Sardar Malik was not counted among the top five composers, which place was occupied by Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, C Ramchandra, OP Nayyar and SD Burman. He would not be counted among the top dozen, some people might have difficulty in including his name even in the top twenty music directors of the Golden Era. Google search of his name intriguingly takes you to the Wikipedia page of his son Anu Malik, who we all know, has been the most dominant composer of the 1990’s. He has been winner of several Filmfare awards (Sardar Malik won none), judge at reality music shows and quite a prominent figure in the show-biz. I am not sure how many of Anu Malik’s songs would survive a few years from now, but I am sure Saranga teri yaad mein, Ae gham-e-dil kya karun and several more of Sardar Malik’s compositions would remain immortal.
Bits of information collected from here and there indicate he was born in 1925. He learnt music from Ustad Allauddin Khan and was trained as a dancer under the famed Uday Shankar at his residential school at Almora. He was a gifted singer and started getting both singing and composing assignments. Seeing the rise of independent playback singers such as Rafi and Mukesh, he realised he could not match them, and confined himself to music direction, and came over to Bombay. He was married to the sister of Hasrat Jaipuri. His early films Renuka (1947), Raaz (1949) and Stage (1951) did not leave much impact. His first noteworthy film was Laila Majnu (1953), in which he gave music along with Ghulam Mohammad. Talat’s Ae Gham-e-dil kya karun in Thokar (1954) created a sensation, though the film may not have been a great success. Main gharibon ka dil hun watan ki zuban by Hemant Kumar in Aab-e-Hayat (1955) is one of his most memorable songs. Sarangaa (1960) is of course a musical masterpiece, containing several all-time great songs. In spite of his obvious talents he remained consigned to B-grade films. He passed away in 2006; though suffering neglect himself, he must have been a satisfied man at his son’s ‘enormous’ success.
Here are some of Sardar Malik’s unforgettable melodies.
1. Saranga teri yaad mein by Mukesh in Sarangaa (1960), lyrics Bharat Vyas
I have not seen any compilation of the best Mukesh songs without this song near the top. It is picturised on a perfect B-grade actor Sudesh Kumar. But it does not matter if the melody is so exquisite complementing equally elegant lyrics of Bharat Vyas and the beautiful scenery of the woods and a misty night.
2. Haan diwana hun main by Mukesh in Sarangaa
Creating one Mukesh masterpiece in the face of giants like Anil Biswas, Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan is a tough task, but Sardar Malik creates another Mukesh immortal in the same film.
3. Piya kaise milun tumse by Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar from Saranga (1960)
Sarangaa had a great Mukesh-Lata Mangeshkar duet Laagi tumse lagan sathi chute na, which I have used in another post. This Rafi-Lata duet also is no less beautiful.
4. Baharon ki duniya pukare tu aa ja by Talat Mahmood and Asha Bhosle from Laila Majnu (1953), lyrics Shakeel Badayuni
Laila Majnu had two composers, the other one being Ghulam Mohammad. But it seems, unlike normal duos they composed separate songs in the film. Baharon ki duniya pukare tu aa ja is credited to Sardar Malik. A beautiful Talat-Asha duet.
5. Tere dar pe aya hun fariyd lekar by Talat Mahmood from Laila Majnu
Laila Majnu also had this silky solo by Talat Mahmood credited to Sardar Malik. This was the phase when Shammi Kapoor was not the Shammi Kpoor we know, and we have a number of Talat Mahmood songs picturised on him.
6. Ae gham-e-dil kya karun by Talat Mahmood for Thokar (1953), lyrics Majaz
Majaz was a great but deeply troubled Urdu poet. His anguished ghazal has been made immortal by Talat Mahmood and in equal measure by the composition of Sardar Malik, picturised on a pre-yahoo Shammi Kapoor.
7. Main gharibon ka dil hun watan ki zuban by Hemant Kumar in Aab-e-Hayaat (1955), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
As Premnath straddles through the street of this magical city singing Main jo gata chalun sath mehfil chale, the horde of beautiful damsels cannot help pouring out in the street and balconies, and dancing and singing in chorus. One of my top Hemant Kumar favourites, with one of the best song picturisations.
8. Hui ye humse nadani ki hum teri mehfil me aa baithe by Lata Mangeshkar from Chor Bazar (1954), lyrics Shakel Badayuni
A less known Lata Mangeshkar song, but should compare with the best of Lata during the period. The song has traces of C Ramchandra style.
9. Baharon se poochho mere pyar ko tum by Mukesh and Suman Kalynpur from Mera Ghar Mere Bachche (1960), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
A very pleasant Mukesh-Suman Kalyanpur duet in another B-grade movie.
