and later Kabhi-Kabhie).
Some of the other "lesser" composers like Ravi were lucky to have a godfather in B.R. Chopra.
Starting with Dharamputra, Ravi gave music for almost all B.R. Films offerings including the
classic Waqt, Gumraah, Humraaz and Nikaah. B.R. Chopra, his brother Yash (till they broke ranks
with Daag), lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, music director Ravi and singer Mahendra Kapoor made a
close-knit Punjab club that contributed immeasurably to upgrading the quality of music in Hindi
cinema.
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An even more talented composer was Hemant Kumar. Breaking into the world of Hindi music from
his native Bengal, Hemant made everybody sit up with Nagin (Man dole mera tan dole). His Bees
Saal Baad (Zara nazron se kehdo ji and Beqarar karke humen) took India by storm. Hemant was
as good a singer as he was a composer and a succession of music directors, particularly S.D.
Burman, used him to great effect. His compositions for Khamoshi (Tum pukar lo and Humne dekhi
hai) continue to figure on Vividh Bharati and can be heard across middle India more than 35 years
after they were made.
The '60s were probably Hindi film music's finest decade. Even as Shankar-Jaikishen ruled,
challengers had begun to dent their supremacy. The one who outlasted all others was S.D.
Burman with son Rahul Dev in tow. Meanwhile, Kalyanji-Anandji emerged as the poor man's
Shankar-Jaikishen after they composed music for Raj Kapoor's Chhalia (Dum-dum diga diga).
Kalyanji-Anandji blended folk, classical and Western in catchy ways to produce vigorous, earthy
numbers, especially for Manoj Kumar's films. Mere desh ki dharti remains a perennial favourite on
national occasions, along with Hai preet jahan ki reet sada (Purab Aur Paschim). They also gave
some memorable music for Saraswatichandra (Chandan sa badan), Safar (Jeevan se bhari teri
aankhen) and Blackmail (Pal pal dil ke paas).In the early '80s, in association with London-based
musician Biddu, they composed Aap jaisa koyi for Qurbani, marking Nazia Hasan's grand entry to
the world of Hindi music and India's initiation into the genre of Indipop.
If Barsaat and Awara marked the First Revolution in Hindi music, the second happened in the
early '60s, just about 10 years later. In 1963, two new music directors made their entry without too
much fanfare. That year, the exceptionally talented R.D. Burman independently composed music
for Chhote Nawab (Chandan ka palna). Simultaneously, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Bombay music's
most enduring duo, emerged as music directors on their own steam (they were Kalyanji-Anandji's
assistants in Chhalia) with a B-grade mythological, Parasmani, whose numbers such as Woh jab
yaad aaye continue to haunt music lovers.
R. D. Burman drew heavily from the legacy of his father, who was
probably filmdom's most discerning and creative composer. Highly
selective about assignments, S.D. Burman composed mainly for
Navketan Films and, thus, his music came to be closely associated
with Dev Anand, the third angle of the evergreen hero triangle, the
other two being Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. S.D. gave incredible
music for a succession of Dev Anand starrers like Baazi, Taxi
Driver, Tere Ghar ke Saamne, Bambai ka Babu, Kala Pani, Kala
Bazar, the immortal Guide, Jewel Thief, Prem Pujari, Tere Mere
Sapne and countless others. S.D. composed memorable numbers
for Bandini and Sujata. Besides, he gave music for a host of Guru
Dutt's films such as Pyaasa and Kaagaz ke Phool (Bichhde sabhi
baari baari and Waqt ne kiya). S.D. Burman was also responsible for
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creating magical music for Rajesh Khanna's launch vehicle
Aradhana. Its songs like Mere sapnon ki rani and Roop tera
mastana helped catapult the young hero to India's first superstar
status and also revived the sagging career of his favourite playback singer, Kishore Kumar. In fact,
Kishore was also a composer in his own right. His music from Jhumroo (Thandi hawa ye chandni
suhani), Door Gagan ki Chhaon mein (Aa chal ke tujhe) and Door ka Raahi (Beqarar dil) testify to
the incredible talent of a man who had no formal training in music.
R.D. Burman evolved as music maker under his father's tutelage, helping compose whenever S.D.
was unwell, like during the making of Jewel Thief and Aradhana. R.D. caught the film world's eye
by giving some really breezy music in Teesri Manzil. Its songs like O haseena zulfon wali, Aaja
aaja, O mere Sona re, enthralled music lovers despite their strong Shankar-Jaikishen, rather than
S.D. Burman, lineage. Thereafter, R.D. kept busting the charts with catchy numbers like Mere
saamnewali khidki mein (Padosan), a host of foot-tappers in Yaadon ki Baraat and a succession
of films for the Nasir Husain banner like Hum Kisise Kum Nahi and Zamane ko Dikhana Hai.
