अनमोल रतन - 15: A rare Hindi song featuring Pran (प्राण), the greatest Villain of Hindi films

Namaskaar Friends,

Very happy to share the next song in the अनमोल रतन series. Hope you will like it.

The English version of the blog will follow the Marathi version below.

Song #15: दिल की उमंगे हैं जवाँ  (Dil Ki Umange Hain Jawan)

Film: Munimji (1955)

Director: Subodh Mukherjee

Cast: Dev Anand, Nalini Jaywant, Pran, Nirupa Roy & Ameeta

Lyrics: Sahir Ludhiyanvi

Composer: S. D. Burman

Singer: Hemant Kumar, Geeta Dutt and Pran

चित्रसृष्टी हे असे कार्यक्षेत्र आहे जिथे लोकं आपल्या प्रतिमेला अतिशय जपतात. असे करताना बऱ्याचदा कलाकार एका विशिष्ट प्रतिमेतच अडकून राहतात. पण काही कलाकार आपल्या कलेचे विविध पैलू यशस्वीपणे हाताळतात. त्यामध्ये त्यांच्या धाडसाचा आणि चांगल्या नशिबाचाही भाग असतो; पण Rewards come for those who are not afraid of taking risks हे चित्रपटक्षेत्राच्या बाबतीतही खरे आहे. आज ज्या अभिनेत्याचे गाणे सादर करणार आहे त्याची ओळख आपल्याला हिंदी चित्रपटांचा सर्वश्रेष्ठ खलनायक आणि पुढे सर्वोत्कृष्ट चरित्रनायक म्हणून आहे. त्यांचे नाव आहे प्राण किशनचंद उर्फ प्राण.

तुम्हाला कदाचित माहिती नसेल; पण प्राण यांनी त्यांच्या चित्रपटसृष्टीतील कारकि‍र्दीची सुरुवात १९४० साली आलेल्या पंजाबी चित्रपट "यमला जट" मधून केली. त्यांचा पहिला हिंदी चित्रपट होता १९४२ सालचा "खानदान" ज्यात त्यांनी मुख्य नायकाची भूमिका केली होती, आणि त्यांची नायिका होती जेमतेम १५ वर्षांची नूरजहाँ! १९४० ते १९४७ पर्यंत प्राण यांनी नायकाच्या भूमिका केल्या!! त्यांचा खलनायक म्हणून पहिला चित्रपट होता १९४८ सालचा "ज़िद्दी". देव आनंद आणि कामिनी कौशल त्या चित्रपटाचे नायक-नायिका होते. त्यानंतर प्राण यांनी खलनायक म्हणून स्वतःचे असे एक स्वतंत्र स्थान निर्माण केले.

प्राण हे असे एकमेव अभिनेते असतील कदाचित ज्यांनी पडद्यावर नायक, खलनायक आणि चरित्रनायक अशा तीनही भूमिका नुसत्या रंगवल्याच नाहीत तर प्रत्येक भूमिकेत गाणेही म्हटले आहे! उदा.:

१) नायक प्राण:

"उड जा उड जा पंछी" - चित्रपट "खानदान" (१९४२) - संगीतकार मा. ग़ुलाम हैदर - गायक नूरजहाँ आणि मा. ग़ुलाम हैदर

२) खलनायक प्राण:

"आ के सीधी लगी दिल पे जैसे कटरिया" - चित्रपट हाफ टिकट (१९६२) - संगीतकार सलिल चौधरी - गायक किशोरकुमार

३) चरित्रनायक प्राण:

"कस्मे वादे प्यार वफ़ा सब" - चित्रपट उपकार (१९६७) - संगीतकार कल्याणजी-आनंदजी - गायक मन्ना डे

थोडेसे चित्रपटाविषयी:

