Music, food for the soul

 Music ,especially melodious music that you have been listening to all your life time becomes such an integral part of you and your life style that it stays with you as a constant companion. I can hear a song from years ago and it transports me right back to a particular moment, am able to recall clearly when I heard it the first time and all other details related to it. There are some good times, occasionally some sad times, but the songs get imprinted on our memories forever.

Music is the food for the soul..We all like to go back to our own special time in life and if the music doesn't take you back far enough in your time it fails you. As people get older they understand better that time passes but memories linger and life is but a sum total of these beautiful memories. When a really favorite golden melody plays on the radio ( although I may have it on my mp3 player or my desk top) , I am transported right back to the exact time in my life that i first heard it , some during my childhood and some during my teen years etc .. They don't make music like that anymore !

I remember the first time I listened to 'Apne toh har aah ek toofan hai' from the film Kala Bazar , on the radio when I was a little girl, and can still feel the magic of 'O sajnaa barkha bahaar aayi', when I listened to it on the radio years ago, and ' Nain ka chain churakar le gayi' and 'Chale jaa rahe hai muhobbat ke maare'....or Asha Bhonsle's soul stirring ' Kis jagah jaaye kis ko dhik laaye zakme dil apnaa..incomparable melodies.

Then there were all those melodious duets, so many of them ' Mil mil ke gaayenge' or 'Aaja re ab mera dil pukare' or 'Yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum' , 'Raahi matwale', Dekh hamen awaz na dena' so many more, each one a masterpiece in its own right , coming together of brilliant melody and lyrics, never to be forgotten .These melodies have been giving a new meaning to our lives ,makes life worth living..;

I slide back now to decades gone by and pay homage to a few more of those versatile composers who were brilliant but never got to see fame like some of the other more famous composers did...In my first article I have covered 3 music directors namely Chitragupt, Sardar Malik and Narayan Dutta ( popularly known as N Dutta)...

Dattaram

I can easily identify Dattaram’s unique tunes when I hear them even for the first time...I still remember the sweet melody of Meethi meethi batonse bach na zara from the film Qaidi no 911 composed by Dattaram. Dattaram Wadkar was a native of Goa and was popularly known as Dattaram in film circles.

Dattaram assisted Shankar Jaikishen in many of their films and one can see that their style influenced him greatly. But with all that he developed a distinct style of his own which was at once recognisable to music lovers. His romantic duets were extremely popular especially the ones with the great singer Mannadey like ‘Masthi bhara hai sama, Na jaane kahan tum the, Yeh Nasheeli hawa, Pyar bhari yeh ghatayen,...and solos like Aansoo bhari hai ( Mukesh ), Haal e dil hamara ( Mukesh) ,Aansoo bhari hai ( Mukesh ), Itne bhade jahan mein( Suman Kalyanpur).

Dattaram came from humble background , starting his life in Mumbai as a dock worker , being not well educated and poor. But, he had a keen sense of music and had learnt to play the tabla and began to play for Shankar Jaikishen’s Music team after Dattaram accidentally met him at a gym where he was helping out . Having seen Dattaram's potential Jaikishen encouraged him to assist in many of his compositions, and that’s how we see many later day music compositions of SJ having Dattaram’s mark on them especially in films like Main Nashe mein Hoon and Begunah , an unreleased film starring Kishore Kumar which had an immensely melodious duet by Mannadey and Lata Mangeshkar ' Din Albele pyar ka mausam, which could only have  been composed by Dattaram under the direction of Shankar Jaikishen!

He also became close to Raj Kapoor and composed for a few of his films outside of his banner like Parbvarish and Shreeman Satyavadi . He got a chance to compose independently in 1957 for the film Ab dilli door nahin, in which the song Chun chun karthe aaye chidiya sung by Mohammad Rafi became a major hit.

