Ek raasta hai zindagi... Tribute to Yash Chopra-Sahir Ludhianvi

I should start writing this obituary very honestly here- I have never been a great fan of Yash Chopra school of movie making. Not that I am against it or I do not watch them, in fact I have watched all his films except Faasle and Nakhuda, but my take home has been minimal. However, some of his works have spellbound me alright; Deewar, Doosra Aadmi and Silsila were all top class works and enlightened me.

Pancham- Out of his “Family”

I sometimes find it very disturbing when people blame Rahul Dev Burman for being biased to his preferred set of singers (read three of them). Nothing can be more uncalled for than this. Was Pancham really biased?

Was he more biased than Naushad? Who, in spite of being liked to be called as a Classical Wizard, used the best classical singer in the industry-Manna De- only 6 times in his whole career of 60 odd movies? Well, controversies do rise, so let us stick our discussions only to Pancham and see his judgment behind his choice of singers.



R D Burman with Hemant Kumar and Geeta Dutt



R D Burman, a Genuine Genius (I feel the urge to use the word Genuine here, as I see nowadays, the word Genius has lost its authenticity), wanted to come out of his Great Father’s shadow. He did so, with entirely a different kind of sound, melodies, arrangement and experimentation but almost with the same set of singers his father had used. SD’s top four singers were- Lata, Asha, Kishore and Rafi –in that order-and RD’s top four were- Asha, Kishore, Lata and Amit Kumar (Rafi held the fourth position till the singer’s early demise in 1980, AK took over in the 80s afterwards).

R D Burman was one of the first to stretch Lata in the unorthodox numbers. He used Lata in Drunkard Female numbers in Chandan Ka Palna(1967), Seeta aur Geeta(1972), Jheel ke us paar(1973) and Do Chor(1972). That Lata could sing “Yaari ho gayi yaar se lak tunu tunu” would have surely been out of any other MD’s imagination those days. Giving her great classical numbers are all history, but giving Lata peppy, rhythmic melody was so refreshing to hear those days when Lata Mangeshkar was almost stereotyped for “sati savitri” numbers by other MDs.

But, RD’s genuinely great pairing with Bhupinder, Rafi, Shailendra Singh, Mukesh and Manna De are hardly discussed of.

Bhupinder:    Although Bhupindermandeep Singh debuted under Madan Mohan, it was with Pancham that this baritoned, versatile artist really flourished as a singer! Starting with Abhilasha(1968),  Parichay(1972) was the turning point in this association’s career, Pancham gave some of his best melodies to Bhupinder in Kinara, Sitara, Raja Rani, Satte Pe Satta and Troyee. He showered great confidence on him in classical numbers like Meethe bol bole and Mitwa bole meethe ber, gave him Qawallis like Salaam kijiye, equally confided on him sentimental numbers like Kobe je kothay ki je holo bhool and gave some mesmerizing duets with Lata Mangeshkar- Beeti na beetayi raina, Naam gum jayega and Thodisi zameen. RD gave some numbers to Bhupinder just keeping the singer, who was a long time musical associate with him also, in mind.

Rafi:  in spite of having around 105 songs recorded together, RD-Rafi is not much discussed in Hindi Film Music history. Rafi was the main singer of RD in the 60s, when the latter was a newcomer and the former was a Colossus. Some mesmerizing beauties like Tumne mujhe dekha, Tumhe dekha hai, Zamane ne maare, Wadiyan mera daman, Tum bin jaaoon kaha, Deewana mujhsa nahi were created by the combo in the 60s. Although Rafi stopped getting the cream of Pancham after 1970, still some solos of RD seemed to have been delicately composed for Rafi even in the 70s like Pyar hai ik nishaan kadmon ka, Chand mera dil, Koi aur duniya mein tumsa haseen hai and Gulaabi aankhein. Pancham also gave some great Qawallis to Rafi like Salaam kijiye, Hai agar dushman zamana, Pal do pal ka saath humara etc.