ही कहाणी आहे एका गर्भश्रीमंत मुलीची - रूपा (नलिनी जयवंत). परदेशातून आपल्या भावासोबत परत आलेल्या रूपाचे लग्न तिचे वडील कॅप्टन सुरेश रतनबरोबर (प्राण) ठरवतात. रतन हा कॅप्टन सुरेश यांच्या प्रिय मित्राचा मुलगा असतो. कॅप्टन सुरेश यांच्या घरात मालती (निरुपा रॉय) कामाला असते, तिचा मुलगा अमर (देव आनंद) हा कॅप्टन साहेबांकडे वेषांतर करून मुनीमजी म्हणून काम करत असतो. त्या दरम्यान गावात "काळा घोडा" नावाचा दरोडेखोर येणार असल्याची खबर येते. त्याचा बंदोबस्त करायला कॅप्टन सुरेश पोलिसांना बोलवतात. एक दिवस अपघाताने रूपाची भेट राज (देव आनंद) या तरुण, देखण्या नौजवानाशी होते. सुरुवातीला दोघात खटके उडाले तरी अखेरीस एक दिवस दोघे एकमेकांच्या प्रेमात पडतात. पण रुपाला माहिती नसते की राज हाच अमर म्हणजेच मुनीमजी आहे. दोघेही एकदा जंगलात फिरायला गेले असताना तिथे रतन येतो आणि हे मजेशीर गाणे सुरु होते. पुढे काय होते? रुपाला मुनीमजीचे खरे रूप कळते का? रतनचे रूपाशी लग्न होते का? "काळा घोडा" नेमका कोण असतो? या सर्व प्रश्नाची उत्तरे शोधण्यासाठी पूर्ण चित्रपटच पहा.

"मुनीमजी" मधील सर्वच्या सर्व ९ गाणी सचिनदेव बर्मन यांच्या बहारदार संगीताने नटलेली आहेत. साहिर लुधियानवी आणि शैलेंद्र या दोघांच्या प्रतिभावान लेखणीतून ही सर्व गीते उतरली आहेत. किशोरकुमारच्या वाट्याला त्यातील अवघे एक गाणे "जीवन के सफर में राही" आले आहे, पण हे गाणे त्याने अजरामर करून ठेवलंय. लताची ५ सोलो गाणीही उत्कृष्ट आहेत. हेमंतकुमार व गीता दत्त यांनी प्रत्येकी २ गाणी गायली आहेत. यातील "शिवजी बिहाने चले पालकी सजायके" हे हेमंतकुमार यांनी गायलेले गाणे मला खूप आवडते. एक वेगळेच हेमंतकुमार ऐकायला मिळतात. या गाण्याबद्दल नंतर कधीतरी सविस्तर लिहीन. 

चित्रपटाची सर्व गाणी एकत्र इथे ऐकता येतील. Munimji Songs Video Playlist

आज जे गाणे सादर करत आहे त्या गाण्याची काही वैशिष्ट्ये:

१) देव आनंद आणि हेमंत कुमार या जोडीच्या अनेक सुंदर रोमँटिक गाण्यांपैकी हे एक. आश्चर्य म्हणजे सचिनदेव बर्मन यांनी देव आनंदकरता वेगवेगळ्या चित्रपटात मोहम्मद रफी ("गाईड", "तेरे घर के सामने"), किशोर कुमार ("फंटूश", "तीन देवियाँ"), तलत महमूद ("टॅक्सी ड्राईवर") आणि हेमंत कुमार ("सोलवा साल", "जाल") यांचा आवाज दिला आहे आणि तरीही सर्व आवाज देव आनंदला शोभतात व गाणीही अतिशय लोकप्रिय आहेत.

२) गीता दत्त यांचा या गाण्यातील आवाज ऐकला तर आशा भोसलेच गाताहेत की काय असा भास होईल. आशाजींच्या सुरवातीच्या काळात त्यांच्यावर लताजी आणि गीताजींचा प्रभाव होता हे आपल्याला माहिती आहेच. गीता दत्त यांनी त्यांच्या आवाजातून नायिकेचा आणि प्रसंगातील अवखळपणा पूर्णपणे दाखवला आहे. 

३) प्राण यांचे गाणे (?) खुद्द प्राण यांनीच गायले असावे असा अंदाज आहे, कारण इंटरनेट वर व इतर स्रोतांमध्येसुद्धा कुठेही गाण्यातील तिसरा आवाज कोणाचा याबद्दल काहीही उल्लेख नाही. 

४) गाण्याच्या प्रसंगामध्ये प्राण यांना आवडत नसताना जबरदस्तीने गायला आणि हसायला लावले आहे, त्यामुळे त्यांची होणारी कसरत, आपल्याला गाता येत नाही याची लाज आणि तरीही गायला लागणार ही असहाय्यता प्राण यांनी खुमासदार पद्धतीने अभिनित केली आहे. सुरुवातीच्या दोन मिनिटांमध्ये प्राण यांचा कसनुसं हसण्याचा लाजवाब अभिनय बघून आपल्यालाही हसू आवरत नाही. 