10. Chanda ke des mein rahti ek rani by Mukesh from Mera Ghar Mere Bachche
Sardar Malik seems to have some special talent for Mukesh. Lullabies are generally sung by mothers. Here he comes up with one of the best lullabies sung by and picturised on a male (Sudesh Kumar).
11. Sun more rasiya sun man basiya by Mukesh and Suman Kalyanpur from Madan Manjari (1961), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
It does not get any sweeter than this. I cannot think of many duets more beautiful than Sun more rasiya sun man basiya, again a from a perfect B-grade film starring unknown actors like Nalini Chonkar and Manhar Desai.
12. Mujhe tumse mohabbat hai magar main kah nahi sakta by Rafi from Bachpan (1963), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
Sardar Malik does a competent job with Rafi as well.
13. Sun chand meri ye dastan by Mukesh from Nag Jyoti (1963), lyrics Bharat Vyas
But with Mukesh, Sardar Malik is in his elements. Another beautiful lyric by Bharat Vyas, composed beautifully by Sardar Malik.
14. Yun na hume dekhiye hum baar baar kahte hain by Rafi and Suman Kalynpur from Jantar Mantar (1964), lyrics Hasrat Jaipuri
I like this song picturised on Mahipal and Vijaya Chaudhry for it shows how the talented, but sidelined composers bestowed great care even in a B-grade film.
15. Aaj ki raat aji hothon ko chup rahne do by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur from Roop Sundari (1964), lyrics Bharat Vyas
Again a B-grade film starring Mahipal and Anita Guha. Any talented person would get frustrated at the unfair film world, so I do not blame Sardar Malik for showing traces of Roshan in this song. But a melodious song nevertheless.
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Lovely songs, AK – and many of them were unknown to me. Other than Abe Hayat and Saranga, I wouldn’t have been able to name any of the other films for which Sardar Malik composed music, but when I listen to some of these songs (like Chanda ke des mein rehti…), I realise I’ve heard the song and liked it, but didn’t know it was Sardar Malik’s.
Another of my favourite songs from Abe Hayat is Ae dil-e-nashad tera shukriya:
I am sure you knew Talat Mahmood songs from Laila Majnu and Thokar. Ae dil-e-nashad tera shukriya is indeed a sweet song. I do not know how Shashikala switched to being a vamp, she looks quite good as the heroine. Aab-e-Hayat has a number of very good Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt songs. It is just that I am not a great fan of them. Hemant Kumar is, of course, in a different class. Main gharibon ka dil, picturised on Premnath is out of this world.
Beautiful post, AK!
It introduced me to so many new songs. I thin except for the Laila Majnu, Nag Jyoti and Saranga songs, all were new for me.
I knew and like hui ye humse nadani ki hum teri mehfil me aa baithe, but didn’t know it was by Sardar Mullick.
One of the lesser known good songs from him sung by Talat:
duniya tasveer hai rote hue insanoon ki from Aulad (1954)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OStt5y9unA
Thanks a lot Harvey. Thanks for introducing me to Duniya tasweer hai. Sardar Malik seemed to have special talent for Talat Mahmood as well as Mukesh.
Let me echo the words of dustedoff – many songs in this post are new to me, and the familiar ones were not associated with Sardar Malik’s name in my mind, with the sole exception of Saranga teri yaad mein. Piya kaise milun tumse and Aaj ki raat are real gems. I don’t know whether Sardar Malik consciously tried to copy Roshan’s style in the last song. Roshan has done such a complete job of exploring all moods of Yaman that any good song in Yaman sounds like Roshan. I guess Saranga teri yaad mein would also sound like Roshan if we didn’t already know that it was Sardar Malik.
His compositions in general are so original that I do not think Sardar Malik consciously tried to copy the style of Roshan. I think styles could be related to periods. For example you could locate a song accurately in a five year band. When I observed about Hui ye tumse nadani that it sounds like C Ramchandra, again I would relate it to the dominant style of the period. Early 50′s several Madan Mohan compositions for Lata Mangeshkar also sound like C Ramchandra.
Your observation about Roshan and Yaman is quite interesting. But what about Bhairvi – Laga chunri me daag, Phool gendwa na maro? I think whatever Raga he chose Roshan was outstanding.
If Saranga Teri Yaad Mein – In mukesh’s voice – is benchmarked as signature tune of Sardar Malik, then this piece in Rafi’s silken voice -http://youtu.be/gAjqt5YgcSU – in Rafi’s voice can be stipulated as the mark of creatve genius of Sardar saheb.