Mukesh:   Less is beautiful when it comes to Mukesh and Pancham. Well, he gave Mukesh some astoundingly brilliant numbers even though their association was for only 19 songs in 12 years. Jis gali mein tera ghar, Kahin karti hogi, Suhani chandni raatein, Ek din bik jayega, Zindagi mein aap aye, Mere humsafar geet hai, Lalla lalla lori- almost each and every Mukesh-RD song was a hit. He used Mukesh for Rajesh Khanna in Kati Patang and Raja Rani.

Manna De:   In my honest opinion, Pancham’s most versatile association, after Kishore Kumar, had been with Manna De. They could be funny, serious, peppy, classical everything with élan. Be it “Aao twist karein”, or “Sawariya aao”, or “Aayo kahan se ghanshyam” or “Gori tori paijaniyan” or “ Abhi to haath mein jam hai”- Manna De was always special for Pancham. When most of the other MDs were using Manna De either for character artists or for classical songs, Pancham used Manna for heroes like Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan with peppy, filmy numbers.

And of course, there were Anup Ghoshal, Arati Mukherjee, Annette and Manmohan Singh, who had got their temporary fame in Hindi film music singing R D Burman’s numbers. Isn’t it amazing that a music director who had made Mehmood, Anand Bakshi or even Sapan Chakravorty sing songs, is most often touted as “biased about singer choices”?

R D Burman was a true blue versatile music director, even in using his singers also…

Chala jata hoon...

It does not matter if Rajesh Khanna was not seen on the screen or did not make any public appearances. Only the sheer thought of he being alive and breathing in the same world along with us, used to give us the requisite nostalgic hysteria. With the departure of Kaka, followed with the previous exits of Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Joy Mukherjee-all just a year back- the last cord between the present generation and the 60s and 70s Indian Cinema is cut.

Yes, in his acting, he was melodramatic more than occasionally. And this progressively went on growing with his age. The charm of melodrama which Anand and Amar Prem gave us, and still give, became a parody by the time Wafaa (2008)- his last released movie- occurred.

But, still, Kaka was there. The first man to show us what mass hysteria means, was there. And now, with he gone, I don’t know, professionally how much present Indian cinema has lost, but the common people have lost Nostalgia forever. Here was a man, whenever coming in front of the public, who could take you to 40 years back in time instantly.

And as I have been listening to the FM Radio stations tirelessly playing the songs of late 60s and early 70s of Kaka, sung mainly by his “voice” Kishore Kumar, penned by Anand Bakshi and composed by R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal, the mind goes wayward.

He had great looks. A Cinematic presence, which no one could or can replicate. The way he held the glass in Amar Prem (Chingari koi bhadke) or the way he nodded his head on an open jeep in Aradhana (Mere sapno ki rani) are history now. Who bothers what he delivered post-1975. It is more than sufficient to spend your lifetime with the two dozen great films Kaka delivered between Khamoshi (1969) to Daag (1973).

A lady charmer, Kaka epitomized romance on screen. With great couplings formed with Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore, Kaka could be light, playboy some times and intense and emotional some other time with equal ease. With Sharmila, he gave some intense and emotionally serious movies like Safar, Amar Prem, Aavishkar, Daag and Aradhana; while with Mumtaz he delivered juvenile and light hearted romance in Do Raaste, Dushman, Sacha Jhootha and Apna Desh. And there was also Anand, where he did not have any heroine, and gave a lifetime performance.

And Kaka got some of the best philosophical songs ever composed in Hindi Cinema. In spite of not being into the intellectual cinema like Guru Dutt, Kaka got mesmerizing philosophical songs picturized on him like Zindagi ka safar (Kishore Kumar, Safar), Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate hai(Kishore Kumar, Aap ki Kasam), Zindagi kaisi hai paheli(Manna De, Anand), Kuchh to log kahenge(Kishore Kumar,AmarPrem) and Diye jalte hai phool khilte hai(Kishore Kumar, Namak Haram). After Kaka, Hindi cinema forgot to make philosophical songs for good. Because, perhaps, after Kaka, every time a philosophical song came on screen, it sounded like preaching. And Rajesh Khanna- with twinkling of his eyes and nodding of his head-could convey heavy messages with élan. Even a lyrically philosophical song Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana became a rage the way Kaka enacted it on the screen and of course, the way his “voice” crooned it.