या सुमधुर गाण्याचा आनंद आपण जरूर घ्यावा व प्रतिक्रिया कळवावी ही विनंती. धन्यवाद.

The film industry is a very strange place to be in, they say. With one hit film, an actor can rise to the heavens while with one flop, he/she can come down very fast. Thus, many a time, we have seen actors being extremely conscious of their images in front of the public. They would like to stick to the roles that have given them success in the past and do not experiment with roles to avoid risk of being a flop. However, there are actors who dare to take risks and thereby garner the rewards that come along with it. One such actor is Pran Kishanchand or just Pran as we all dearly know him. We know Pran to be the greatest villain of the Hindi films and also one of the greatest character actors. 

However, what we don't know is that once upon a time (from 1940 to 1947), Pran had played lead roles in Hindi and Punjabi films! His debut film was a Pujabi film viz. "Yamla Jat" (1940). Pran's first Hindi film was "Khandan" (1942) in which he played the lead role. And guess what, his heroin was none other than the legendary singer actor Noorjehan, who was only 15 then! Pran's career as a Hero lasted from 1940 to 1947, after which he switched over to Villain roles and made a name for himself. His first Hindi film in a Villain role was "Ziddi" (1948) in which Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal were male and female leads respectively.

Pran would be the only actor who has not only played different roles in films like Hero, Villain and Character Actor, but also sung songs on the screen! Let's look at some of these songs:

Pran as a Hero:

"Ud Jaa Ud Jaa Panchhi" - Khandan (1942) - Composer Master Ghulam Haider - Singers Noorjehan and Master Ghulam Haider

Pran as a Villain:

"Aa Ke Seedhi Lagee Jaise Dil Pe Katariya" - Half Ticket (1962) - Composer Salil Chowdhury - Singer Kishore Kumar

Pran in a Character Actor role:

"Kasme Vaade Pyaar Wafa Sab" - Upkaar (1967) - Composer Kalyanji-Anandji - Singer Manna Dey

Brief about the film:

The story is about a born rich girl - Roopa (Nalini Jaywant) who has returned from foreign with her brother Shekhar. Her father Captain Suresh wants her to get married to Ratan (Pran) who is the son of Captain Suresh's close friend. Malati (Nirupa Roy) works as a house maid at Captain Suresh's house. Her son Amar (Dev Anand) works for Captain Suresh under the guise of a Munimji (Accountant). One day, Captain Suresh comes to know about the dacoit "Kala Ghoda" (Black Horse) coming to loot the village. He calls police. Meanwhile, Roopa happens to meet a young, energetic, handsome boy Raj (Dev Anand) and over a period of time both fall in love with each other. However, what Roopa does not know is that her fiancée Raj is actually Amar (or Munimji). Raj and Roopa go for a jungle ride, where this funny yet beautiful song begins. What happens next in the film? Well, do watch the film "Munimji" which is available on YouTube.

"Munimji" had 9 songs composed by the legendary composer Sachin Dev Burman and penned by the great Sahir Ludhiyanvi and Shailendra. Out of the 9 songs, Lata sang 5 wonderfully melodious solos while Geeta Dutt had 1 solo and 1 duet with Hemant Kumar. Hemant Kumar had 1 solo song "Shivji Bihane Chale Palki Sajayke". We hear a totally different Hemant Kumar in this genre, it is one of my favorite songs on which I will write in detail later. The most popular song of the movie was "Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi" which was sung by the great Kishore Kumar. After hearing this song, you can be sure that no one else other than Kishore da would have made complete justice to the song. It's so mesmerising - everything, the composition, the singing, the shoot and the acting by Dev Anand and Nalini Jaywant - a MUST WATCH.

You can watch the video playlist of all the "Munimji" songs here - "Munimji Songs Video Playlist"

USP of the song being presented today:

1. It's one of the great romantic songs from the pair of Dev Anand and Hemant Kumar. To our surprise, it was only S. D. Burman who dared to cast different singers for Dev Anand. E.g. 

• Kishore Kumar in "Munimji", "Funtoosh", etc. 
• Hemant Kumar in "Solva Saal", "Jaal", etc. 
• Mohammad Rafi in "Guide", "Kaala Bazar", "Tere Ghar Ke Saamane", etc. and 
• Talat Mehmood in "Taxi Driver"

2) If you hear Geeta Dutt's voice in this song, you will feel as if Asha Bhosale is singing. We all know that Asha ji, at the start of career in Hindi films as a singer, was influenced by Lata ji and Geeta ji. Geeta Dutt through her melodious and expressive singing has perfectly echoed the naughty side of the heroin.

