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7
taar pe jiivan ke madhur raaginii sunaae...
Author: Lata Mangeshkar
There was a time when Indian music directors did not, in the name of 'modernity' and 'novelty' copy Western compositions. But now the situation in most cases is just the opposite. There is a world of difference between the golden period of Khemchand Prakash, Ghulam Haider, and Shyam Sunder and the so-called modern times. But who was responsible for this change? When we ponder over this questions a host of other questions come up before us.
Once somebody told me of an incident regarding a producer who is a 'worshipper of modernity'. This gentleman went to meet his muisc director with a cartload of gramophone records of Western music. He insisted that the compositions for this film be based on the concerned Western sompostions - only then his film would be a hit! The music director was reluctant while the producer was insistent.
In fact, we have touched a new low in the field of film music. It is clear from this anecdote that the music directors are not the sole culprits : the producers are also partly responsible, because they force the composers to imitate the West.
In a situation like this, one feels a strong desire to revive the glorious tradition of the past : a tradition which ended with the passing of magnificient composers like Khemchand Prakash, Ghulam Haider and Shyam Sunder.
'Hit' songs were, no doubt, composed then as they are now. But there is a big difference: the hit songs of those days are heard, sung and discussed even now, whereas the hit songs of today do not live for more than a year, and then are forgotten. The changes which have taken place in our film music have to be seen in the context of the composers who were the makers of our music.
THE INCOMPARABLE GHULAM HAIDER
When I sang for Ghulam Haider for the first time, I was not only inexperienced, but was gripped by an inferiority complex in the present of the great composers. As a result, my crooning was out of tune. Even then Haider Sahib encouraged me.
Ghulam Haider composed his songs without any fuss. As soon as he heard the voice of a singer, he composed a tune suited to that voice. Once Haider Saheb, some colleagues and I were waiting for a local train at Malad. We had come from Bombay Talkies when Haider Saheb composed a tune with the theka on the cigarette tin! The song, 'dil mera toda...', turned out to be a hit when picturised. I had to sing the song then and there. I'll never forget that day.
Once Haider Saheb had to stay overnight at Bombay Talkies to composer for a film. I was not well, but I kept waiting: who could say when he would be in a mood to prepare a tune? At about three in the morning, he hit upon a tune and wrote down its notation immediately. That's how 'bedard tere dard ne' was composed. The song was recorded at eight in the morning and it was 11 am when we left for home.
Haider Saheb was unrivalled in his style and originality. There was no dearth of critics in his lifetime, but his contribution to Indian film muisc is undoubtedly great and it is recognised even today. He was the first to make use of Punjabi folk music and the dholak. His tunes seemed to be quite simple when listened to but, in fact they were quite difficult to sing. His compositions are proof of an original genius at work.
KHEMCHAND PRAKASH : ANGEL AMONGST MEN
I met Khemchand Prakash on the lawns of Bombay Talkies during the recording of a song I was singing for Haider Saheb. Cultured and affable, Khemchandji was an angel among men.
Our relationship
was on between friends rather than between director and singer.
Often, he wouldl
bring me food from home when coming to the studio.
Khemrajji was a pioneer in the field of classical and Rajasthani folk music. Marwar was in his blood. HE was a good singer too: he had a complete grasp of Marwar folk songs, thumris and ghazals. I sang only a few songs for him. My first song for him was a bhajan for AASHA, then I had the good fortune of singing for JIDDI and MAHAL. Soon after that Khemrajji passed away.
He was dedicated to music. Music was not a means of making money for him: it was an art. He felt hurt when music was not treated with respect. During the production of MAHAL someone carelessly remarked to the studio authorities that if the film did not prove a hit, it would be because of Khemrajji's music. It was a serious jolt to him. When the film was released, its music became very popular. He received innumerable letters of praise from every part of the country. In spite of being ill, Khemrajji took a taxi and went to meet the man who had criticized his music and forced him to read all those letters.
But he always welcomed creative criticism. One day I saw SINDOOR at the Bombay Talkies. I saw Khemrajji outside the Talkies talking to some people. I was not aware that the muisc of SINDOOR had been composed by him. One of the compositions of this film - mere roothe huey bhagwaan - resembled a tune composed by Naushad. When I told him about it, Khemrajji very patiently pointed out to me that Naushadji, working as his colleague, had naturally adopted his style: but the fact was that the song had been composed by Khemrajji.
He never failed to congratulate composers whose music he thought was good.
SHYAM SUNDER: UNIQUE STYLE
If a musician does not have a disciple to keep the tradition of his music alive, his gharana dies with him. This is true of music -director Shyam Sunder. His death was unexpected and his style of music passed aaway with him.
