N Venkataraman

SAFARNAMA: In Pursuit of Two Iconic Lives

A Journey with Dilip Kumar (11th December 1922 – 7th July 2021) and Mohammed Rafi (24th December 1924 – 31st July 1980)

Guest article by N Venkataraman in the series of Centenary Celebrations of Rafi with his songs for Dilip Kumar on his 102nd Birth Anniversary

(Dilip Kumar is the undisputed thespian of acting. Rafi is unarguably the most versatile singer. He became identified with the voice of many heroes. No wonder he also became the voice of Dilip Kumar, with Naushad as the admirer of both and the music director in a succession of their films. Surprising, because Naushad came wholesale to Rafi quite late in the day. Dilip Kumar is known to have asked for Talat Mahmood as his voice in some early 50s’ films. Naushad himself used Mukesh as the voice of Dilip Kumar with great success in ‘Mela’ (1948) and ‘Andaaz’ (1949). Mukesh was his voice in some more films under the baton of other music directors.

Thus, if you were on a journey with Dilip Kumar, it was not obvious that Rafi would become identified as his voice, helmed by the great Naushad. Today happens to be the 102nd birth anniversary of Dilip Kumar. Venkataramanji takes us on a fascinating journey of the two maestros in tandem as only he could. Originally from South India, he is based out of Kolkata and is a polymath in the quintessential Bengali bhadralok tradition. Thanks a lot Venkataramanji for this double treat of 102nd birth anniversary tribute to Dilip Kumar and a tribute to Rafi in the series of his centenary celebrations. – AK)

Once upon a time, in the bustling city of Peshawar, there lived a well-bred, energetic, handsome teenager, who was one of the beloved sons of his parents and the light of his family. He was oblivious of where his destiny was leading him to. Roughly 400 kms away, another young boy, a radiant soul, lived in a sleepy village near Amritsar, who possessed a heart of gold, an infectious smile and tenderness. He cherished to conquer the world with his god-gifted melody. Both of them embarked upon a captivating journey, one in pursuit of an unknown destiny and the other in pursuit of his cherished dream, traversing the landscapes of life in the process with grace and determination.  This Safarnama unfolds on a prestigious train, echoing their splendid and eventful future. The Frontier Mail is about leave the Peshawar station and let me jump in to make it my Safarnama too. To waltz through the ups and downs of their journey I am inviting everyone to make it a part of OUR journey, with a caveat that it is going to be a long haul and an exhaustive one too. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Hemantayan – Part 2

A tribute to Hemant Kumar on his 31st Remembrance Day (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) in his Birth Centenary year by guest author N Venkataraman

(N Venkataraman launched the Centenary Celebration of Hemant Kumar with his superb article Hemantayan Part 1 on his Birth Centenary, 16 June 2020. This gave a comprehensive overview of Hemant Kumar’s early life, his rise as a singer and composer of great repute in Hindi and Bengali films and non-film songs, up to 1960.

In this second and concluding part of his tribute, Venkatarmanji carries on his excellent work and covers his remaining career post-1960. The special aspect of this article is his focus on Hemant Kumar’s forays into production of films, which is not highlighted much as his heavenly voice left such a powerful impact. This aspect is also important because it became Hemant Kumar’s hubris, sucking him into deep financial troubles. But the multifarious talent that he was, he was able to come out of it as he had become an icon in Bengali music as a singer and composer. That became his main arena, where he was the Monarch.

This two-part tribute by Venkataramanji is the most comprehensive you can find on any blog. It is not only a chronicle of Hemant Kumar’s life and his professional achievements, it also provides insight into the ecosystem of Hindi and Bengali films of the era, his strength of character, simplicity and generosity and also his foibles, and his ups and downs. We are passionately fond of his singing and music direction, our awareness being primarily limited to Hindi. Thanks to Venkataramanji now we know that Hemant Kumar was much larger than that.  We can’t thank Venkataramanji enough for this. – AK)

Hemant Kumar 1“It was now time to build up on this success and reputation. Was he able to consolidate his position and career in Bombay and also in Calcutta? I will leave that for another post, the second part of this write-up. I would be covering his career post-1960 in the second part of my article”.