3) The third singer - who attempts to sing - is perhaps Pran himself; however not sure since there is no information available on the internet about it.

4) Just observe Pran's acting in this song particularly the first two minutes - simply marvelous. He is asked to sing and dance - which are not his forte - however due to his love for the lady, he attempts both reluctantly. All the helpless emotions are demoed so aptly by Pran, hats off to him. You cannot stop yourself from laughing at him. 

Enjoy the song (video just above this English version). Hope you will like it. Appreciate if you can leave a comment and spread the word. Thank you.

अनमोल रतन - 14: The shortest Hindi film song ever

Namaskaar Friends,

Very happy to share the next song in the अनमोल रतन series. Shortest Blog for the Shortest song. 😊Hope you will like it.

The English version of the blog will follow the Marathi version below.

Song #14: अभी तो मैं जवान हूँ (Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon)

Photo Courtesy: Saavn.com

Film: Afsana (1951)

Director: B. R. Chopra

Cast: Ashok Kumar, Veena, Pran, Jeevan, Kuldeep Kaur, Cuckoo, Baby Tabassum

Lyrics: Ghafil Harnalvi

Composer: Husnalal Bhagatram

Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

हिंदी चित्रपट बोलायला लागल्यापासून संगीत हे त्याचे एक प्रमुख अंग बनले होते/आहे. बहुतांश चित्रपटातील गाणी ही साधारण ३-४ मिनिटांची असत. काही गाणी तर ८-१० मिनिटांची पण असत. सुरुवातीच्या काळातील म्हणजे १९३० आणि १९४०च्या दशकातील प्रत्येक चित्रपटात जवळपास ८-१० गाणी सहज असत. पण एकापेक्षा एक प्रतिभावान अशा गीतकार, संगीतकार आणि गायक-गायिकांनी मिळून या गाण्यांचा जो खजिना आपल्याला दिला आहे त्यामुळे ती गाणी कंटाळवाणी कधी झाली नाहीत. आजही १९४०, १९५० आणि १९६० च्या दशकातील गाणी रसिकांना ऐकावीशी वाटतात यातच त्या गाण्यांचे यश दिसून येते. 

थोडेसे चित्रपटाविषयी: 

"अफसाना" हा चित्रपट प्रसिद्ध दिग्दर्शक B. R. चोप्रा यांनी निर्मित व दिग्दर्शित केला आहे. रतन आणि चमन (दोन्ही भूमिकांत अशोककुमार) हे जुळे भाऊ. त्यांची मैत्रीण मीरा (वीणा - ही पुढे आपल्या करारी आणि खलनायकी भूमिकांसाठी प्रसिद्ध झाली) आहे. रतन आणि मीरा लहानपणापासून एकमेकांना आवडतात. रतन हा साधा, सरळ असतो, तर चमन बदमाश. एकदा सर्वजण जत्रेला गेलेले असताना खूप मोट्ठे वादळ येते व त्यात रतन हरवतो. मीराला (बालपणीची मीरा बेबी तबस्सुमने ठसक्यात रंगवली आहे) धक्का बसतो, पण ती त्याची वाट पाहायची ठरवते. चमनचेही मीरावर प्रेम असते, पण मीरा रतनशिवाय दुसऱ्या कोणाचाही विचार करत नाही. खूप काळ लोटतो. तिघेही मोठे होतात. चमनचा स्वतःचा उद्योग असतो, त्याचा सहकारी चटपट (जीवन) आणि त्याच्यावर प्रेम करणारी रसिलीबाई (कक्कू). वादळातून वाचलेला रतन एका अनाथाश्रमात अशोक म्हणून मोठा होतो व न्यायाधीश बनतो. अशोकचा मित्र मोहन (प्राण) आणि पत्नी लीलादेवी (कुलदीप कौर) हे खलनायक व खलनायिकेच्या भूमिकेत आहेत. पुढे काय होते यासाठी चित्रपट बघायलाच हवा.