His music was characterised by melody, uniqueness and liveliness. I still remember his two compositions 'Saajan ki galiyan chhod chali' for BAZAAR and 'Baharein phir bhi aayengi' for LAHORE. The last in which I sang for him ALIF LAILA.
I was really fortunate to have started my singing career under such great music directors. They had to suffer indifference, indignity and criticism in their life, but they are remembered with respect now, and their compositions are considered a great contribution to Indian film music.
ANIL BISWAS : MULTIFACETED GENIUS
Anil Biswas is a composer steeped in classical and folk music. He has a fine grasp of Bangla folk muisc, but he also has a profound knowledge of Urdu poetry. It is sad commentary on the state of things that inspite of all that he has done for film music he has been forced to leave this field. (Subsequently he joined AIR, Delhi).
Anilji composed his tunes to suit the situation. Normally when a music director records a song, his whole attention is focussed on the voice of the singer. Anilji is a little different in this matter. He does not give as much importance to the singers's voice as others do. Once h has composed the music of the song, he gets it sung by the singer int he manner he wants and, invariably get shte results he is looking for.
I have learnt many things from Anil Biswas. The singers normally pay more attention to the tune rather than the words of a song. There was a time, when I too did the same; but then I learnt from Anilji how important for clarity the correct pronunciations of the words is. I studied the complexity of sound too under his supervision.
And I learnt another very important thing from him: how without breaking the taal and laya, one can breathe while singing. I practised this very thoroughly. Now I am never aware of my breathing when I sing flat or sharp notes.
"You may sing in whatever 'swar' you like, but your voice should remain the voice of Lata Mangeshkar", was his advice to me. It isnot always easy to follow that advice, though.
NAUSHAD : MUSIC IS HIS LIFE
Naushadji studies every aspect of his tunes thoroughly. He is also very careful abotu the words of the song. IT he is not satisfied even with one word, he asks the lyricist to rewrite the whole line. Thus, he takes about a fortnight to compose a single song. Then he seeks opinion of all his colleagues. He keeps on changing the music of the song, till he is satisfied that it suits the situation.
Naushad's learning is not limited to music alone: he knows the art of narration, editing and recording too. He is a very good judge of which musical instrument to use and when. He was the first to combine the flute and the clarinet, the sitar and the mandolin. The credit for introducing the accordian and 'been' and many other instruments to film music also goes to him.
Naushad has always kept pace with changing times and has always been innovative. THis can be seen in the musical transition from SHARDA to RATTAN and from ANOKHI ADA he changed his style once again.
The music he composed for BAIJU BAAWRA surprised even me. It was entirely different from what he had done before. Different ragas were used for different situations and the purity of ragas were maintainted to the greatest possible extent. It would be superfluous to say that the music of BAIJU BAAWRA won extraordinary acclaim and success.
Naushad has a very sharp memory. Even if you repeat a tune which is ten years old to him, he can immediately tell in which song he had used it. Once he has grasped the qualities of a singer's voice, he never interferes in his or her singing.
Naushadji puts into one film what others would put in ten. That is why he is not able to compose music for more than two films a year.
Music is his life and he is fully dedicated to it. There are any number of critics of his music, but the critics perhaps do not realise that the variety to be found in Naushad's music can never be seen in that of any other composer.
RAMCHANDRA CHITALKAR : THE SOUL OF VARIETY
C. Ramchandra is almost an antithesis of Naushadji. After the first rehearsal itself he would say: "It is fine. That is enough." If the singer or the player asks for another rehearsal, he would reply : "No! if we improve it, it won't become popular". But this should not lead you to the belief that he left things to chance. In fact, he is a very hard worker.
C. Ramchandra is a very good singer too. There are two aspects of his approach to music: One, it should be melodious; two, the taal and laya should make the listeners forget themselves. These two are the central points of his compositions.
From the point of
view of swar-shilpa his music appears to be simple. Sometimes his tunes
have a touch of Gujarati or Marathi folk music. His compositions done with
Western sstyle are also quite impressive, but I personally prefer his compositions
based on Indian classical music. For instance, 'na maaro najariya ke baan'(PEHLI
JHALAK), 'kaise jaaon jamuna ke teer' (DEVTA), 'dheere se aa ja ri ankhiyan
mein'(ALBELA), 'raadha na bole na bole re'(AZAD), and 'chandaniya araj
kare'(AASHA), are some of his compositions which are evidence of his classical
background.
Lata
Mangeshkar : A living legend...