Later he composed music for films like Parvarish, Neeli Ankhen, Shriman Satyawadi, Qaidi no 911, Dark Street, Kala aadmi, Baalak, Santan, Zindgi aur Khwab and a few others. But once Shankar Jaikishen died ,Dattaram too lost his importance in the Rak Kapoor camp and he decided to call it a day in mid seventies going back to Goa and living a quiet life there... He is known for his compositions which are catchy, melodious and memorable – never to be forgotten by those who like old film music..

I am listing down ten of my personal favorites among his compositions..

1, Yeh Din din hai khushi ki (Jab se tumhe dekha hai) 2, Masthi bhara hai same ( Parvarish) 3, Yeh Nasheeli hawa (Neeli Aankhen) 4, Bheegi Hawaon mein (Shriman satyawadi ) 5, Tere teer kho hum ne pyar se (Qaidi no 911) 6, Dil dhoondtha hai sahare (Kala Aadmi )7, Itne bade jahan mein ( Dark Street) 8, Beete hue din kuch ( First Love) 9, Na jaane kahan tum the (Zindgi aur qwab) 10, Luti zindgi aur gham muskuraye (Parvarish)

A solid composer who contributed to the best of his ability ...

G S Kohli

Another very talented composer, who has some of the most melodious songs to his credit- G.S.Kohli was yet another composer who never got his due in his life time but now is being hailed as one of those who knew what melody was all about. He started out as an assistant to none other than O.P.Nayyar and helped him out in many of his popular films .

He began his independent career with a small film called Lambe Haath in 1960.One of the songs Pyar ki raah dikha duniya ko sung by Mohammad Rafi was an instant hit and G S Kohli became known in the film industry. Later he composed melodious music for mostly B and C grade films like Mr India, Namasteji, Adventures of Robinhood, Faulad, Shikari, Char Darvesh etc...

It is to his credit that two of the most loved songs of Rafi ‘Maana mere haseen sanam tu rashke maahtaab hai’ and Pyar ki raah dikha duniya ko was composed by him ( for the film Adventures of Robinhood and Lambe Haath respectively ) His background score was superb and his tunes very melodious and hummable.

Now to list down ten of my favorite songs composed by G.S.Kohli

1, Maana mere haseen sanam  (Adventures of Robinhood ) 2, Baharo tham lo ab ke (Namasteji) 3, Dil hai hamara phool se nazuk (Faulad) 4, Pyar ki baat nigahon se jataya na karo (Adventures of Robinhood) 5, Pyar ki raah dikha duniya ko (Lambe haath ) 6, O matware saajna chalak gaya ( Faulad) 7, Agar mein poocho jawab doge (Shikari) 8, Pyar ke daman se lipte (Char Darvesh) 9, Tum ko piya dil diya (Shikari )10, Hame kyo jo harsu (Namasteji)

Sapan Jagmohan

Sapan Jagmohan was yet another composer who missed mass adulation and great popularity because he got overshadowed by other big names like Shankar Jaikishen, Ravi, Naushad, Kalyanji Anandji , Roshan – there were so much of talent in the film industry during those days. In fact, even the second rung and the so called C grade composers were far more talented than the top music directors of today.

Sapan Jagmohan, music composer duo made up of Sapan Sengupta and Jagmohan Bakshi began their career as assistants to various big directors and began to compose on their own in the sixties beginning with the film Begaana which had many catchy and breezy tunes like Bulati hai bahar by Lata Mangeshkar, Phir woh bhooli si yaad by Mohamad rafi and Na jane kaha kho gay by Mukesh.The songs were well received and became very popular after which they followed it up with films like Jimbo finds a son,Aayega aanewala etc...

They composed music for more than 40 films mostly small time, sometimes even unheard of films right until the nineties after which they decided to call it a day. Some of the outstanding tunes that they composed came from their earlier films like Begaana, Teri Talash mein, Gustaki maaf, Chetana, Kagaz ki naav etc... Over the years they came to be associated with a style of music that sounded very similar to that of R.D. Burman.