पं. हुस्नलाल-भगतराम यांचे अप्रतिम संगीत असलेल्या "अफसाना" चित्रपटातील काही भावमधुर गीते:

१) वो पास भी रहकर पास नहीं - लता मंगेशकर - गीतकार असद भोपाली - MUST WATCH 

२) वो आए बहारें लाए बजी शहनाई - लता मंगेशकर - गीतकार असद भोपाली

३) किस्मत बिगड़ी दुनिया बदली - मुकेश - गीतकार असद भोपाली - MUST WATCH

४) दुनिया एक कहानी रे भैय्या - मोहम्मद रफ़ी - गीतकार सरस्वती कुमार "दीपक"

५) आज कुछ ऐसी चोट लगी है - लता मंगेशकर - गीतकार असद भोपाली

आज जे गाणे सादर करत आहे त्या गाण्याची काही वैशिष्ट्ये खालीलप्रमाणे:

१) हे गाणे हिंदी चित्रपटातले बहुदा लांबीने सर्वात छोटे गाणे असावे - फक्त १ मिनिट आणि २० सेकंद !

२) हे गाणे दोन खलनायकांवर चित्रित झाले आहे - प्राण आणि कुलदीप कौर 

३) हे गाणे पडद्यावर प्रत्यक्षात पार्श्वगीत म्हणून वाजते - कोणीही म्हणत नाही

४) हिंदी चित्रपटातील सर्वश्रेष्ठ खलनायक असं ज्याच्याबद्दल म्हटलं जातं तो प्राण या गाण्यात खलनायिकेबरोबर चक्क पाश्चिमात्य पद्धतीने नाचताना दिसतोय!

५) रेडिओ सिलोनवरच्या एका कार्यक्रमाची सुरुवात अनेक वर्षे या गाण्याच्या सुरावटीने व्हायची 

गाण्याची सुरुवात होते एका लयबद्ध सुरावटीने. व्हायोलिन, तालवाद्य आणि पाठीमागे वाजणारी बासरी या मोजक्या वाद्यांनीशी संगीतकार पं. हुस्नलाल-भगतराम यांनी ही अप्रतिम चाल बांधली आहे. मी एका वेगळ्या ब्लॉगमध्ये पं. हुस्नलाल-भगतराम यांच्या सांगीतिक कारकिर्दीचा सविस्तर आढावा घेतला आहे तो इथे वाचता येईल.

१९५१ सालातील लताजींचा अत्यंत कोवळा पण तितकाच गोड आवाज या गाण्याला अजरामर करून गेला आहे. आपण या गाण्याचा जरूर आनंद घ्या.

 
गाणे आवडल्यास तुमची प्रतिक्रिया नक्की द्या. धन्यवाद.

Hello Friends,

Since the Hindi films went vocal, music has been their integral part. We have been enthralled by songs written, composed and sung by many great artists. During 1930's and 1940's, a lot of films had almost 8-10 songs in it, with each song lasting for 3-4 minutes. Some songs used to be very long ~8-10 min. duration. However such was the genius of those artists that the audience just loved all the songs. Many films we hear were popular only because of its wonderful songs.

Brief about the film:

"Afsana" was produced and directed by B. R. Chopra in 1951. Ratan, Chaman (both played by Ashok Kumar) and Meera (Veena - who was later known for her vamp roles) are childhood friends. While Ratan is an innocent and simple boy, Chaman is naughty and crafty. Meera loves Ratan while Chaman loves Meera, however she ignores him. One fine day, all go to a Mela and are caught in a huge storm. Ratan goes missing. Meera is shocked but decides to wait for Ratan. After few years, all grew up. Ratan survives the storm but lands in an orphanage and grows up as Ashok - the Judge. Chaman and his assistant Chatpat (Jeevan) run a business. Mohan (Pran) is Ashok's friend and Leelabai (Kuldeep Kaur) is Ashok's wife. Watch the film to understand what happens to Ratan/Ashok, Meera, Mohan and Chaman.

Few wonderful songs from the film "Afsana" composed by the legendary Pt. Husnalal-Bhagatram

१) Woh Paas Bhi Rahkar Paas Nahin - Lata Mangeshkar - Lyricist Asad Bhopali - MUST WATCH 

२) Woh Aaye Baharein Laye Baji Shahnai - Lata Mangeshkar - Lyricist Asad Bhopali

३) Qismat Bigadi Duniya Badali - Mukesh - Lyricist Asad Bhopali - MUST WATCH

४) Duniya Ek Kahani Re Bhaiyya - Mohammad Rafi - Lyricist Saraswati Kumar "Deepak"

५) Aaj Kuchh Aisi Chot Lagi Hai - Lata Mangeshkar - Lyricist Asad Bhopali

USP of the song being presented today:

1) This is perhaps the shortest song ever in Hindi films - total duration only 1 min and 20 seconds!

