Urge to Fly

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 2000s

2008-05-11T16:10:02+05:30

Finally, I enter into the current decade i.e. the 2000s. Lata Mangeshkar has not sung very many songs in this decade. Between 2000-2007 not more than 35 Lata Mangeshkar songs were released, and I have possibly heard every single one of them. This makes my task much simpler.

If there's anything noteworthy about Lata songs in this decade, it is her collaboration with A R Rahman. Unlike other music directors who for some strange reason continued to make Lata sing romantic songs that just didn't suit her aged voice, Rahman continued to compose songs for her that suited her age (barring one exception).

2000: Two Lata Mangeshkar songs were released this year. The first one was a typical Yash Chopra romantic duet composed by Jatin-Lalit for Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein. In my opinion, Humko Hamise Chura Lo (a duet with Udit Narayan) was the only good song in an otherwise tepid soundtrack.

The other song, which is my pick of the year, was a prayer picturised on Lata Mangeshkar herself in Raj Kumar Santoshi's Pukaar. Though Lata appeared clearly uncomfortable on screen, it worked well in the film because her voice was at least not being forced on 20-somethings. Composed beautifully by A R Rahman and rendered with feeling by Lata Mangeshkar I just love the overall feel of Ek Tu Hi Bharosa. I particularly like the way the composition is structured, starting off with Lata singing a passage with minimal instrumentation, which makes way for a lovely piano piece, which…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1990s

2008-05-04T18:47:28+05:30

After discovering Lata Mangeshkar's early output in the 1940s, literally gushing through the 1950s and 1960s, exploring the 1970s, and all but cursing the 1980s, I turn my attention to her songs in the 1990s. As she moved into the seventh decade of her life immediately after the phenomenal success of Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989, she continues to churn out hits after hits. Her rapidly deteriorating, sub-par voice quality notwithstanding, film producers and composers alike continued to make her sing. After reaching its nadir in the late 80s, there was only one way Hindi film music could go. Up. The quality of compositions started improving and melody made a reluctant return, although some music composers seemed to be in a terrible time warp making Lata sing really atrocious songs where she was made to sing for heroines one third her age and mouth lyrics that just didn't suit her ageing voice. Why she agreed to sing them remains the biggest mystery to me. At the same time, composers like Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Bhupen Hazarika and Vishal Bharadwaj were able to find good use of her degraded tonal quality by composing songs that would suited her. This list of my favourite Lata songs from the 1990s, that I present below, should be looked at from an overall composition point of view rather than the quality of singing, because barring an occasional Lekin, the deterioration of her vocals was a given.

1990: This year had a hang-over of the late 80s. In…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1980s

2008-04-30T11:05:12+05:30

The 80s in my opinion represent the worst decade for Hindi film music. In fact, the worst decade for Hindi films per se. Add to that Lata Mangeshkar's rapidly deteriorating voice quality. Her voice had shown signs of deterioration in the 70s as well, but a few composers like Jaidev, Khaiyyam and Salil Chowdhury composed some outstanding songs for her. 80s were dominated by Laxmikant Pyarelal, whose output ranged from really good to sheer noise (especially in the second half of the decade), R D Burman, who thankfully continued to compose melodious tunes for Lata, and Bappi Lahiri who, in the words of Baradwaj Rangan, "was doing to Hindi film music what the villain usually did to the hero’s younger sister". For some strange reason even in the 80s, most composers continued to make Lata sing at a very high pitch, which was once her forte, but now ended up making her sound shrill. She would have effortlessly sung these compositions a decade or two back, but now seemed to struggle once too often.

Ironically, my obsession with Lata Mangeshkar's voice started in my growing up years in the 80s, when my exposure was mostly to atrocities like Jaate Ho To Jao (Desh Premee, Laxmikant Pyarelal), Mara Thumka (Kranti, Laxmikant Pyarelal), Chal Chameli Baagh Mein (Krodhi, Kalyanji Anandji), Humka Le Chal Yaara (Painter Babu, Uttam Jagdish), Chal Bhag Chalein (Kalyug Aur Ramayan, Kalyanji Anandji), Disco 82 (Khuddar, Rajesh Roshan), etc. It is only now that I call them "atrocities". At…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1970s

2008-05-03T00:30:00+05:30

When I thought about listing down my favourite Lata Mangeshkar songs over the years, I didn't realize it would be such a huge exercise. Although I'm done with the most difficult decades i.e. 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, there are still a lot of good Lata Mangeshkar songs to come. Some people have commented that there's no point is talking about anything beyond the 1960s. Actually, if you really look it, was there any point even in listing the songs till the 60s? Any listing exercise is inherently pointless for the simple reason that every person would have his/her own list that will depend largely on the memories associated with the songs they have heard. If I like one song over the other, it is definitely not a comment on the musical quality of that song. A person with more technical knowledge about music might come up with an entirely different list. My basic intention behind putting together this list was to revisit Lata Mangeshkar's huge repertoire of songs and in the process try to identify songs I like more than the others.