I am now listing  down ten of my own favorite tunes composed by Sapan Jagmohan

1, Aajaa re, kho diye hai sanam teri talash mein ( teri talash mein 2, Raaz e dil hum se kaho hum to koyi ( teri Talash mein) 3, Bulati hai bahar chale hum dono ( Begaana ) 4, Jeevan hai ek bhool sajanwa bin tere ( Chetana) 5, Sajna mera jiyare jhale ( Gustaki maaf) 6, Main to har mod par tumko dhoonda sada (Chetana) 7, Na jaane kaha kho gaya wo h zamana( Begaana) 8, Ulfat mein zamanein ki ( call girl) 9, Hum hai jahan woh pyar ki ( Call girl) 10, Sun pyare sajnaare man gaaye ( Insaaf ki mandir)

Conclusions

I have written about three more composers in this article who never got their due all though they were talented and were able to compose some catchy and melodious music for films, but could not give out their best because the only films they were offered were either B and C grade films or the left overs that the other famous directors could not take up.This also shows that there was no dearth of talent during the golden era of fifties, sixties and early seventies !

There are many such composers in the film industry who composed unforgettable melodies in spite of all the struggle they faced and I will keep adding a few more of those in my future articles about Melody Makers of Yesteryears...

The Golder era of the fifties and sixties

As far as Hindi film music was concerned the 1950s and the 1960s (in fact this was true of other languages as well) were considered the golden era. It was a period of time when meaningful lyrics and melody were of prime importance and we got to see the best of everything - some of the greatest actors, very beautiful leading ladies and some great film makers and music composers.

There were so many talented artists, that listeners and movie goers were spoilt for choice. On the one hand we had the Great Greats like Anil Biswas, Naushad, Husnlal Bhagat Ram, Ghulam Mohammad, Vasanth Desai, C.Ramchandra,S.D Burman,Roshan, Ravi, Shankar Jaikishen, Salil Chaudhury, Sajjad Khan, O.P.Nayyar and others , who were all institutions in their own right and had their own distinctive style of composing music unlike the metallic noise you get to hear these days which all seem to sound the same - loud,vulgar and inspid! And then there were the second rung composers who in my opinion were no less talented than any of the above mentioned greats, but unfortunately they were not considered by the great film makers since they had a vast choice of quality composers , so had to remain satisfied composing films for B or C grade films. The films may not have made any impact but the songs are remembered and loved to this day because these composers too worked hard and gave very melodious songs for the films even if some of them never got as far as the theater. But the song albums became very popular and were heard on the radio...

In this article I am going to write about 3 such music composers namely Chitragupt, Sardar Malik and Narayan Dutta, who were not often approached by any of the top movie makers like Bimal Roy, Nasir Hussain,Guru Dutt , Raj kapoor or Mehboob Khan but nonetheless they did make an impact and once in a while did get a chance to work with some top film makers and whenever they composed music for any film, they came out with some of the most melodious and meaningful compositions .

Chitragupt ( 16t November 1917 - 14th January 1991)

Chitragupt's full name was Chitragupt Shrivastava and he was born in a village called Karmaini in the state of Bihar on 16 November, 1917. Coming from a middle class family, he studied post graduation in Economics and Journalism. He Worked as a lecturer in Patna just to please his family but since he was very interested in films and music , and unable to convince his family to accept his wishes for a career in that line, he had to run away to Bombay to pursue a career as a composer in films. Those days there were already established music composers who were all extremely talented and it was not easy for Chitragupt to make a career on his own.

He began by assisting S.N Tripathi who was known for his melodious classical compositions, and got a break in 1946 for a small time film which never got released. However, after working for a few more obscure films he was recognised as a talent to reckon with when a Swash buckler film Sindbad the Sailor starring Ranjan and Naseem Bano ( Saira Bano’s mother) was relaesed with one of the duets ‘Ada se jhoomte hue dilonko choomte hue yeh kaun ‘ sung by Mohammad Rafi and Shamshad Begum became a huge hit! That was the beginning.