I had concluded the first part, Hemantayan – Part1 with the above lines.

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Hemantayan – Part 1

A tribute to Hemant Kumar on his Birth Centenary (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989) by guest author N Venkataraman

(Lata Mangeshkar once said in an interview about Hemant Kumar, “Listening to Hemant Da, I feel as though a sadhu sitting in a temple is singing a bhajan.” But a more endearing observation was made by Salil Chowdhury: If God had to sing, he would do it in the voice of Hemant Kumar. After you read this article, you would say, if Hemant Kumar wanted someone to write a tribute on his Centenary, he would have N Venkataraman do the honours.

Venkataramanji needs no introduction to the regular readers of SoY. He is a management professional based in Kolkata, but on SoY we know him for his scholarship and breadth of knowledge. Truly a Renaissance Man from Bengal. I am grateful that he has agreed to write a superb tribute to Hemant Kumar on his Centenary in two parts. In the first part he covers Hemant Kumar’s career up to 1960, giving us a broad panorama of his family roots, his early life to his emergence as a singer and composer of great repute in both Hindi and Bengali, including films and non-film songs. This article also gives a summary of his output in other regional languages. Thank you Venkataramanji for your great effort. – AK)

Section-1: 1920 – 1940

Hemant Kumar 1The Mathurapur- Laksmikantapur railway tracks pass through South 24 Parganas, leaving in its trail many old-world, sleepy stations. One such station is BAHARU. BAHARU, one of the many janapadas, that grew up along the old Bhagirathi offshoot from the ancient times, finds a mention in Bipradas Pipilai’s Manasavijaya, composed in 1495; BAHARU, the place where the Dewan of the East India Company, Nandakumar Bose, in the beginning of the 19th century, built a temple for Shyamsundar, acquiring stones from Chunar and requisitioning architects from Jaipur, to recreate Mathura-Vrindaban for his aged mother; BAHARU, the origin of Joynagarer Mua, a sweet well-known all over Bengal, made of Kanakchur, a sweet-smelling variety of rice (popped or puffed) grown in this region, mixed with good quality of liquid palm jaggery and desi ghee; BAHARU, the place where the famous singer and music director Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay spent eight years of his childhood and the village his ancestors originated from.

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‘Vandya Vande Mataram’: The story of a Song Perennial

Guest article by N Venkataraman to celebrate 70th Anniversary of the Republic

(During our days of innocence we learnt in the school that ‘Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He’ was our ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Vande Mataram’  was our ‘National Song’, both of  equal reverence, and we sung both with equal fervour on special occasions.

When we grew up and became more ‘knowledgeable’, we learnt that both the songs had controversy dogging them right since they were created. ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was said to have been written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911 in the honour of the British King George V on the occasion of his visit to India, and ‘Vande Mataram’  occurring in Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s 19th century novel, ‘Anandamath’, was said to have religious overtones, which might offend the sensibilities of the minority community.

This controversy carried on right through the sessions of the Indian National Congress and, later, Constituent Assembly debates when question as to the declaration of a National Anthem came up. There were strong voices in favour of ‘Vande Mataram’ – as a matter of fact the Constituent Assembly session on 14 August 1947, which is famous for Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ at the midnight, began at 11 pm with singing of this song.  However, the hesitation to take a final call continued.  Finally, right on the last day, i.e. 24 January 1950, at the time of signing of the copies of the Constitution, the President Rajendra Prasad made a statement that ‘Jana Gana Mana’ shall be the National Anthem and “Vande Mataram, which has played an important part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and shall have equal status with it.”

Today we are again at troubled times because of the sectarian fault lines. As the Indian Republic turns 70,  we wish all the best for our country and its people. To celebrate the occasion, N Venkataraman  writes a scholarly article on the National Song ‘Vande Mataram’. As per the policy of this blog to steer clear of contentious political issues, Venkataramanji has put the focus specially on its rich musical history.