2) Picturized on 2 villains - Pran and Kuldeep Kaur

3) The song is played in the background, no one sings on the screen

4) Pran - who was termed as the greatest ever Villain of the Hindi film industry - is seen to be doing a Western style dance with his partner

5) The tune of this song used to be played at the start of a very famous programme on Radio Ceylon

As the song starts, you will hear beautiful piece of Violin supported by Tabla and Flute in the background. The composer Pt. Husnalal-Bhagatram has composed this extra-ordinary song with very few instruments. I have previously written in detail about Pt. Husnalal-Bhagatram, you can read it here.

 
Lata's young but sharp voice has taken this song to another level. Please enjoy the video given just above this English version of the blog.

Hope you will like it. Appreciate if you can leave a comment or two. Thanks.

गाए लता, गाए लता - Part 3 (non-Hindi)

Namaskaar. Thank you so much for appreciating the last 2 parts of "गाए लता, गाए लता" - my tribute to the legendary Lata Mangeshkar. In case you have missed to visit it, here are the links - गाए लता, गाए लता - Part 1 (Solo) and गाए लता, गाए लता - Part 2 (Duets).

This is the last part in the 3-part series in which I will cover Lata's songs in the Indian languages other than Hindi. I am going to present 13 of her best solo non-Hindi songs below - 5 Marathi, 3 Bengali and 1 each in Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. Hope you will like these too. Please do leave a comment on the blog itself. Thank you again.

1) (আকাশ প্রদীপ জ্বলে) Akash Prodip Jole - Bengali Non-film (1956), Lyrics: Pabitra Mitra, Composer: Satinath Mukherjee

Apparently, this is Lata's first Bengali song! (or was it "Prem ekbari esechilo nirobe" composed by Hemant Kumar? I am not sure though) Lata sang over 200 songs in Bengali. According to Snehasis Chatterjee who has compiled 13 volumes of Lata Geetkosh, this number is 296! All of my Bengali friends have confirmed that Lata's pronunciation of Bengali words was 100% perfect, if you don't know her name, you may not be able to tell whether she was a Bengali or not, such was the perfection. In his article "Nightingale's tryst with Bengali music", the famous writer Ranjan Dasgupta recollects his conversation with Lata Mangeshkar, and I quote below a sentence from his above-mentioned article:

"She (Lata Mangeshkar) had once said,”My best Bengali songs are composed by Satinath Mukhopadhyay, Salil Chowdhury, and Hemant da (Hemanta Mukherjee). ‘Akash Pradip Jole’, ‘Saat Bhai Champa’, and ‘Jabar Bela’ are some of my best numbers.”"

You won't believe but my list of Lata's Bengali songs that I had compiled for this blog had all three songs mentioned above but had to leave out the last one due to the limit on no. of songs I would like to present.

While listening to Lata's Bengali songs, you may wonder which is sweeter - Lata's voice or Bengali language? I would say both complement each other to produce the real magic for the listeners. Enjoy the song. 

2) (আশার শ্রাবণ মানে না তো মন) Asharh Sraban Mane Na To Mon from Bengali film "Monihar" (1966), Lyrics: Mukul Dutt, Composer: Hemanta Mukherjee aka Hemant Kumar

Directed by Salil Sen, "Monihar" is a typical love triangle between elder brother Ajay (Soumitra Chatterjee), younger brother Arun (Biswajit Chatterjee) and Bandana (Sandhya Roy). Soumitra Chatterjee was to Bengali cinema what Amitabh Bachchan is to Hindi cinema. Excellent music by Hemant da, the movie had 11 songs out of which Lata sang 4 solo and 1 duet, all great songs. This particular song starts with a lambi taan of 17 seconds. Anyone who claims to be a good singer must try this lambi taan before staking the claim. Sitar and Tabla are major accompanying instruments in the composition as well as on screen.

3) (সাত ভাই চম্পা জাগোরে) Saat Bhai Champa Jagore - Bengali Non-film, Lyrics: Salil Chowdhury, Composer: Salil Chowdhury

This song is yet another sweet Bengali gem. It is one of the most popular songs till date. The composition looks modern (compared to Rabindra Sangeet) however it is still a classical based song. The tune is catchy, excellent use of Accordion, Violin and Tabla. The beat, if slowed down a little, would match the beat of the songs played in Garba - that's my thought, I may be wrong though.  You will love the fast rhythm and the happy mood the song creates. Here is an interesting thing - there is short 2 min. video of Pt. Ajay and Kaushiki Chakrabarti singing this song in one of the programmes that was telecast live on Akash TV many years back. You can watch it here - Pt. Ajay and Kaushiki Chakrabarti version. Enjoy the original song below.

