Forgotten Composers

Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies: Bipin-Babul/Babul

Bipin-Babul

Who does not remember the songs Baithe hain rahguzar par dil ka diya jalaaye, Naseeb hoga mera meherbaan kabhi na kabhi, Zulfon ki ghata lekar saawan ki pari ayi, Ye phoolon ka gazra ye solah singaar ho, and Humein haal-e-dil tumse kahna hai kahiye? And do we know who composed the music of these songs. And if you know they are composed by Babul or Bipin-Babul duo, hats off to you, but do you know who they are, how they looked like, or anything about them. I don’t, but these songs have been my eternal favourites. These are not vintage songs, but of 1950s and 60s, the period about which the passionate lovers of the golden era of film music presume that they know everything.

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Remembering Ninu Mazumdar – the composer and the singer

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to Ninu Mazumdar on his 21st death anniversary (9 September 1915 – 3 March 2000)

(Ninu Mazumdar is a big name in Gujarati music. Hence we have Ashok M Vaishnav paying a tribute to him with this guest article. He has brought us closer to other stalwarts from Gujarat, such as Avinash Vyas and Dilip Dholakia, who worked actively in Hindi films too. This is in addition to Ashokji’s numerous other guest articles on this blog on many themes.

Ninu Majumdar’s music and songs have been mentioned sometimes on SOY. But not many know that he was also a very melodious singer. Ashokji has done a very extensive research on his career, and in this article he presents songs sung by him under his baton as a music director. Except one, Ayi gori Radhika, all the songs presented here must be new to the readers. This bouquet of songs is a listener’s delight. I thank Ashokji for this excellent article. – AK)

Ninu MazumdarNinu is the family pet name of Niranjan Mazumdar (B: 9-9-1915 | D: 3-3-2000), who has 20 Hindi films to his credit as a music director, 28 Hindi film songs in his own voice, one film each as a lyricist and as a film director. Ninu Mazumdar was born in a community, which was traditionally more literate in those times. His father, Nagendra Mazumdar, was a dramatist and director in the silent film era. Nagendra Mazumdar has also acted in a comedy cameo role in K L Saigal’s classic Tansen (1943). Ninu Mazumdar’s childhood upbringing happened under the guidance of his maternal grandmother at the then Gaikwad princely state Baroda. She herself was a leading social reformist. Here, Ninu Mazumdar got his initial training in classical music under Ustad Faiyaz Khan and Ustad Imam Chili Khan.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies: S Mohinder

Wishing S Mohinder (b. 8 September 1925?) a very happy 92nd birth anniversary (and wishing Asha Bhosle a very happy 84th birth anniversary)

S MohinderGuzra hua zamana aata nahi dubara, hafiz khuda tumhara. This one song is enough to make S Mohinder immortal. But he also composed many more memorable and extremely sweet as well as fast-paced peppy numbers. He is among the music directors who had a wide range in the style of music as well as choice of singers. It is the vagary of the showbiz that a talented composer like him was not counted among the top rung. But some of his songs dominated the airwaves in the programmes on old film music, Guzra hua zamana being an eternal favourite. He was in my list for the series on “Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies”. I would have written on him at leisure. But, despite this year being quite tight in scheduling, I had to do it now in deference to the sincere request made more than once by our passionate reader, KS Bhatia.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (11): Dilip Dholakia

Dilip Dholakia? D. Dilip? Dilip Rai? – A Singer or A Music Director or A Music Arranger?

A tribute to Dilip Dholakia on his 6th death anniversary (15 October 1921 – 2 January 2011) by guest author Ashok M Vaishnav

(Hindi film music attracted talents from different regional languages and musical traditions.  Some, especially from Bengal, achieved great success and, in fact, became known as founding fathers of Hindi film music, such as RC Boral, Pankaj Mullick, Anil Biswas and, later, SD Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chaudhary.  Stalwarts from some other regional languages, such as Gujarati, could not achieve the same success. Dilip Dholakia is one such doyen from Gujarat who in Hindi film music is primarily known as assistant to Chitragupta.  Ashok Vaishnav introduces us to many unknown aspects of this multi-faceted talent.  Earlier, he had written an excellent article on another doyen from Gujarat, Avinash Vyas. This is an important addition in the series on Forgotten Composers Unforgottable Melodies.  Thank you Ashokji for this enlightening article as a tribute on the 6th death anniversary of Dilip Dholakia which was a few days ago. – AK)

Dilip DholakiaThose who are familiar with any aspect of Dilip Dholakia’s world of music probably may know of him by any one of these names that he used for his different music career roles. For Hindi Film’s mundane history, Dilip Dholakia (Born: 15 October 1921 / Death: 2 January 2011) was probably noticed more as an assistant to Chitragupta or S N Tripathi or to the music-duo Laxmikant Pyarelal. And yet, Dilip Dholakia remained all of singer, music director, music arranger and at times even lyricist and an actor, during his active career. Probably that is the reason the lady luck did for not favour him with great worldly success in any one field!

