Urge to Fly

Lata –Voice of The Golden Era

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:51:00 +0530

When I first heard about a new book on Lata Mangeshkar, I wasn’t too excited. Enough is already known about the legendary singer, and there are still a lot of mysteries, which have little chance of getting unraveled given the stoic silence the lady maintains about certain controversial aspects of her life. If one wants a hagiographic account of her life, there is always Harish Bhimani’s In Search of Lata Mangeshkar to turn to. For controversial events, malicious rumors and tons of information thrown randomly (and written in the most convoluted and reader unfriendly style), there is Raju Bharatan’s biography and several articles he has written over the decades. For the statistically inclined, there is Vishwas Nerurkar’s Gandhar Swaryatra. There is no better book than Ajatshatru’s Baba Teri Son Chiraiya for a detailed analysis of some of Lata Mangeshkar’s rarest of songs. And if you wanted to hear some thing from the horse’s mouth, Nasreen Munni Kabeer’s documentary and a subsequent book Lata- In Her Own Voice had already covered that.

So what new insights could this book offer? ?

Prior to the release of the book, the author – Dr. Mandar V. Bichu – started a group on Facebook where he uploaded the scanned contents of the books… and my interest was piqued. I hadn’t seen an account of Lata’s collaboration with all major composers at one place before. I knew of a similar book by the same author, but since that was in Marathi I could never have read…

Lata Mangeshkar sings for C. Ramchandra - Part 2

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:43:00 +0530

“Lata and C. Ramchandra’s musical partnership in that heady early 50s era was simply different! Then the singer and the composer seemed so completely in tune with each other – musically and emotionally”

(Quoted from Lata – Voice of the Golden Era by Dr. Mandar V. Bichu)

Having talked about the first 5 years of Lata Mangeshkar’s association with C. Ramchandra, I now move to 1953, a year that produced one of the finest Hindi film soundtracks of all time – Anarkali. C. Ramchandra was first signed on for the film, then it is believed to have gone to Hemant Kumar, then to Basant Praskash, and finally back to C. Ramchandra. By the time C. Ramchandra came in again, Basant Prakash has already recorded a lovely Geeta Dutt solo – Aa Jaane-e-Wafa. There is also a story that when C. Ramchandra came on board he wanted the Geeta Dutt solo to be removed from the film. The producer, however, insisted on retaining that song. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this story, but it is clear that by now there was a special bonding between Lata and C. Ramchandra, and the composer could rarely think beyond his muse while composing.

Every song from Anarkali is a beauty. Here are two songs – one the most popular, and the other, a song where Lata sings for an inebriated heroine.

Ye Zindagi Usi Ki Hai (Anarkali, 1953, Rajinder Krishan)

Mohabbat Mein Aise Qadam Dagmagaye (Anarkali, 1953, Rajinder Krishan)

If Anarkali was the…

Lata Mangeshkar sings for C. Ramchandra - Part 1

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 20:36:00 +0530

In 1947, when Lata Mangeshkar was still in the very early phase of her playback singing career, Ramchandra Chitalkar was one of the first music composers to have reposed his faith in her abilities. He assigned Lata to sing a group song along with Geeta Roy and himself in the film Shehnai (1947).

Jawani Ki Rail Chali Jaye – with Chitalkar & Geeta Roy (Shehnai, 1947, Pyare Lal Santoshi)

This marked the beginning a partnership that would result in countless melodies over the next few years15-20 years. In her exceptionally long career, Lata has forged some memorable partnerships with a number of music directors to give us some of the most enduring and mellifluous songs in Hindi films, but in my mind the Lata-C. Ramchandra combination ranks right among the top, especially when we look at both quality and quantity.

After Shehnai in 1947, C. Ramchandra gave a few more songs to Lata in the subsequent year, but most of them were either duets or group songs in films like Khidki and Nadiya Ke Paar. It wasn’t until 1949 that Lata sang her first solo composition by C. Ramchandra. Namoona (1949) had a variety of Lata songs ranging from the folksy fun song, Mhari Gali Ma Aawjo, to the melancholic Ek Thes Lagi to an unusual mujra – Aji Sambhal Ke Aana.

Mhari Gali Ma Aawjo (Namoona, 1949, Pyare Lal Santoshi)

Patanga was a big musical hot of 1949. While Shamshad Begum was the main singer in this soundtrack, CR gave…

Lata Mangeshkar & Shamshad Begum - Melodious Partnership

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0530

This article was originally written for the newly launched website on Shamshad Begum. It is available at this link.

The Year – 1948. Three ladies are brought together by legendary C. Ramchandra to record the female version of a qawwali - a reigning superstar, a moderately successful singer and an upcoming singing sensation. The film – Khidki and the song – Khushiyan Manayen Kyun Na Hum. This was the probably the first time that Shamshad Begum shared the microphone with Lata Mangeshkar. Given the stature of the three singers at that time, Shamshad Begum was the lead singer, and Lata Mangeshkar and Mohantara Talpade merely supporting singers. As the ladies, in their own way, belted out the catchy refrain of Da Da Da Da, the stage was set for two eras to collide.