1970s is a relatively easier decade to talk about because it clearly fell behind the preceding decades both in terms of quality and quantity. The music became more orchestral, which is not a bad thing, but the kind of films that were being made (especially in the second half of the decade) did not have much scope for music. Yet, there were a few standout Lata Mangeshkar songs…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1960s

2008-05-03T00:32:03+05:30

Having talked about my favourite Lata Mangeshkar songs from the 1940s and 1950s, it's time to move into the 1960s. I tend to agree with the general opinion that the "golden age" of Hindi Film Music started in the 50s and continued till the 60s. It was in the mid 1950s that Lata Mangeshkar the singer turned into Lata Mangeshkar the superstar, and as we step into the 1960s we find that the superstar achieved a super power status. Her domination of the Hindi Film Music industry was complete. Even though her output in the 1960s was lesser than the previous decades, there was no dearth of musical gems with almost every music director she worked with.

In the 1960s, we also saw a change of guards as far as music composers are concerned. The doyens of the 1950s like Anil Biswas and C. Ramchandra made way for the new generation to take charge as Laxmikant Pyarelal and Rahul Dev Burman made their debuts and set the stage for their domination in the next decade. Shankar Jaikishan were well established and consolidated their position in the early 60s. This period (starting from late 50s) also marked the immense popularity on O P Nayyar's Punjabi influenced, rhythm based music. He has the distinction of being the only composer of note who did not record a single song with Lata Mangeshkar. Naushad had enjoyed the peak of popularity in the 1950s, but continued to hold forth in the 1960s with some popular…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1950s

2008-04-07T10:06:40+05:30

In my last post I had listed my favourite Lata Mangeshkar songs from the 1940s. Now I enter into the 50s. If in the last few years of the 40s Lata Mangeshkar gained foothold into the Hindi film music industry, it was the 50s that she really grew to dominate the industry. From the rawness that was evident in her voice, she quickly mastered the art of playback singing in the 50s under the tutelage of great music composers like Anil Biswas, Naushad, C. Ramchandra and others. There was a distinct change in her tallaffuz, especially when it came to emphasis on key words and clarity of pronunciation. And as the 50s progressed she perfected this art to emerge as the one and only reference point for perfect pronunciation in songs. Of course, she greatly benefited from a whole galaxy of master composers who composed gems after delightful gem for her to vocalize.

So you can imagine what a tough task it was for me to pick one song per year in the 50s. Have a peak at my attempt and see if I have been able to do justice to this onerous task. If you don't, what does it matter? They're personal favourites after all J

All the links below would take you to youtube or other sites where you can listen to these gems.

1950: Lata Mangeshkar sang 152 Hindi film songs this year. I have heard just 50% of these; and this list is quite dominated by…

My Favourite Lata Mangeshkar Songs - 1940s

2008-04-07T10:02:46+05:30

Wo Bhooli Dastaan Lo Phir Yaad Aa Gayi….

Late 80s. College. Rock & Metal. Hindi film music at its nadir. First old Hindi film music cassette. Lata Mangeshkar and Madan Mohan. Heaven!

That sums up how I was drawn to the wonderful world of old Hindi film music. As I outgrew my brief flirtation with rock music (I still go back to it from time to time with a certain nostalgic fondness), I turned to old Hindi film music. The first cassette I bought was picked up quite randomly. It was called "I Remember Madan Mohan" by Lata Mangeshkar. Since then, my obsession with old Hindi film music in general, and Lata Mangeshkar in particular, shows no signs of waning. I have been religiously collecting Lata Mangeshkar songs for many years now and have a collection of around 2400 songs in audio cassettes, CDs and mp3s

A few months back, while cleaning up my database of Lata Mangeshkar songs I started a purely random exercise of picking up my favourite songs from among the 2400+ songs I have in my database. And that led to a list of 1 song per year, which I will be putting on this blog over the next few weeks. Needless to say, this is purely a personal list, with personal predilection and past memories having a huge role to play in the final outcome. This is also based on a database of 2400 songs I have heard, which is probably just a third of…

Race - A Gripping Thriller??????