This article has long been in the making. A keen follower and the creator of the mega-series ‘Multiple Version Songs’, Ashok M Vashnav was also contemplating to write on different versions of ‘Vande Mataram’,  but happily passed it up when he came to know that Venkataramnji was at it. I am happy that despite his personal difficulties and other commitments, he has been able to complete it on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Republic Day, which happens to be in the 10th year of this blog. Thanks a lot Venkataramanji. – AK)

Vande MataramLet me backtrack to my early childhood days, a nostalgic trip down the memory lane. At the break of the dawn, as the activities of the house started, I would wake up to the Akashwani signature tune followed by VANDE MATARAM on the National Echo radio-set placed on the shelf of our living room (then it was my bedroom too). It took a minute for the vacuum tube valves to start up and the green magic eye to glow. Initially only a crackling sound could be heard before the station came on air. If I remember right it was 6:00 AM, I have no doubt that most of us and many more woke up to a new dawn listening to the Akashvani signature tune and ‘Vande Mataram’. And that was my first acquaintance with this song.

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MS Subbulakshmi: A journey from Kunjamma to Meera

A tribute on MS Subbulakshmi on her birth centenary (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) by guest author N Venkataraman (About three months ago, there was a burst of discussion on SoY on MS Subbulaxmi, initiated by a new member RSR (RS Ramaswamy) to which many others joined. Shalan Lal posed a question whyREAD THE FULL ARTICLE

Multiple Version Songs (16): Rabindra Sangeet and Pankaj Mullick

Hridaya Pankaje Rabi Viraje

A tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) and Pankaj Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) by guest author N Venkataraman

(The appeal of Rabindranath Thakur’s poetry and songs of love, nature and worship transcends the boundaries of language and culture. Pankaj Mullick, one of the titans of music and films, has a historical place in bringing Rabindra Sangeet mass popularity through his singing, and using it in films for the first time. I was looking for a knowledgeable Bengali to write on Rabindra Sangeet-Pankaj Mullick-films songs, as a part of the series on Multiple Version Songs. SoY readers are familiar with Venkataramanji’s breadth and depth of knowledge, and he is as pucca a Bengali as anyone could be. I am grateful that he accepted my request to write this double tribute to the two great souls of India on the occasion of Gurudev’s 153rd and Pankaj Mullick’s 109th birth anniversaries. – AK)

Rabindrnath Tagore-Pankaj MullickSometime during May last year, AKji had wished to bring out two articles, under the Multiple-Version-Songs series. The first one, on ‘SD Burman’s Bengali songs and their Hindi versions’, was done by AKji in October 2013. The post on ‘Rabindra Sangeet tunes used in Hindi films’ was generously offered to me, but with a rider – I must accommodate a tribute to Pankaj Mullick, whose birthday follows a couple of days after Gurudev’s. The topic, Rabindra Sangeet tunes used in Hindi films, has been covered earlier on some other sites, and I believe most of our knowledgeable readers and our Bengali friends must be aware of these songs and related facts. But that did not prove to be a deterrent. On the contrary, it gave me an opportunity to explore uncharted areas and approach the subject a bit differently. The experience was not futile. Although I could use only a fraction of my acquisition in this post, it helped me to enhance my knowledge and listen to many wonderful songs.

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Multiple Version Songs (15): In the ‘Realm of Remakes’ – Hindi to Tamil

Guest article by N Venkataraman

(In my introduction to Venkataramanji’s last article, I had traced how he had originally planned to write three articles on Tamil-Hindi version songs, which he later decided to expand to five. This is his fourth, which looks at similar songs from Tamil films remade from Hindi films. Its converse, i.e. remakes from Tamil to Hindi, would be his last, but surely not the last of the mega series on Multiple Version Songs. For new visitors to Songs of Yore, this mega project is the brainchild of an SoY regular, Mr Ashok M Vaishnav. Without repeating what I have said earlier, the best way to understand how it came about is to browse through old articles in the series, which are all placed here.  – AK)

Woh Kaun Thi_Yaar NeeWinter has heralded its arrival and I am out of my ‘monsoon hibernation’. Hibernation is only a state of mind and it takes very little time and, of course, effort to wake up. Incessant monsoon rains can make one sleepy and at time depressed. Autumn followed by winter brings in clear sky and hope. With gentle breeze blowing and clear blue sky, it is time to set the sail once again.