Over the next couple of years Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar were brought together several times by composers such as C. Ramchandra, Husnlal Bhagatram, Chitragupta, Ghulam Mohammed and most importantly Naushad, to create some timeless melodies that still sound as fresh as they did when they were created.

In terms of numbers, Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar have not sung very many songs together. Out of the 27 songs for which they shared the microphone, perhaps the most well-known song is Dar Na Mohabbat Kar Le from Naushad’s Andaz (1949). Everyone knows that 1949s was the watershed year in the career of Lata Mangeshkar as she saw a meteoric rise to emerge as someone who would dominate the…

Lata Mangeshkar sings for Kalyanji Anandji Part 2

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:45:00 +0530

Continuing with my earlier post on the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Kalyanji Anandji, I would talk about some of the songs from the late 60s till the 80s.

In 1968, Kalyanji Anandji came up with a soundtrack that surely ranks among their very best. Saraswati Chandra, based on an eponymous Gujarati novel, had some great songs, sung mostly by Lata and Mukesh. Lata’s Chhod De Saari Duniya is a deeply philosophical song penned brilliantly by Indeevar. Indeevar went on to form a very strong partnership with KA in the following years.

Chhod De Saari Duniya – Saraswati Chandra (1968, Indeevar)

One of my favorite Lata-KA songs (if not the favorite) was released the following year in 1969. The melody in this song from Vishwas is so strong that once I start listening to this song, I just can’t stop.

Aaj Ki Raat Sajan Man Chahe – Vishwas (1969, Gulshan Bawara)

In terms of popularity, 70s was the peak period for Kalyanji Anandji. Together with R D Burman and Laxmikant Pyarelal they formed a triumvirate that dominated the Hindi filmdom during the decade. Personally, I don’t care much for most of Kalyanji Anandji’s output during this period, especially post 1975.

In 1970, Lata Mangeshkar sang for Kalyanji Anandji in as many as 13 films, the highest among all music directors (except Laxmikant Pyarelal for whom Lata sang for 13 films as well). Their Collaboration during this year resulted in many good songs.

Tere Naina Kyon Bhar Aaye – Geet (1970,…

Lata Mangeshkar sings for Kalyanji Anandji Part 1

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:08:00 +0530

It’s been more than 6 months since I wrote anything. I wouldn’t get into the reasons for that, but I found this to be an opportune moment to resume my series on songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar for various music director. After writing about Lata Mangeshkar’s collaboration with Laxmikant Pyarelal, Shankar Jaikishan and R D Burman, the next post was to be on Kalyanji Anandji. What better time to write that post than on the occasion of Kalyanji Virji Shah’s birth anniversary.

Whenever I think of Lata Mangeshkar’s tuning with the various music directors, Kalyanji Anandji is certainly not the name that comes easily. But the fact that she has sung almost 300 songs for the duo cannot be ignored. If one carefully sifts through their joint output, there are definitely some gems that come up. Just that most of them do not stand tall against the masterpieces Lata Mangeshkar’s collaboration with some of the other music directors has produced.

Although the Shah brothers have worked together right from the beginning, in some of the earlier films, only the elder brother – Kalyanji Virji Shah – got the main credit. It was from their fourth or fifth together that the Kalyanji Anandji duo was ‘officially’ credited as music director.

One such film where Kalyanji Virji Shah was the official music director was Post Box 999 (1958). In that film there was song of a type that is usually not associated with Lata Mangeshkar, at least not at that time – a…

Meena Kumari & Geeta Dutt - Mirrored Lives

noreply@blogspirit.com (Khwaahish-e-Parwaaz) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:01:00 +0530

I had written this post originally on the occasion of Geeta Dutt’s birth anniversary on November 23, for the blog section of geetadutt.com, the only comprehensive site dedicated to this wonderful singer. Here’s the link to the original post.

When it comes to listing the all time great actresses of Hindi cinema, Meena Kumari’s name would surely figure prominently. Known as the Tragedy Queen for her mastery in portraying sad roles, Meena Kumari demonstrated her acting prowess in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s. Born Mahjabeen Bano on August 1, 1932, Meena Kumari’s acting career started as a child artiste in Leatherface in 1939. After a few mythological and fantasy films as an adult, Meena Kumari’s big break came with Baiju Bawara in 1952. The film earned her the first Filmfare Award for Best Actress and established her position as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema.

On watching a teenaged Meena Kumari lip-syncing to barely-out-of-her-teens voice of Geeta Roy in Sri Ganesh Mahima (Shri Krishna Vivah) in 1950, little would anyone in the audience have realized that that the lives of these two remarkable ladies would uncannily mirror each other over the next two decades.

When Geeta Roy sang for Meena Kumari for the first time, she was already a star, while Meena Kumari was just managing to gain a foothold as an adult actress. In the beginning, Meena Kumari did a lot of mythological films like Veer Ghatotkach, Shri Ganesh Mahima, Hanuman Patal Vijay, where…