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies: Iqbal Qureshi

Iqbal QureshiAnil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramchandra. Shankar-Jaikishan, SD Burman, OP Nayyar – the doyens of the Golden Era of film music. We know all about their music. We know all about them: their oppressive family, their supportive family; their happy marriage, their troubled marriage, their extra-marital affairs, their heartbreaks; their animosities, their break-ups and patch-ups; the games they played (also of the football, tennis and badminton kind). And there are others who are known only for their immortal songs. Who has not heard of Ta thaiya karte ana – one of the best female duets ever – or the quintessential Mukesh song Mujhe raat din ye khayal hai, or Rafi’s evergreen Subaha na ayi sham na ayi and Wo hum na the wo tum na the wo rahguzar thi pyar ki or Rafi’s duets like Phir aane laga yaad wohi pyar ka aalam and Ek chameli ke madwe tale. Most of the SoY-ers would know that these are composed by Iqbal Qureshi. But how many of us know about him, or how did he look like or where he came from or what happened to him? I don’t, unless I look up some source.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (9): Lachhiram

LachhiramWho is not aware of Tu shokh kali main mast pawan, tu shamm-e-wafa main parwana or Dhalti jaye raat kah de dil ki baat? The songs are among all time greats of Rafi. But many lovers of old film music may not be aware or might have forgotten the name of Lachhiram. A very awkward and unfamiliar name, and not among the mainstream composers, he is a perfect candidate for my series on the Forgotten Composers: Unforgettable Melodies.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (8): Avinash Vyas

Guest article by Ashok M Vaishnav

(Many talented music personalities from regional films/languages enriched Hindi film music. Some achieved great name and fame in Hindi films, especially those from Bengal, such as SD Burman, Hemant Kumar and Salil Chaudhary, or in the Vintage Era, RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick; or from Marathi, such as C Ramchandra or Vasant Desai, or in the Vintage Era, Keshavrao Bhole etc. Some others, especially from Gujarat, could not replicate their success they had in their native language. Avinash Vyas is one such case. Highly talented, and the Pole Star of Gujarati film music, commercial success eluded him in the fickle world of Hindi films. Our familiar expert, Ashokji, is paying a tribute to this genius on his death anniversary, August 20. – AK)

Avinash VyasAvinash Vyas (21 July 1912 – 20 August 1984), true to his name, Avinash, has left indelible mark on the world of Gujarati sugam (light) music, through around 10000+ songs. He composed music for over 190 Gujarati films (around 1200 songs). His songs covered a very wide panorama of subjects and moods. He can be single-handedly considered to have pioneered roping in almost the entire front ranking playback singers from Hindi Film World for the Gujarati film and / or non-film songs.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (7): Jamal Sen

Jamal SenThere are some people whose reputation precedes their arrival.  Jamal Sen has come in for some great praise on at least three occasions on this blog. In Subodh’s piece on Yaman, Jamal Sen’s composition Sapna ban sajan aye was mentioned in comments as one of the best examples of Yaman, and several readers mentioned him as a befitting candidate for this series. Earlier, while researching for Suraiya’s songs, I came across an unheard gem Raton ki need chheen li ankhon ke intezar ne from Shokhiyan (1951), which I had to include over some other well known songs. And later, while writing on Mubarak Begum, Jamal Sen’s contribution in giving her some of the most memorable songs, especially the duet with Mohammad Rafi, Devta tum ho mera sahara in Dayera (1953), was recognised.

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (6): Pardesi

BanjarinSince I started this series, readers have been suggesting names of various composers. Some have been covered; others would follow in due course. But no one has mentioned the name of Pardesi so far. I am not surprised; no one fits the theme Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies better than Pardesi. Pardesi who? I do not know, nor do I know anyone who knows anything about him. Yet there is one song composed by him which is so unforgettable that Pardesi merits a post in this series. That song is an incredibly sweet Mukesh-Lata Mangeshkar duet Chanda re mori patiya le ja from the film Banjarin (1960).

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Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (5): Sardar Malik

Sardar Mallik 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.

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