4) (জোনাকাৰে ৰতি) Jonakare Rati from Assamese film "Era Bator Sur" (1956), Lyrics: Bhupen Hazarika, Composer: Bhupen Hazarika

Typical Assamese sweet song. It starts with humming in a haunting voice which was Lata's strength. We have witnessed many of her haunting melodies composed by Hemant Kumar such as "Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil", "Jhoom Jhoom Dhalti Raat", "Gumnam Hai Koi", "Mera Saaya Saath Hoga", etc. This song is no different. Great voice control. Use of Shehnai, Flute, Dholak and Cymbals is very soothing to ears. Hope you will like the song.

5) (ಬೆಳ್ಳನೆ ಬೆಳಗಾಯಿತು) Bellane Belagaayithu from Kannada film "Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna" (1967), Lyrics: Pundalika Dhuttharagi, Composer: Lakshman Berlekar

This song reminds me of extremely melodious songs from old Marathi films from 1950's. Typical set up of a village house, a fresh looking Gruhini (housewife) sweeping the courtyard, sprinkling the water thus creating a very pious environment. This song is apparently Lata's first Kannada song, the composition is inspired by the famous Hindi song "Jyoti Kalash Chhalke" composed by Sudhir Phadke for the film "Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan" (1961). Please listen to the very sweet Taan on the word "Chaluvaa..". The Thehrav of the song is amazing. Enjoy the song.

6) (માઝમ રાતે) Majham Raate - Gujarati Non-film, Lyrics: Venibhai Purohit, Composer: Purushottam Upadhyay

We have so far covered Lata's Bengali, Assamese and Kannada songs. Singing in a particular language requires the singer to adapt to the peculiarity of that culture, language and composition. And Lata has done so beautifully that you don't doubt if she belongs to that region/language. Even for this Gujarati song, listen to the typical Gujarati folk music that she has adapted to so well. Without the God's gift and her own efforts this would not have been possible, it's surely not as easy as she makes us to believe! Hope you like the song.

7) (నిదురపోరా తమ్ముడా) Nidurapora Thammuda from the Telugu film "Santhanam" (1955), Lyrics: Anisetti Subba Rao, Composer: Susarla Dakshinamurthy

This is the first of the few Telugu songs that Lata Mangeshkar recorded in her entire singing career. It is a soul-stirring lullaby a young girl is singing to make her younger brother sleep. Lata ji has given the meaningful lyrics an eternal life through her extraordinary rendition. This song is very popular till date amongst the Telugu speaking audience. 

8) (எந்தன் கண்ணாளன்) Enthan Kannaalan from the Tamil film "Vaana Ratham" (1956), Lyrics: Kambadasan, Composer: Naushad

"Udan Khatola" (1955) was an extremely popular Hindi film starring Dilip Kumar and Nimmi. It had some wonderful songs by Lata and Rafi, composed by the legendary composer Naushad. The film was dubbed in Tamil and released in 1956 as "Vaana Ratham". All the compositions from Hindi were reused in Tamil with the Tamil lyrics by Kambadasan. There is a good blog by Sriram V comparing the two films - Hindi and Tamil, in which he interestingly calls Lata's pronunciation of Tamil words as "abysmal" as P. Susheela's Hindi pronunciation!! The blog also gives links to all Hindi and Tamil songs from these 2 films. Anyways, let's just enjoy young Lata's voice and mastery once again. The creator of the following video has mentioned that he has mixed the video of Hindi film with the audio of Tamil song, so it is not synchronized, nevertheless, it is still very pleasing to ears.

Now, I am going to present last 5 songs from my mother tongue - Marathi. I normally listen to old Hindi songs, so Marathi songs is not my forte; however, these 5 songs have remained with me since my childhood, they all are real gems, very high in quality of music and delivery, by a team of extremely intelligent and talented artists. 

