Ghulam Mohammad

Shamshad Begum with 3G

A tribute on Shamshad Begum’s 98th birth anniversary (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013), and  wishing the readers a very happy Baisakhi, Vishu, Bihu and Tamil New Year.

Shamshad BegumShamshad Begum has been a perennial favourite on SoY. Earlier, there was a reference to the great trinity of Naushad, C Ramchandra and OP Nayyar who arguably gave the best songs for her. (Incidentally, besides these three I also wrote a post on her best songs by SD Burman, under the title “East meets West”.) If you look a little earlier, and a little more carefully, there was another trinity who composed great songs for her. I call them the 3G, for Ghulam Haider, Ghulam Mohammad and Pt Govind Ram.  I am presenting her best songs by the 3G as my tribute to her on her 98th birth anniversary.

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The Unlucky Genius Ghulam Mohammad’s best songs for Talat Mahmood

Ghulam Mohammad and Talat MahmoodGhulam Mohammad was Naushad’s senior in the music industry by several years. He was an established tabla player, earning Rs 60 per month, with Ustad Jhande Khan, when Naushad joined him, in 1937, as a piano player at Rs. 40 per month. Fate catapulted Naushad to commanding heights, making him the greatest Mughal of Movie Music. And fate destined Ghulam Mohammad to work for several years as his Chief Music Assistant. Concurrently, he also composed music independently in several films, giving outstanding music. When Naushad broke with AR Kardar finally in 1952, Ghulam Mohammad, too, decided to cease being his assistant. Dil-e-Naadan (1953) was launched with great fanfare typical of Kardar and its music was entrusted to Ghulam Mohammad, hoping that he would repeat the magic of Naushad. Its music was absolutely mesmerizing – not a poor copy of Naushad, but very different and very original. But Ghulam Mohammad was not lucky, the film bombed.

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