2008-03-21T21:13:15+05:30


Powered by: Chakpak.com	Race

The official website of Abbas-Mustan's Race calls it a "gripping, multi-star thriller". Now that I have watched the film I'm wondering if I watched the same film. Multi-star, yes. But a gripping thriller? Either I don't understand what a thriller is, or Burmawala brothers have a strange sense of humour. I decided to turn to wikipedia to check how Race stands against the definition of this genre called thriller. So here goes my checklist:

"Thrillers often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas" – Check. Durban, South Africa certainly qualifies as an exotic foreign city.

"The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger" Bravo! Abbas-Mustan must have read this while working with their scriptwriters. The only attempt at character development in Race was to establish that the 'hero' lives on the edge, with a passion for dangerous sports. Well done. Another check.

"In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened" - Check. Race adheres to this as well.

"Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements" - Check.

"A thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain" - Again, check.

I'm sorry, but it seems that I was wrong and Race is indeed a "thriller".

But hang on. Here's the clincher. Wikipedia winds up the characteristics of a thriller with…

Black and White - No Grays

2008-03-08T21:02:45+05:30


Powered by: Chakpak.com	Black & White

ये पेचीदा उलझे से रस्तों की दुनिया
ये वहशत के हाथों शिकस्तों की दुनिया
जहाँ आदमी आदमी से जुदा है
ये कैसी है फ़िरक़ापरस्तों की दुनिया

यहाँ होती दीन-ओ-धरम की हैं बातें
मज़ाहिब के चर्चे करम की हैं बातें
छिड़े जन्ग फिर मज़हबी क्यूँ यहाँ पर
सुनी हम ने ज़ुल्म-ओ-सितम की हैं बातें

मसाइल के यूँ सिलसिले तो बहुत हैं
लिये आफ़तें ज़लज़ले तो बहुत हैं
नहीं चाहिये हम को एक और दीवार
यहाँ दरमियाँ फ़ासले तो बहुत हैं

जले जिस्मों की काहिशों के लिये अब
घरों से उठे आतिशों के लिये अब
बुझा प्यास ऐ अब्र ऐसे बरस तू
तरसते हैं हम बारिशों के लिये अब

I wrote the above lines many years ago, at a time when I just out of college and it was fashionable to be disillusioned about religious intolerance and such matters. Those were the days when religious intolerance manifested itself in terms of localized, small scale communal riots that got erased from public memory as quickly as they emerged. 9/11 hadn't happened then (not even Babri Masjid); and this malaise had not attained such gargantuan proportions at the global level as it does today. In such a scenario, writings like the one above were merely musings of a meandering mind. Today they might seem like topical thoughts.

What has this got to do with Subhash Ghai's Black & White? As I returned home after watching the film, I had this sudden…

Jodhaa-Akbar - Almost a Masterpiece

2008-02-17T07:32:08+05:30


Powered by: Chakpak.com	Jodhaa Akbar

I can understand how Ashutosh Gowarikar conceptualized Jodhaa-Akbar. A love story between two people - a Mughal King and a Rajput princess - whose marriage was purely for political reasons opens up immense possibilities, especially when history books don't talk anything about this. He must've thought that he could build a story about how two individuals separated by culture and religion fall in love after marriage. That is surely an imaginative thought. Only, the basic assumption here is that there was 'love' in that relationship in the first place. From what I have read about Akbar and his roving eye, it is very possible that love didn't even enter the picture. But Ashutosh had made up his mind about creating an 'immortal' love story from this relationship that doesn't get more than two sentences in history books. Fair enough, for that is what creativity is all about.

But how does one go about creating a love story for a man who married multiple times and is believed to have had a harem of more than 300 wives and concubines? Simple. Just ignore these facts. Ignore that Akbar was already married twice before the Rajput princess came into the picture (history books don't call her Jodhaa and even the film starts with a disclaimer...read my earlier posts about the stories told by the guides at Agra). Ignore that Akbar has been described as a "sexual predator", whose "sexual appetite…