9) (ये जवळी घे जवळी) Ye Javali Ghe Javali from the Marathi fillm "Manasala Pankh Astat" (1961), Lyrics: V. S. Khandekar, Composer: Meena Mangeshkar (Khadikar)

The first one is a song composed by Lata's younger and talented sister Meena Mangeshkar-Khadikar. It was penned by the Jnanapeeth Award winner author Padma Bhushan Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar. The song depicts the feelings of an island who is alone in the huge sea around it. The island represents the downtrodden people in the society while the sea represents the well settled society. The original movie song can be watched here since it is not available to play outside YouTube. Given below is the video which is the reproduction of the same song by Lata ji during her rare program on Mumbai Doordarshan. It is always a great pleasure to see the legendary singers perform live. Whenever I have watched Lata Mangeshkar sing live, one thing that is prominently noticed is that there are zero or very minimal hand movements. Ordinary singers use their hand movements to assist their singing, but great singers do it through their vocal cords only! Also, do not miss Lataji's beautiful smile at 01:40 in the song. :-)

10) (अखेरचा हा तुला दंडवत) Akheracha Haa Tulaa Dandavat from the Marathi film "Maratha Tituka Melvava" (1964), Lyrics: Kavi Yogesh (Bhalaji Pendharkar), Composer: Anandghan (Lata Mangeshkar)

What is unique about this song is that it is penned by one of the greatest directors of Marathi movies - Bhalji Pendharkar, and is composed by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar herself under the name Anandghan (आनंदघन). The film is based on the Chhatrapati Shivaji era and highlights the contributions of common people towards the Swarajya movement spearheaded by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The song is picturized in the hilly areas and hence the composer has very intelligently used the echo in the song. Lataji's voice adds to the beauty of the song which was picturized on Jeevankala.

11) (नीज माझ्या नंदलाला) Neej Mazya Nandlala - Marathi Non-film (1970), Lyrics: Mangesh Padgavkar, Composer: Shriniwas Khale

One of the greatest lullaby's of all times. What a divine and extremely difficult composition by Khale saheb and rendered equally beautifully by Lata ji. One thing that strikes you in this song is the ठहराव of the composition. Khale saheb was such a genius, that in many of his songs, it is very difficult for the singer to keep pace with the लय and ताल. Enjoy this gem.

 

12) (तुम्ही रे दोन, दोनच माणसं) Tumhi Re Don Donach Manas from the Marathi film "Chaani" (1977), Lyrics: Aarati Prabhu, Composer: Hridaynath Mangeshkar

The famous director V. Shantaram had earlier worked with Prabhat Film Company, however, later formed his own film company viz. Rajkamal Kala Mandir. This particular film was produced by V. Shantaram himself. It was an extremely bold movie in those times. The story was about the hardship faced by the child born out of a wedlock between an Adivasi girl and a foreigner. Pt. Hridaynath Mangeshkar, as a composer, has done brilliant work in this film. The song has a different rhythm and beat than the normal songs, and the instruments seen on the screen are the same which are used to create the background music of the song. By 1977, Lataji's voice quality was no longer the same as was in early 1950's, and understandably so. Yet, she creates the magic by literally playing with the beat and the rhythm. Apart from this song, I also like the other one in the film viz. To Ek Rajaputra. Hope you will enjoy the song.

13) (मज सांग लक्ष्मणा जाऊ कुठे) Maj Saang Laxmana Jaau Kuthe - Marathi Non-film (Geet Ramayan) (1955), Lyrics: G. D. Madgulkar, Composer: Sudhir Phadke

Shriniwas Khale, Hridaynath Mangeshkar and Sudhir Phadke are the 3 composers without whom the Marathi music - be it film or non-film - is incomplete. The reason to add this song is that the songs from the famous Geet Ramayan (a collection of 55 songs depicting the entire story of the epic Ramayana) were originally sung by various singers; however, later when records/cassettes were published, all songs were sung by the composer Sudhir Phadke himself which were equally popular. Aakashvani have been playing original song recordings every year from the Ram Navmi day for next 10 days. Out of 55 songs, Lata had sung only one song, hence was tempted to include it as the last song in the series. It's a sad song, Lata, through her voice, has portrayed extreme pain and anguish that Seeta goes through when she was left in the jungle by Lakshman on the order from Ram. Hope you will like the song.

Thus, I conclude my tribute to the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. Her songs will continue to be with us in every moment of our lives, her memories will be cherished always, and we will remain indebted to her till the end of our lives for the sheer pleasure she has given to us through her masterly songs. 

It's been a very emotional yet very fulfilling journey personally for me for last 2 weeks. Thank you for being with me in this journey. Please leave a comment in the blog and share further if you have liked it. Namaste.