I have not been able to come across the reason behind recording this peice in Rafi’s voice. Not that it mattered till I started vsisting this blog.
I now take this opportunity to seek help of the steemed readers of this blog to help in hinding out why Rafi.
I find Rafi version of Saranga teri yaad mein available on YouTube is not a full song, but only a small piece, more as a recital of about 1 minute. I am not sure if there was a full song in the movie. At least I have never heard this song on the radio, and before the internet era I would not have been aware of its existence. I do not know what was the reason for having a small piece in Rafi voice, but whether it is because of conditioning or otherwise, Mukesh version appears out of this world, whereas Rafi version is just a piece of trivia.
Saranga teri yaad mein by Rafi
Wonderful pick of songs. In the mid seventies, in the Engineering Students Club of the then University of Roorkee ( now IIT Roorkee) , Saaranga teri yaad mein was one of the most played number. Besides Mukesh , other singer who was favourite of the club lounge was inimitable Hemant kumar with his “aji nazron se kahdo ji nishaanaa chook naa jaaye ” and ” yeh raat bheegee bheegee , yeh mast fizayen” and so many more. Later we learnt that in Hemant Kumar , loss of Electrical Engineering was a gain of the music world.Thanks AK for telling us so much about these beautiful songs.
I love Talat’s ae mere dil kya karoon; I’m not a very great fan of Saranga teri yaad mein though I agree that it is a very beautiful song.
I must confess to preferring Haan deewana hoon main from the same film.
One of my favourite Geeta Dutt songs is a Sardar Malik composition; the song is from an obscure film called Maa ke Aansoo:
Aja re sanam main to nachu chhama chham
And this is from the lesser-known Mangeshkar sister: Film (Rani Padmini)
More roothe balam ghar a by Usha Mangeshkar from Rani Padmini
AK, are you sure Talat Mehmood’s Tere day pe aaya hoon was from Laila Majnu? I know that ghazal was used in the later version which starred Rishi Kapoor, but the Shammi Kapoor starrer had Nutan as Laila. The clip you have also identifies the song as from Chor Bazaar.
ps: Here’s the clip from Saranga that has Rafi’s recitation:
Thanks a lot Anu Warrier for adding some new songs of Sardar Malik.
As for Tere dar pe aya hun Hindi Film Geet Kosh mentions that it was recorded for Laila Majnu, but later it was used for Chor Bazar. HFGK lists the song under both the films. Incidentally Shammi Kapoor was the hero of both the films. But since it was actually used in the later film, you are right, it is more accurate to ascribe it to Chor Bazar. Thanks for pointing this out.
PS: You are the first person I have come across who says that she is not a great fan of Saranga teri yaad mein.
You are the first person I have come across who says that she is not a great fan of Saranga teri yaad mein.
AK, I hope I haven’t blotted my copy book.
I have never liked that song; with all due respect, Mukesh sounded whinier than usual (and I like quite a few of his songs; he sang with a lot of feeling) – or maybe it was a combination of the picturisation and the singing – the pathos descended into bathos for me. Today, it’s a visceral reaction whenever I hear it. (Even knowing that it is a favourite song of a favourite actor doesn’t make me like it! 
)
Don’t worry. I myself do not like many classics one would be embarrassed to admit in decent company.
Just to give you one example: Midnight Cowboy.
It was interesting to know that Rafi’s name was not only considered for the title song SARANGA teri yaad men.. but he actually sang the mukhda also. Ameen Sayani divulged this detail regarding the popular title song from the film SARANGA. Anu Malilk, son of the music director of that film Sardar Malik, told Ameen Sayani that Sardar Malik had decided to get Mukesh sing this song, but producer Dhirubhai wanted to take Rafi as, in his opinion he would be better choice for this song. The mukhda was actually recorded in the voice of Mohammad Rafi. Then Sardar Malik asked Dhirubhai to hear the same song in Mukesh’s voice. Finally, Mukesh got the song and did a splendid job, giving an immortal song.
.
However, the old film songs aficionados would have given anything to get additionally a Rafi version also inserted somewhere in the movie
Even in the small piece sung by Rafi, we find the strong, indelible imprint of the master.
One ceratinly would agree that Mukesh’s version is no doubt rendered very well, but once we hear Rafi’s mukhada one would yearn to wish that Rafi also would have had opportunity to sing the full song.This would have provided us the pleasure of listening to both versions.
Such has been the case with many songs, where two songs were recorded in two different voices and one was finally chosen for the for the soundtrack, but records were available of the version as well.