Later he did work for some big names like the AVM production house which churned out many hindi films in the late fifties and sixties like Main bhi ladki hoon, Ek Raaz, Bhabhi, Ghar basake dekho, Grihasti ,Maya Bazaar etc and all these films had melodious music that are remembered to this day. Mohammad Rafi’s ‘ Chal ud jaa re panchi ‘ from Bhabi and ‘ Kush raho ahale chaman’ from the film Main chup rahhongi have become his signature tunes easily recognisable by Chiragupt’s distinctive style of composition.

He composed music for nearly 200 films, the last film being Insaaf ki Manzil in 1988 !But most of his compositions were for fantasy and stunt movies which were easily forgotten but the songs were very popular always being heard of on Vividh Bharati and Radio Ceylon by popular choice. I have always been a great fan of this composer and find his compositions very melodious, soothing and timeless.

I am listing down ten of my favorite songs composed by Chitragupt. 1, Ada se jhoomte hue ( Sndbad the sailor) 2, Do dil dhadak rahe hai aur awaz ( Insaaf) 3, Woh Chand chamka woh noor chalka( Son of Sindbad) 4, Jab se hum tum Baharon mein ( Mein Shadi karne chala) 5, Chanda se hoga woh pyara ( Mein bhi ladki hoon) 6, Chal ud jaare panchi ( Bhabhi) 7, Aaaja re mere pyar ki raahi ( Oonche log) 8, Chanda ki kirnon mein lipti hawayen ( Intezaar) 9, Chand ne kuch kaha taron ne kuch suna ( Daaka) 10, Yeh hawa yeh fiza yeh sama ( Taxi Stand)

I could pick a hundred more melodies that I have been listening to all the time ...no matter what the films were and actors were Chitragupts compostions and melodies will remain right there at the top and he would be remembered with a lot of love and respect by all those who love old songs.

Sardar malik ( 1925 – January 2006)

Another great composer in my opinion was Sardar Malik , who is the father of Anu malik who is famous and o[popular now. But Sardar Malik had it tough and his entire career was that of struggle and hard work because he was never considered as one of the top composers those days and had to remain satisfied with what was offered to him .But the kind of amazing melodies he came up with were not to be forgotten.

Sardar Malik was born in 1925 in kapurthala in Punjab and learnt music from Ustad Allauddin Khan and was trained as a dancer under the famed Uday Shankar. Sardar Malik was a good and initially sang some punjabi songs and later moved to Mumbai where he started getting both singing and composing assignments. But whe he saw the brilliance of playback singers such as Rafi and Mukesh, he realised he could not match them and so decided to compose music instead.

He was married to the sister of Hasrat Jaipuri and since Hasrat Jaipuri was already an established lyricist, he did help him out. But his early films like Renuka (1947) and Raaz ( 1949) were not his best.. His first important film was first Laila Majnu (1953) a Nutan and Shammi Kapoor starrer in which he gave music under the direction of Great Ghulam Mohammad. Later came films like Ab e hayat ( 1955),Saaranga ( 1960), Thokar ( 1956), Bachpan ( 1963), Chor Bazar etc.... less than 30 films in all but unforgettable nevertheless !

Sardar Malik has composed two of Mohammad Rafi's most romantic compositions – Mujhe tumse muhobbat hai magar mein keh nahin saktha ( Bachpan) which incidentally was picturised on Salim who is Salman Khan’s father and Dil ki baazi jeet ke bhi haare ( Madan Manjari) picturised on none other than Ajit !

I have many favorites among Sardar Maliks compositions, however I am listing down 10 of my favorite songs 1, Mujhe tumse muhobbat hai ( Bachpan ) 2, Tere hum o sanam ( Bachpan) 3, Haan deewan ab mein ( Saaranga) 5, Ae gham e dil kya karoo ( Thokar) 6, Chalta rahe yeh caravan ( Chor bazar) 7, Koyi chand koyi taara( Taxi 555) 8, Dil ki baazi jeet ke bhi haare ( Madan Manjari) 9, Neeli neeli ankhiyon mein dhoobi dhoobi jaaon( Naag Mohini) 10, Wohi oodi oodi ghatayen hai ( Mee ghar mere bache).. A very talented but neglected composer who will remain in our hearts forever!