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Multiple Version Songs (13): Hindi and Tamil film songs (3) – Dance (r) s of Deccan

Guest article by N Venkataraman

(Venkataramanji had planned his articles on Multiple Version Songs in Hindi and Tamil films in three parts.  After his first first two articles on ‘Inspired and adopted songs’ and ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, his final part was going to be on Remade films form one language to the other.  However, on the way he stumbled upon a large treasure trove of  South Indian dances and songs, remade from Tamil into Hindi, and decided to offer us this unexpected bonus. He would be now completing his series with two more articles on similar songs from remade films (Tamil to Hindi, and Hindi to Tamil).  Thank you Venkataramanji for your very generous bounties. – AK)

Deccan dancersAfter completion of the first two parts, namely the article on ‘Inspired and adopted Songs’ and the second part on ‘Songs from dubbed versions’, I am venturing into my next episode. Compared to the other two areas this is a vast sea and I thought that one should sail with the tide and try to find the moorings at the suitable time and situation. In course of my search for materials for this article I came across a fairly large number of traditional dance (and song) numbers from the films remade from Tamil to Hindi. This was a fascinating theme by itself.  Therefore, though not originally planned as a separate post, I decided to anchor and take refuge at this haven for now.  I would be completing my series with similar songs from remade films (probably in two parts).

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Multiple Version Songs (8): Hindi-Tamil film songs (2) Songs from Dubbed Versions

Guest article by N. Venkataraman

(Mr Venkataraman’s first part of Hindi-Tamil similar songs was on ‘Inspired and adopted songs’.  He also mentioned in that article that he would be covering the subject in three parts.  In the second part he discusses songs from Hindi movies which were dubbed in Tamil.  Synchronizing the lyrics, meaning, meter and lip movement requires a great deal of talent.  It is a journey into a fascinating world, which, I presume, is unknown to most of us.  There is a warning though.  There is something infectious about these songs – you would soon forget that Madhubala ever sang ‘Mohabat ki jhoothi kahani pe roye’, because ‘Kanu kanda kaathal’ will grip you, or that Nargis sang ‘Raja ki ayegi baraat’, because after reading this article you would be humming, ‘Kalyana oorvalam varum’, and so on. – AK) 

Gul-e-bakawaliAt the outset, I feel like a traveller commencing the second part of my journey through a desert looking for the elusive oasis. I am afraid that the scope and variety found in the first part will be lacking to a great extent in this article. Except the lyrics and the singer(s), everything else will be almost similar in both the versions. Even the singer(s) in one or two instances can be the same. Hoping that the deserts too can provide enough charm on a calm and moonlit night.

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Multiple Version Songs (5): Hindi and Tamil film songs (1) – ‘Inspired and adopted’ songs

Guest article by N Venkataraman

(Mr N Venkataraman had been benefitting the SoY readers with his erudite comments for quite some time. Therefore, when Mr Ashok Vaishnav’s mega series on Multiple Version Songs came along, my thoughts went to him for doing Hindi songs and their versions in South Indian languages. I am grateful that he accepted my request. He starts with Tamil, and this too he proposes to do in three parts, which he explains in the article. With Ashokji’s three articles, and the last guest article by Mr Arunkumar Deshmukh on Hindi-Marathi, the mega series is now taking shape as we had envisaged. Please enjoy another learned article in the series, which is the first guest article by Venkataramanji.   This would be hopefully followed by many more. – AK)

Naushad_MS VishwanathanIn the first of the series of articles on this theme, Ashok Vaishnavji had presented an overview of the various types of multiple version songs. In his overview he had elaborated the types of possible variations and some very broad categories of this theme. He had suggested separate post for each of the categories/sub-categories and further suggested a collaborative effort in compiling bank of songs and in volunteering to write guest posts on some of the categories. AKji had laid out the road map for further exploration of the subject and reiterated the views expounded by Ashok Vaishnavji on collaborative efforts on this theme. I had mentioned in my comment that this is a monumental task and the effort deserves to be organized and well documented. In the meantime, Ashok Vaishnavji has come out with the second and third part in the series, and in the last post Arunkumar Deshmukhji has given an outstanding overview of Hindi-Marathi linkage in films and songs. Inspired by these painstaking efforts, and after an encouraging communication from AKji, I decided to venture into an area, where I have not made any serious attempt earlier.

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