@Naresh Mankadji, Ashok Vaishnavji
Indeed it would have been interesting to have both the versions of Saranga teri yaad mein. However, there is one song which offers Muesh-Rafi comparison, a duet though. Interestingly the female voices in the two duets are also different. This perhaps must be the only real Twin duet.
Jabse hum tum baharon mein by Mukesh and Kamal Barot from Main Shai Karne Chala, music Chitragupta
Jabse hum tum baharon mein by Mohammad Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur
There is a solo, where Rafi is pitted against another singer. That is the well known Tum bin jaun kahan from Pyar Ka Mausam which has Rafi and Kishore Kumar versions. Coincidentally I think Rafi comes second there too. If you ask me honestly, in Lagta nahi hai ji mera ujade dayar me Rafi’s version is inerior to Habib Wali Mohammad’s. That, of course, does not take away anything from Rafi’ greatness. It is just one of those things in music.
@AK,
I have always liked to listen to these two versions of the duet as it has been very interesting; I have often recommended the song for this element of interest but did not find it readily. Thanks for this delightful feast. Both the versions have their own charm though Rafi is, as usual, graceful with his brand of delicate nuances.
Shri AKji,
Indeed a very opportune moment to bring back the twin version of Jabse Hum Tum.
I would beg to disagree with your opinion on Tum bin jaun kahan. Of course, both versions aim to reflect two entirely different moods. That may not have anything with the way the song is fianlly rendered by the singer. [I am rather a more devout fan of Rafi in comparision to Kishore!]
Lagta Nahin Hai Jee Mera is in a different class altogether.This ghazal has been rendered by several singers+ music directors. Hence, each attempt has had to try a substantially meaningful difference in each rendering. In the process, the music director and / or singer may not be able to full justice to the core music realted aspects. {Again, my own amateurish interpretaion, which obviously has no authoritative basis.}
Interesting write-up on Sardar Malik, although I disagree with your opening paragraph “…the top five composers, which place was occupied by Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, C Ramchandra, OP Nayyar and SD Burman.” C. Ramchandra would be fortunate to figure amongst the top 10 MDs of that time and I doubt most would consider him as top 5 material. Indeed, Madan Mohan or even Ravi would be more deserving of this spot.
Conversely, although this is the only article of yours that I’ve read, you seem to have some inexplicable yet inherent prejudice against Mohammed Rafi. You unconvincingly praise him in places but it is obvious to the casual reader that it is contrived and disingenuous. You’re obviously partial to Mukesh, who no doubt had a unique voice, but to attempt to compare him to Mohammed Rafi is stretching it a little too far. If we take the top MDs of the golden period, i.e. Naushad, Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman, Madan Mohan, Ravi, OP Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Ghulam Mohamed, Laxmikant-Pyarelal et al, you’ll find most would want Mohammed Rafi singing their compositions; not Manna Dey, not Kishore Kumar and definitely not Mukesh!
Dear Sri AK,
One of the best site I could come across for collection of lovely and melodious songs. The comments for each song renders more meaningful to the song itself. The comparison between Kishore and Rafi is fantastic.
Thanks a lot for your very generous compliments. I do hope you are able to see more of Songs of Yore.
Annu malik will have to take 100 rebirths even to be at the footsteps of late Sardar malik Saheb.
I too,am not a fan of saranga teri yaad mein, i prefer piya kaisa milon tumse
But ofcource his best id ay ghame dil kya karoon.
Aki i agree with Ashok Vaishnav about the comparision between rafi and kishore on tum bin jao kahan, rafi’s song is romantic song while kishore’s
Is sad version plus i have read somewhere that kishore’s song was recorded later to improve on rafi’s version and knowing sdb’s love for kishore it makes sense.
Comparing two versions of a song are bizarre. Music is much responsible than the singers. One example upsets me no end. Manna Dey has rightfully said that you would never find Kishore Kumar out of tune. But the way he sang,’ Marne Ki Duyaen kyun Mangu Jeene Ki Tamanna kaun kare’, Habib Wali Mohammed’s version places him light years ahead. If one has to enjoy the neck to neck race one could try,’Aaj jane ki jid na karo,’ sung by Wali and Farida Khanum.
The song “Dil ki baazi jeet ke bhi haare”; sung by Rafi saab (film: Madan Manjari) was one of the best compositions from Sardar Malik.
Heard for the first time. A very good song. Thanks.
For any information regarding “Old Hindi film song”, please feel free to contact me. I am basically a researcher on this subject and also a record collector. I have the collection of almost all the released Hindi film records (gramophone records) from 1940-1990.
Thanks alot. This is very impressive. I shall be in touch with you.
@kaushik maitra..’dil ki baazi’ indeed a nice song !
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