Narayan Dutta ( 1930- 1987 ) 

Narayan Datta Naik was a resident of Oroba in Goa. His was the usual story of running away from home when he was a teenager to make a career in films. But he realised that it was not easy and since those were the times when there was an abundance of talent in the film music world each one a giant in his own way and he had to learn the basics. He did learn some classical music and started his film career as a music assistant of the great composer S D Burman.

N. Datta assisted Dada Burman in a number of films in the fifties and learnt a lot from him and one can see Burman Da's stamp in some of Narayan Dutta's compositions especially yeh baharon ka sama sung by Lata Mangeshkar.. N.Datta got his first chance to compose independently for Raj Khosla's Milaap (1955), and the muisc was appreciated by audience and other composers as well.There were some really beautiful songs like 'Ye Baharon Ka Sama, picturised on both Dev Anand and Geeta Bali and 'Jaate Ho To Jaao Par Jaoge Kahan, one of Geeta Dutts very popuklar songs.The music of Milaap became extremely popular and N Datta came into the category of film industry's most eminent musicians during the early years. But after composing for films like Sadhana, Dhool Ka Phool and Dharam putra for BR Chopra he was not able to maintain the pace and began composing music for all kinds of films.

However, his melodies were appreciated very well by the audience and even smaller films ran on the strength of his music. Like for example films like Dr Shaitaana, Gyara hazzar ladkhiyan, Black cat, Rustom e baghdad, Kala Samundar, Dilli ka dada were all small budget films but were musically acclaimed...N Datta gave music for about 40 films in all and all of them were melodious and remembered to this day and were chartbusters at the time they were released.

Now I come to the part where I am going to add 10 of my own favorites songs composed by this composer.. 1, Kis Jagah jaaye ( Light house) 2, Mein jab bhi akeli hoti hoon ( Dharamputra) 3, Yeh Baharon ka sama ( Milap) 4, Yeh hawa yeh fiza yeh sama ( Mr X ) 5, Tum mujhe bhool bhi jaao ( Didi) 6, Dhoonde nazar nazar ( Dilli Ka dada) 7, Tera aana bhi dhoka hai ( Mere arman mere sapne ) 8, Jigar mein darad kaisa (Apna ghar apni kahani) 9, Mein tumhi se yeh poochthi hoon ( Black Cat) 10,Maine chand aur sitaron ki tammana ( Chandrakanta).

I have written about just 3 composers here and will continue to add more such forgotten but unforgettable composers who have made their own special contributions to the yesteryear film music..

The movie from  is  from Yash Raj Films, written and directed by Habib Faisal who was most popular as a writer for Band Baaja Baarat and director of Do Dooni Chaar.  Starring a star son Arjun Kapoor (son of Boney kapoor and Mona Kapoor) and a star sibling Parineeti Chopra (Cousin of Priyanka Chopra) the film has no less expectations. Set to release on May 11, 2012 the films music has already hit the stores. So can we  grab a copy or do we need to skip this.Let's find out.

Album: Ishaqzaade

Music Director:Amit Trivedi

Amit Trivedi is fast becoming  a name that needs no introduction. From winning critical acclaim and a national award for Dev D to winning Best song of the year for Ik Tara in Wake Up Sid , Amit has proven that he has support from both quarters , a rarety except for AR Rahman. To win a national award when in contention was Ar Rahman is no ordinary feat. Amit is not only game for serious cinema. He has given music for chick flicks like Aisha and Ek Main Aur Ek Tu.