With Rajesh Khanna, we have lost many more. No matter how much the girls today adore Hrithik Roshan or Salman Khan, it takes a lot of passion to write love letters to your hero with your own blood. Yes, the melodrama he showed on screen, actually hit the nerves of the people in real life also. Who could do such hysteria in our Cinema ever?

Rest in peace, Kaka.

Burmans- Exchanging each other's shoes...

When it comes to music, Sachin Dev Burman and Rahul Dev Burman have been the ultimate for me. In fact, both the Burmans- the father and the son, have been amazing me for the last 25 odd years of my Hindi Film Music following.  As rightly put by one of my acquaintances, their appeal lies in their contradiction. The way both of them had taken their schools of music separately but with equal élan is learning! Traditionally, the senior Burman has always been regarded as the one belonging to the conservative school- inspirations from Indian classical, folk, Tagore songs; whereas the Junior Genius is considered from a rebel group of Westernization, bringing in concepts like Jazz, Bossa Nova, Samba and Hard Rock into Indian music. Well, ahem, this generalization can be nothing but FALSE.

It is so unfortunate, that almost always, even by luminary Film critics, this generalization between the Burmans always occurs. And slowly but steadily, this has given rise to a discretely different type of fan followings for both the father and the son. I have seen many people who consider SD to be the greatest MD in Hindi films (and rightly so) and junking out RD saying “loud” and “cacophonic” (wrongly so). Vice versa, RD group has also hailed RD as the biggest genius in the industry (and rightly so) and ignoring SD saying his songs were slow and old schooled (wrongly so).

The entire idea of this article is to “put things straight”. The idea of SD being “old schooled” is as bizarre as the idea of RD being “cacophonic”.

I discuss six albums here, yes, that’s all- three each from each of the Burmans- just to show the believed notion a twist. RD could be as conventional as the best goes and SD could be as modern, as effervescent as you can think of.

S D Burman- the Modern Man:

Come out of flute, sitar and violin and listen to one of my all-time favourite SD album- Jewel Thief.  Yes, he took necessary influences from David Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai and some arrangement supports from his son, but JT is so SD-ish to the core!! The beautiful Raag Pahadi based duet of Lata-Rafi or the melancholic “Rulake gaya sapna” or the sizzling dance extravaganza “Hothon pe aesi baat”,the sensual “Raat akeli hai” and the signature Dev Anand from the colour era “Yeh dil na hota bechara”- you could never miss SD!! And he used plethora of instruments to give the cult album a treat- you have trumpets  and sax blowing, Guitars giving lead, along with his favourite flute and violins retaining their identities. JT was a cult album in the late 60s, and I must say, a proper response from the grand old man(he was 61, when JT released) to tose who had signed him off due to his poor health then.

Much before JT, had come Paying Guest. The old man (yes, even then, in 1957) created a new trend of conversational duets with the evergreen “Chhod do aanchal”. Melody with rhythm, sweetness with mischief and romance with fun- SD created a garland of melodies in that movie. The Kishore-Asha duet of “O nigahein mastana” had Kishore deliberately hushing up his voice in the third stanza for one line only to raise up his baritone once again in the following- a concept SD repeatedly used with KK in many songs later on ( Pyar ke is khel mein, Sa re gama, Meet na mila re man ka etc) and giving a beautiful contradiction with the Genius’ voice.

Has anyone heard the new year theme music of the album Gambler? Trust me; it would give Goosebumps to even the strongest RD fan… So modern, so well ahead of time and yet so less discussed.  I paste here the link of the whole album, so that, everyone can understand that SD was equally inheriting the sense of arrangement and sound as his son.

http://gaana.com/#!/albums/gambler-hindi-1971

Gambler also saw SD using Kishore Kumar in a super-contrasting mood song “Kaisa hai mera dil tu khiladi”- one of the most underrated song from the combo. Just like, no one else could have sung the song with so much justice other than Kishore, the compositional brilliance of SD is unmatched here as well. The mood switching happens throughout. And he gets traditional with Rafi with equal swiftness in “Mera man tera pyasa”- a soft romantic genre where Rafi was definitely the best. And the improvisation with “Dil aaj shayar hai” is exemplary. A ghazalish song, treated with so much of modernism, it simply changed the way sad songs were being sung in Hindi films. No over emotion, no sobbing, no melodrama- pathos expressed with dignity and yet conveyed meaningfully and passionately!