O
bsessed with creativity, R.D. was said to eat, drink, breathe, think music 24/7. Asha Bhonsle,
whom he not only recreated after her tragic break with O.P. Nayyar, but also eventually married,
has recalled in interviews that she would wake up at 4 am to find him sitting in front of a record
player listening to the latest western compositions. R.D. Burman was a radical, an iconoclast who
brought a gale of fresh air to Hindi film music. He had a fun streak in him, apparent from
compositions like Aao twist karein (Bhoot Bangla), Dekha na haye re (Bombay to Goa) and Apna
Desh's Duniya mein logon ko, interspersed with his trademark guttural sounds.
Despite being contemporaries and competitors for the top slot, R.D. Burman and
Laxmikant-Pyarelal were the best of friends. Being more prolific and perhaps more consistent, L-P
with their typical folksy tunes to the accompaniment of the dholak captured the imagination of
middle India more effectively. L-P's style was lapped up by "Bharat" while "India" swung to R.D.'s
melodies. The sophisticated urbanite turned up his nose at Sawan ka mahina (Milan) or Bindiya
chamkegi (Do Raaste), but both went on to become all-time hits. L-P had a big hand in restoring
folk into the mainstream of film music, whether it was with all numbers of Aaye Din Bahar Ke,
Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke, Aan Milo Sajna, Jeene ki Raah and Sargam right to their final
Koliwada-style hits like Ek do teen (Tezaab) and Choli ke peechhe kya hai (Khalnayak). In that
sense, they broke the spell of cacophonous western instrumentation that had unfortunately crept
into Shankar-Jaikishen's music in the '70s.
L-P, supremely melodious in their compositions, had a certain softness that distinguished their
numbers from the rest—for example, even a rare Lata cabaret like Aa jaane-jaan (Inteqam), Yeh
dil tum bin (Izzat), Roz shaam aati thi (Imtihan) or Ek pyar ka nagma hai (Shor) had a lilting quality.
They broke into big banner after big banner despite starting with Sheikh Mukhtar and Dara Singh
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C-graders like Ustadon ke Ustad or a Kishore-starring potboiler Mr X in Bombay (Mere mehboob
qayamat hogi). Their crowning glory came in 1973 with R.K. Films' Bobby, when Raj Kapoor finally
broke with Shankar-Jaikishen. Rajesh Khanna may have begun with S.D. Burman and his son, but
progressively his films moved into the L-P camp with Dushman, Daag and Hathi Mere Sathi. While
songs of their earliest big banner assignment, Dosti (Chahunga main tujhe.), and even
mythologicals like Sati Savitri (Tum gagan ke chandrama ho) are hummed to date, they eased
themselves out of the scene in a blaze of hits that included Jumma chumma (Hum). They also
composed superhits for most of Subhash Ghai's films, with Karz's Om Shanti Om ranking among
the most popular songs of the '80s. Great favourites of Manmohan Desai, for whom they
composed such classics as My name is Anthony Gonsalves (Amar, Akbar, Anthony), L-P ruled
Bombay's world of music as no one had done before and no one will probably do again.
Since the '90s, popular music has gradually shifted out of the sole orbit of cinema and now
revolves in several trajectories such as remixes, bhangra-pop, Indipop and also ghazals, though
the high noon of the last genre has now waned. An array of talented composers like Nadeem
Shravan, Anu Malik, Anand-Milind, Anand Raaj Anand, Ismail Darbar, Himesh Reshammiya and
Shantanu Moitra keep enthralling India with their creativity. Popular music is still dominated by
Hindi cinema and composers like A.R. Rahman continue to produce timeless melody. Rahman
took India by storm with Roja and thereafter most of his films such as Bombay, Dil Se, Sapnay,
Taal, and even the obscure Deepa Mehta movie 1947: Earth, have deeply impacted the music
world. His masterly control over electronic instrumentation led him to be invited to stage a concert
at Albert Hall and compose music for Bombay Dreams. His interpretations of Vande Mataram
(Maa tujhe salaam) for the 50th anniversary of Independence may have got the goat of purists, but
GenNext loved them.
Rahman and his compatriots have demonstrated that India is now ready to break the set moulds of
popular music. They have also given us confidence in India's innate talent to produce
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cross-country melody: music from the south is today as popular in the north as bhangra is in the
discos of Bangalore.Popular music has welded India together even more than cinema or TV
soaps. Music thus remains the true soul of Indian cinema—in fact, of the country itself.
(The author is editor of The Pioneer)
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