Tracklist:
1. "Ishaqzaade"   Javed Ali, Shreya Ghoshal 5:18
2. "Chokra Jawaan"  Vishal Dadlani, Sunidhi Chauhan 5:11
3. "Pareshaan"   Shalmali Kholgade 4:53
4. "Jhalla Walla"   Shreya Ghoshal 5:53
5. "Aafaton ke Parinde"   Suraj Jagan, Divya Kumar 3:24
6. "Pareshaan (remix)"   Shalmali Kholgade(Remix by Abhijit Vaghani) 4:31
7. "Jhalla Walla (remix)"   Shreya Ghoshal (Remix by Abhijit Vaghani) 4:00

Ishaqzaade:
The track sung by   Javed Ali, Shreya Ghoshal is a melody song . The song is catchy and Javed does not disappoint. Shreya does not have much to do until the second part of the song. Hence the song belongs to Javed. Though it is good, it is a love melody and not Javed's best
Verdict: Good(4stars)

Chokra Jawaan:
The Sheila ki Jawani combo of singers is back for this item song under the helm of Amit Trivedi this time. Sung by  Vishal Dadlani and Sunidhi Chauhan who seem to enjoy the song equally. Vishal seems even better in this song. The song is sure to be a chartbuster if the film clicks in the audience.
Verdict: Good(3stars)

Pareshan:
Here comes the star performer of the album. It is a sure chartbuster that will be played continuously in  every shopping mall. The song is an instant hit and is sung by Shalmali Kholgade a first timmer who has a whole range of confident voice. It is confusing to decide if its the music or the singer that have made the song an instant hit. The song combines rock music with harmonium music . It is like the mix of 1970s and 2000s. The song accentuates Parineeti's performance in picturisation. Shalmali's voice is like Parineeti's exact match.Don't miss this.
Verdict: Superhit(5 stars)

Jhalla Walla
The song is sung by Shreya who surprises us with a different tone. It is hard to recognize as it is not Shreya's regular song. The song is like an item song in places a mujra in places and a regular song in places. It is a modern adaptation of qawali genre with only one singer
Verdict: Good(3stars)

Aafaton ke Parinde
Our favorite singer of "Give Me Some Sunshine" for the film 3 Idiots and "Sadka Kiya" from the  I Hate Luv Storys is back. The song is from the genre that belongs to Sukhwinder Singh. But Suraj has given his best and does not disappoint us. The song is refreshing and is the first song to be released along with the trailers.
Verdict: Hit(4stars)

Pareshaan (remix)

The less said is the better about this remix. The album's feel is destroyed by this song that I want to exclude this song from my playlist. It adds nothing to the album
Verdict:Passable (Skip)

Jhalla Walla (remix) 
This remix is a better one and does make a totally different song of the original. Like I said the original is like a mujra and a qawali with a regular song. This song is more like the Bombay Vikings songs. It sounds modern and is the urban version of "Jhalla Walla"
Verdict:Good(3stars)

Overall Verdict: Hit ( 4 stars out of 5)

The rhythm of life takes an upbeat when a person takes privilige in listening every sound as a sweet healer to his ears. The singing birds in the morning lead us to a beautiful soothing morning hoping for a nice day thereafter and a lovely day ahead.

Its not always that every kind of music gives you peace and happiness. This basically depends on mood and the situation that currently beholds. Like say in the party everyone is in the mood of enjoyment, so a rocking dancing number is the demand of every heart to shake a leg on it . On the other hand when one desires to relax and stay calm he/she prefers romantic or slow and sweet songs to rejuvenate ones senses.

Nowadays youths have taken much to listening music ,making sure that they don't walk out of their home without handsfree The handsfree or say headphones are now added as a special and important accessory in their kit. The public vehicles now see people with their ipods or mobile phones singing loud for them.Though it could be considered as a pass-time for few but some are the real admirers of music that help them relax and give them pleasure. 

Music has always been a treat to everyone. It makes one afresh and rekindles the inner joy and purity. Whether its bhajans and daily chores in the holy places, the hip-hop songs to dance for in the parties,even the moving steps of a person has that sound which could either irritate you or make you happy.It all depends on how your mood is and how you take the sounds as irritating or misleading noises or as delectable food to your ears.

Give a chance to everykind of music to be your life's part. Some will give you a reason to dance to your happiness, some will give you a reason to murmur it to your beloved, some will give you a reason to cry for your friends and so on. "MUSIC IS LIFE"