R D Burman- the Traditional:

He changed the entire gambit of Hindi Film Music in the early 70s. The foundation he had created with Teesri Manzil (1966) was enhanced further and further in the early 70s. RD happened to be the musician Modern India had been waiting for- a person who could mix melody with rhythm. A sad thing is that the next generation took inspiration only from RD’s rhythmic experimentation and very little from the amazing melodies he had given to us to spend our lifetimes.

RD was very much captivated in his experimentation till Amar Prem(1971) happened. Ironically, getting traditional was the ultimate experiment for Pancham. If Shakti Samanta- the maker of the film is to be believed, Pancham had to plead to get the assignment. Amar Prem successfully completed the trilogy of Woman centred movies by Samanta, preceded by Aradhana (1969) and Kati Patang (1970)- both musically chartbusters.

Pancham showed his grasp on Indian classical to the audience. Even if we leave out “Doli mein bithaike kahar” and “Bada natkhat hai re”- songs composed unaccredited by SD in that movie, the balance 4 were mesmerizing. RD exploited the vocal genius of Kishore like never before- a true Bhairavi (Chingari koi bhadke) with another Kalavati-Khamaj mix (Kuchh to log kahenge) and a timeless pathos (Yeh kya hua), RD, as mentioned by Ganesh Anantharaman in his book “Bollywood Melodies”,  singlehandedly ended all the doubts on whether Kishore Kumar cold be a complete singer or not. And not an end yet, even if today we get a lifetime album of Lata Mangeshkar, “Raina Beeti Jaaye” can hardly be missed out. A supreme Khamaj composition with Guitar rhythm instead of  traditional Tabla thekas, RD showed his mastery over rhythm and Indian classical simultaneously.

The following year-1972- saw a whole new partnership of RD-Gulzar in Hindi films. With Gulzar, Pancham delivered what he could not otherwise do in the then –on-going commercial masala flicks. And with excellent outputs in Parichay, Aandhi, Khushboo and Kinara, happened Ghar (1978).  A masterpiece, to say the least, Pancham did wonders with the voices of Lata and Kishore, just like Amar Prem. Both the Lata solos-  Aaj kal paaon zameen par and Tere bina jiya jaye na(a portion at the end sung by Kishore, retained in the movie but removed in the records), had Pancham utilizing the sweetness of Lata to the extreme. Both the compositions reminded us of Karta- his father, who had left for heavenly aboard three years back that time. Coming right after his Western chartbuster Hum kisise kum nahi(1977) a year before, Ghar had shocked the musical society with a Pancham punch of traditional Indian music. The duet of Kishore-Lata (Aap ki aankhon mein kuchh) and the Kishore solo(Phir wohi raat hai), excelled brilliantly in terms of singing, poetry and compositional achievement.

It seems Satyajit Ray had asked Kishore Kumar to do something about the former’s protégée Anup Ghoshal (information source: RD- the man, the music by Anirudha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vithal) in Hindi film music. The request was transferred from the Big K to the Big P. The result was Masoom(1982)- in my opinion, the best experimental album of Pancham in the 80s. Yes, Lata was there for a solo but that’s all!! The whole album was done by RD with unorthodox singers like Anup Ghoshal, Aarti Mukherjee (winning a National award for a song in the movie), Suresh Wadekar, Bhupinder and children. No Kishore, no Asha, no instrumental extravaganza. RD created simple soothing melodies with maximum effect.  Masoom is a underrated album of RD filled with his musical genius. Each and every song was tenderly created with utmost melodic achievement.

Not that, these are the only albums showing deviations from the Burmans’ perceived images. There have been many more modern albums from the Papa Burman(Chalti ka naam Gaadi, Aradhana, Prem Pujari, Teen Deviyan) which had absolute modern treatment, modern arrangement and orchestral genius. So did Pancham show his orthodox calibre in all the Gulzar movies and many Rajesh Khanna, Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Chatterjee movies.

Both the Burmans, for me, were a boon to the music industry and carry forward a legacy which made many more people’s lives. To constrain them by labelling is not only uncalled for, but also unethical!